The holidays are a time for flagrant feasting, but there's no reason guests should go into a calorie-fueled shame spiral before they even sit down at the dinner table. With these tips, your appetizers will be easy on the waistline without compromising deliciousness or visual appeal.
The Dairy Dilemma
We all love creamy, cheesy dips, but the saturated fat content in the dairy ingredients can be downright shocking. Reduced fat cheese, however, often means reduced flavor, so you may want to replace only half the cheese in the recipe with reduced fat, or use less of a cheese with a stronger flavor. A lot of fatty dairy can be sidestepped completely with the magical, multipurpose powers of yogurt. To replace cream cheese, just drain yogurt overnight in a cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl in the fridge. The resulting “yogurt cheese” will be smooth, creamy and drastically lighter than cream cheese. The luxurious texture of Greek yogurt can stand in for heavy cream, as well.
Load up the Lettuce
Any crackers on your sideboard should be 100% whole grain—or lose the carbs completely by substituting crisp lettuce leaves instead. Radicchio or endive leaves are light, tasty and sturdy enough to hold a dollop of dip.
Veggie Tray Makeover
Renew your guests' relish for veggies with an out-of-the-ordinary tray. Celery and carrots are great, but colorful, unusual options like radishes, crunchy sticks of jicama, baby zucchinis, snow or sugar snap peas, and florets of purple cauliflower and romanesco create shapes and hues that make the crudité tray a real attraction.
Diverse Dips
Pass up heavy ranch dip for a bean dip or hummus. The flavors of olive oils, herbs and garlic make these dips scrumptious as well as high in satisfying fiber. Fruit plates go well with honey-yogurt dip, and variations like pumpkin pie, peanut butter yogurt and cranberry dip will make guests forget about fried food in favor of garden goodies.
Crunchy Canapés
To really cut the carbs, use crunchy and vibrant raw beet, cucumber and zucchini slices as the base for your canapés. Beets are great with a little goat cheese and a walnut on top, while cucumber and zucchini are neutral enough to go with any tapenade, hummus or tomato-based topping.
Low-Fat Layers
Meat, cheese and sour cream combine in the average layer dip to form a quagmire of fatty deliciousness. For a healthier, Mediterranean take on the ever-popular appetizer, layer cucumbers, kalamata olives, red bell pepper, feta cheese and dill over a base of hummus. Yum!
Dried Fruit Delicacies
For an alternative to sugary snacks like peppermint bark and cookies, consider the festive and delectable variety of dried fruit. Dried apricots dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in toasted almonds look just as pretty as peppermint bark with the fiber to curb overeating.
Nibble on Nuts
With a gratifying crunch and cancer-fighting vitamins, nuts are a seasonal staple. Forget the sugary, salty pre-flavored nuts and spice them yourself for an appetizer with some zip. Along with just a little brown sugar, use rosemary, thyme and cayenne on pecans, or lime juice and chili powder on peanuts for a zesty guilt-free treat.
