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Tasty and Healthy Appetizer Ideas
Some appetizers are rich, creamy, and high in calories but appetizer recipes do not have to be high calorie or high fat. In fact, some of the most delicious appetizers are also the healthiest. A lot of colorful appetizers are attractive because they contain brightly colored herbs or spices or fresh fruit or vegetables. Base your appetizers on fresh produce and you cannot go far wrong.
You can either make healthy appetizers or you can make lower fat or lower calorie versions of your favorite easy appetizer recipes. Swapping regular cheese for low fat cheese or streaky bacon for lean bacon does not make a lot of difference in the flavor of most appetizers but it can make them healthier.
Naturally Healthy Appetizers
A lot of appetizer recipes are naturally healthy. Top some wholegrain toast triangles with some cream cheese and cherry tomatoes. Add a leaf of basil and you have a very simple appetizer recipe, which is low in fat and calories.
What about a seven layer salad? Choose five healthy salad layers and two slightly more sinful ones for a good balance. You could use lettuce, grated carrot, asparagus, chopped fresh tomatoes, and arugula for your healthy layers and add an egg mayonnaise layer and an avocado layer too. This is a delicious salad and is overall very healthy.
Chicken is a low fat meat and you can make all kinds of chicken appetizers. Grill some chicken on skewers or chop some chicken and combine it with chopped apple, boiled potatoes and celery, then add some low fat mayonnaise for a delicious chicken salad. Seafood appetizers are another good idea if you want to make healthy appetizer options. Shrimp, salmon, clams, mussels and more are low in calories and are delicious without requiring a lot of other ingredients to be added.
More Healthy Appetizer Recipes
A fruit salad is a healthy option if you want to make healthy appetizers. Combine chopped fruit with a fruit juice-based sauce for a delicious appetizer. You can also serve chopped fruit with a yogurt dip. This is a really delicious appetizer and it is healthy as well. Healthy appetizers tend to be less filling than creamy or sugary high fat ones, so you might need to serve more. A bonus is that if you are serving healthy appetizers before a sit-down dinner your guests will not be too full to enjoy the entree.
Popcorn is low in fat. Make some popcorn, and then drizzle some olive oil over it, as well as a little grated parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. This is a really flavorful appetizer and incredibly simple to prepare too.
Stuffed vegetables are popular at parties and buffets and you can stuff mushrooms, tomatoes and more. Use whatever you like to stuff the vegetables - maybe a cream cheese-based dip, some hummus, a sour cream and seafood mixture or something else. There are lots of stuffed vegetable appetizer recipes that you can choose from.
Healthy dips are another good idea and you can make salsa recipes, chili sauce recipes, hummus, and other low fat dips. You might want to make some rich, creamy dip recipes for any of your guests who would prefer those to the healthier choices.
