Finger Food

Steve_ApexNC

Going to a friends house tomorrow for a little gathering. It is a "finger food" affair. I am looking for a couple of low calorie, but rockin' good Hor d'oeuvres that I can enjoy (I know this crowd, there will be some really good eats, all of which with huge calorie content). I have no intention of blowing my diet, so some ideas would be appreciated.

Some things to consider: no mushrooms or shrimp (sniff) due to an allergy. Also, I am both a food snob and a scratch cook whenever possible. That is to say, there is no way I will pour salt soaked fat out of a jar and I can pretty much handle any dish regardless of complexity. Primarily an outdoor buffet setting but oven is available to warm something up if needed.

Alas, I don't attend gatherings such as this very often, so I don't have a lot of experience/recipes. Some ideas greatly appreciated.

Queenmunchy

Skinnytaste has some awesome appetizers. I have made her Asian meatballs for almost every party I've been to for the past 5 years or so, but the mini spinach tarts and baked salmon cakes look amazing!

I also love to make baked wontons or egg rolls (I'm partial to bbq chicken, Thai peanut chicken, and buffalo chicken).

engodwin

Hummus with veggies, roasted chickpeas, spinach artichoke dip (look for a healthy or lighter recipe for this one), fruit Kabobs, taco dip (skinny version), meat roll-ups (tortilla with turkey and avocado maybe), homemade chips (baked not fried, could use sweat potatoes), deviled eggs, homemade salsa, zucchini pizza bites...

I'm sure I can think of more but that should get you started!

You can google (or pintrest) the crap out of some healthy versions of traditional appetizers. I saw a healthy version of buffalo chicken dip recently on pintrest - it's one of my favorites!

lucys1225

I slice mini peppers in half, bake them at 350 for a few minutes then fill them with some sort of meat (I've tried pulled pork, chipotle pork and turkey picadillo). Top with cheese (I don't eat diary so I use almond cheese). Bake until cheese is melted. Then add whatever you like on top (cilantro, pickled jalapeno...) They're always a big hit.

Steve_ApexNC

@Qeenmunchy - thanks for the link and recommendations. I'll check it out.
@engodwin - love me some hummus. I'm known to make it fairly often. It is definitely on my shortlist. Some other good ideas. I know there will be one taco type dip already and wife will no doubt make deviled eggs.

Steve_ApexNC

lucys1225 wrote: »

I slice mini peppers in half, bake them at 350 for a few minutes then fill them with some sort of meat (I've tried pulled pork, chipotle pork and turkey picadillo). Top with cheese (I don't eat diary so I use almond cheese). Bake until cheese is melted. Then add whatever you like on top (cilantro, pickled jalapeno...) They're always a big hit.

That sounds tasty. Thanks!

sheermomentum

Stuff some endive leaves with a little crumbled goat cheese and finely chopped glazed walnuts and drizzle a tiny bit of balsamic reduction over the stuffing. Or stuff some endive with any number of things But the cheese/walnut/balsamic mixture is basically food porn. You get quite alot of flavor with really just about a tsp or two of cheese and a few chips of nuts.

Steve_ApexNC

sheermomentum wrote: »

Stuff some endive leaves with a little crumbled goat cheese and finely chopped glazed walnuts and drizzle a tiny bit of balsamic reduction over the stuffing. Or stuff some endive with any number of things But the cheese/walnut/balsamic mixture is basically food porn. You get quite alot of flavor with really just about a tsp or two of cheese and a few chips of nuts.

interesting. I did find the below in my googling and it sounded interesting. Your mixutre sounds tasty too.

http://www.marthastewart.com/345535/endive-boats-with-marinated-vegetables#61 Easy and Delicious Finger Food Recipes|/275428/finger-food-recipes/@center/1009060/christmas-appetizers|345535

Francl27

Veggies and Greek yogurt dip?

caroldavison332

1. char peppers on your george foreman grill or cast iron pan and cook until sweet. Pour balsamic vinegar on. Serve with toothpicks.
2. Mash some avacado into mayonaisse. Add mustard. Mash egg yoks. Mix into mayo mix and stuff into eggs.

Steve_ApexNC

some great suggestions - thank you all. I saved several of these delicious ideas off for future use. FOr this party, I decided to go with:

1. Vegetable Spring Rolls by Bobby Flay at Food Network. I will replace the shitake mushrooms with tofu due to allergy. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/fresh-vegetable-spring-rolls-with-two-dipping-sauces-recipe.html
2. Smoked Salmon Mousse Canapes from myrecipes.com...hopefully I can find decent caviar for a fair price to top this off. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoked-salmon-mousse-canapes
3. Fingerling Potatoes with Avacado and Smoked Salmon - from myrecipes.com http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fingerling-potatoes-avocado-salmon

I know the spring rolls don't exactly match the other two which feature salmon, but it will round out my meal nicely with the cabbage, beans, and carrots. I will be making dinner out of whatever is on the buffet and I know there will be a lot of very tasty, but very calorie heavy foods.