Festive Holiday Appetizers

Anyone entertaining for New Years this weekend?

Whether you are the one hosting or you need to bring a dish to someone else’s party, here are three healthy appetizer ideas for you. I made all three for Christmas, all three were super easy and fast to throw together right before company arrived, and all three were a huge hit!

Cranberry Avocado Salsa

Adapted from Beantown Baker, serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 ripe avocados, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup halved cranberries
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, and red onion.
Add avocados, cranberries, and cilantro.
Season with pepper and toss to combine.

This recipe was a huge hit with my family on Christmas Day. Good thing I tripled the recipe because it was almost all gone by the time dinner was served! The cilantro seasoning gave the appetizer a ton of flavor. Instead of regular white flour tortilla chips, I served this with Stacy’s Multigrain Pita Chips and Food Should Taste Good Blue Corn Chips. Both combinations were great! The salsa made for a really festive dish too, with the red cranberries and green avocado all mixed together.

Tomato Basil Skewers

Adapted from EatingWell

Ingredients

16 small fresh mozzarella balls
16 fresh basil leaves
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Balsamic vinaigrette, to drizzle
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Thread mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes on small skewers.
Brush with oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
Sprinkle with pepper, and enjoy!

I didn’t count out the exact amount of mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes beforehand. I just made sure each skewer had two cherry tomato halves, 2 mozzarella balls, and 1 basil leaf. I ended up with 20 total skewers. You may notice that the above picture has 19… whoops! I used regular sized skewers, but cut in half. This was another festive dish with the red, green, and white color combo!

Cranberry Cinnamon Apple Brie

Adapted from fANNEtastic food

Ingredients

1 wheel brie
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 apples, chopped
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degress.
Take the wheel of brie, and place it on a nonstick tray or a sprayed piece of tin foil.
Add the dried cranberries on top, then add the chopped apple, and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar.
Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes, and then serve immediately with crackers so it doesn’t get cold!

Okay, maybe brie cheese isn’t the healthiest for you, but this was another big hit! The entire wheel was gone before dinner was served at my grandfather’s house on Monday, and I was asked to bring it back next year. Anyone else obsessed with brie cheese? We served these with wheat and whole grain crackers. Yum.