Quick Healthy Recipes For You

Home made Hummus with toasted pita bread sprinkled with herbs and cheese and pineapple or cheese and gherkin bites on toothpicks

Today I had two invitations and was invited to take a plate - bring something festive they said ! I had done the obvious, club sandwiches, asparagus rolls, sausage rolls to death and I wanted a new twist and it had to be quick, easy, preferably healthy and look fantastic and delicious.

Go here to find 100 healthy raw snacks and treats

Since one of the occasions was an exercise class I didn’t want to take a plate of something we would all spend the next ten sessions working off and the other was a creative fiber group so it need to at least look artistic.

After a rethink here are some quick ideas for a festive occasion finger food that won’t involve slaving over a hot stove, can be prepared fast and will look great too – just remember its how you present it that makes or breaks it and you can get away with almost anything if it looks amazing.

Tooth pick pix:

Freshly sliced Brie cheese and slices of pear

Cocktail onions and cheese

Chunks of Pineapple and cheddar cheese

Polish garlic sausage and cheese

Apricots spread with cream cheese decorated with an almond

Ham and cheese roll ups secured with a tooth pick

Ham (or bacon if you want to cook !) roll up with a prune inside

Asparagus rolled in ham or any sliced meat

Chunky slices of chicken with sliced mango (or other fruit of your choice)

Creative Platters can go down a treat

Try a selection of various sliced meat, fruit, artichokes, curried eggs

Cheese straws with a dip – tomato dip goes extra well with this or an onion and cheese dip

Corn chips and a dip – a very quick dip is yogurt, sweet chilli sauce and a dash of pepper, or yogurt with chopped gherkins, or avocado with a dash of sweet chilli sauce, or avocado, lemon juice, salt and pepper – try some curry in it to give a kick, even non avocado lovers like this one.

Dates, sliced oranges, tropical fruits and some cheese slices

Lettuce “rolls” with a selection of what you have on hand, examples, cottage cheese, brie, sliced meat, artichokes

Go here to find 100 healthy raw snacks and treats

Crostini – you can go mad with a choice of spreads the most basic is olive oil and garlic, to any number of additions, we love smashed up tomato on top of the olive oil and garlic with fresh chopped basil.

Mini pizzas either make these very small individual ones or one large oblong one and cut into bite sized pieces.

Pita bread toasted or grilled with grated parmesan cheese or alternatively slice the pita bread into triangles and spray with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs before grilling.

Make your servings bite size and leave a supply of toothpicks to self serve and have some festive paper cocktail serviettes on hand. I like to serve my platters with fresh flowers or herbs and if you arrange them creatively then almost any combination will look mouthwatering.

For more cool ideas go to the Healthy Urban Kitchen