Ideas for Spring Appetizers

Bright, Breezy, Light

Spring is upon us and with it comes a fresh new opportunity to create delicious and light appetizers from the season's bounty. Tempt your family and friends with these guilt-free, scrumptious recipes, tips and techniques.

An easy, colorful and healthy appetizer is a vegetable and dip tray. I don't mean the usual raw broccoli, carrots and ranch dip. Pick out the freshest and best looking produce from your grocery or Farmer's market. Some tasty selections are: fresh peas, string beans, asparagus, baby carrots, radishes, red and orange peppers, fennel, and anything else that tickles your fancy. You can slice and serve the peppers and carrots raw while lightly steaming other vegetables such as asparagus and peas. Arrange them in colorful groupings on a large platter for small gatherings or several smaller platters for larger groups. Serve with your favorite homemade light dip. You can also serve a store-bought dip but try to find one that's not only low in fat but sugar. Many of these light dips and dressings have high quantities of high fructose corn syrup so it's usually better to make your own.

Slice red peppers, red onions, zucchini, and cut eggplant into cubes. Toss together on a baking sheet with chopped garlic, kosher salt, pepper, a tablespoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar each. Roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until lightly brown and cooked. Serve as a topping for bruschetta with a crumble of feta cheese and chopped Greek olives. You can also make roasted vegetable quesadillas. Using your favorite whole grain tortillas, grate part-skim mozzarella, top with roasted veggies, crumble on some goat cheese and heat in a pan or in the oven. Slice with a pizza cutter into 6-8 pieces for each quesadilla.

Slice an English cucumber into 1 inch rounds. Mix low fat cream cheese with a teaspoon of minced garlic, chopped chives and parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Spread a light layer on each cucumber slice and top with a small portion of lox style smoked salmon. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice. You could also alternate the cucumber bases with slices of rye cocktail bread for an interesting and tasty presentation.