‘Tis the season to be jolly and while we want to share our joy and fortune we don’t want to overwhelm others with lots of high fat, sugary food choices. Here are some tasty Christmas food ideas that will help Santa manage his blood glucose levels better.

Nibbles

• Dips: When it comes to nibbles opt for healthier dips such as hummus or guacamole. Or try making your own with a plain low fat Greek yoghurt flavoured with some mango or tomato chutney.
• Dippers: Chop vegetables including celery, capsicum and carrots into sticks, to dip. What an easy way to eat your vegies!
• Add some fresh fruit to your nibbles platter for variety – try twigs of grapes, sliced apple (sprinkle with lemon juice to stop it from browning), or in-season stone fruit and berries.
• Cheese: Add a few bocconcini on your platter. These are baby mozzarella balls so they are a lower fat cheese. Sprinkle them with some chopped fresh basil leaves. Or try shelled and halved boiled eggs topped with a dollop of smooth ricotta cheese. You could flavour the ricotta with smoked paprika or curry powder for something a little different.
• Nuts: Sprinkle a handful of unsalted, dry roasted almonds, cashews, and peanuts to the nibbles platter.

Entrée

There’s nothing like an entrée (a very small serve of something) to stimulate the appetite. Try one of these ideas to impress your guests:

• Skewer three prawns with wedges of lemon or lime, barbeque or grill them, and serve with a few green leaves.
• Use a cookie cutter to serve some vegetables or fruit in the shape of a star or a Christmas tree. The following work well:
  • Sliced melon served with mint leaves and a squeeze of lime juice
  • Cooked sliced pumpkin, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and cracked pepper.
• Serve a quarter to half a sliced avocado on a bed of grated raw beetroot or carrot and sprinkled with chopped dry roasted nuts and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
• Serve 3-5 oysters on a bed of crushed ice with some lemon wedges and tabasco sauce.
• Use a sharp knife to cut the top off a medium tomato, spoon out the seeds and centre and replace with a mix of smooth ricotta cheese, chopped zucchini and basil leaves. Bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Serve on a bed of green leaves and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
• Stuffed baby capsicums – slice baby capsicums in half lengthwise, de-seed them and fill with smooth ricotta cheese and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Serve three different coloured capsicums on each plate, with a few green leaves and halved cherry tomatoes.

Mains

If you’ve already had nibbles and/or an entrée then keep the mains quite small. There is nothing so uncomfortable than feeling like you are the stuffed turkey after eating your Christmas meal!

Whether you prefer a hot meal or a cold meal, the basics can be similar. Roast some vegies and serve them hot as a side or tossed into a green salad to make a warm salad. Then add either (hot or cold):

• Roast chicken or turkey – try it sliced and plated with a low salt gravy and a sprinkle of dried cranberries, or shredded and tossed in with your salad.
• Baked salmon – you could flake this and add it to the salad or keep fillets or steaks whole as the hero of your plate.

If you aren’t having a sit-down meal you can plate these foods into tiny bowls to be eaten with a fork.

Dessert

• Simple and easy: Serve three star shapes cut, using a cookie cutter, from thickly sliced fruit. Try watermelon, rockmelon and honeydew melon or apple. It looks sensational and is so, so simple.
• Traditional choices such as plum pudding, Christmas cake or minced pies are fine in moderation, but choose the smallest serve size available in your local store, or home make mini-versions to serve.
• For a modern twist on a traditional favourite, try crumbling a single serve plum pudding and mixing it through a tub of reduced fat Greek yoghurt. Freeze for a day. Allow to warm up for a few minutes before serving so it will scoop nicely with an ice cream scoop. The carb count will vary depending on the pudding and how much yoghurt you use. Keep the containers so you can calculate it, if required.

After enjoying your Christmas lunch play some games such backyard cricket or boules with the family. If it’s evening then go for a walk around your neighbourhood to see your local Christmas lights.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

By By Dale Cooke APD