healthy appitizers

A veggie tray is always great and super easy. Have a variety of veggies with hummus or ranch. Also, crackers and cheese go great with the hummus. It's not really healthy but not too bad either.

Fruit kebabs are great too. Melon, pineapple, and strawberries are good for this. You just cut it into chunks and stick them on a skewer. Grilled pinapple, and grillled peaches work wonderfully too. You can use yogurt as a dip if you want.

Chicken kebabs are also great. I like to use a teriyaki glaze. Grilled bell Pepper and pineapple go great with the chicken on these. And, for another thing with skewers. Try 1 cherry tomato, 1 leaf of basil, and 1 mozzarella ball. You can drizzle these with a vinaigrette.

Air-popped popcorn is good too. Mix up 3 different types flavored with different seasoning.

There are tons of hummus variations. My favorite is sun-dried tomato and kalamata olives. I skip any added olive oil to further reduce calories. Serve with cut veggies, and pieces of whole wheat pita. Always a hit.

Another one is grilled asparagus with a sesame/tahini dip. These always get gobbled up at my place.

I'll be watching this thread to get more ideas!

I've made a smoked salmon with a dill sauce bites (made with no fat yogurt) ... but instead of serving on a piece of bread or a chip I use a nice slice of crisp cucumber. Another of my favorites is a fresh homemade salsa (here the problem becomes the chips for dipping).

For a pool party, summer comes to my mind. A pineapple lobster ceviche comes would be great.

Just cut some onions, pineapple, coriander; add lemon juice, salt and pepper. reserve in a bowl.

Boil some lobster tails with a touch of lemon in the water. Once is done, cut in pieces and mix it with the pineapple ceviche you have reserved, add some tabasco if you wish and you're done!!

I've have been eating a lot of green squash lately.  Last week I toasted (you can use a grill too) green squash, sliced length wise and I also roasted some portabella  mushrooms.  I dressed them with the about a tablespoon of the Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce and it was amazing.  My 3 year old even ate it.  And I can never get him to eat squash.

Tip: Grill the portabella mushrooms with the caps facing up, when they fill with the liquid from the mushrooms you can turn them over.

Another easy and healthy appetizer is strawberries drizzled with balsalmic vinegar.

Hope this helps or gives you some ideas.

I've been making dips with Plain Greek Yogurt in place of sour cream.  I just add some dry dip mix to taste i.e. ranch, onion and serve with fresh veggies and/or pretzels.  My favorite veggie is to use is sugar snap peas.  Another idea is adding salsa to the yogurt.  Downfall is the tortilla chips.  I guess you can buy baked chips to cut a few calories.  Enjoy!

Everyone asks for this recipe when I bring it to a cookout.

It can be a salad or a chunky dip with multigrain chips

3 cans niblets corn

3 ripe avocados diced

1 container of grape tomatoes sliced in half

sliced black olives

mix all together and toss with lime juice, olive oil and chopped cilantro 

chill for at least an hour before eating

baked pita chips and hummus

hummus with raw veggies

greek yogurt and fruit and veggies to dip

guacamole (simple one with just avacado and lemon) baked chips

Watermelon Kabobs! Thanks for that great idea, i have skewers, watermelon and a bbq on saturday :)

If they've got them at your local produce stand, baby bell peppers (the adorable itty bitty ones that aren't bigger than 2" tall) make an awesome vehicle for stuffing with any manner of healthy filling. I've had good review recently filling them with a vegetarian chili that I cooked down until it was very thick - these were good warm but could also be cooked ahead and served cold.

For the summer one of my favorite appetizers is caprese skewers, which are cherry tomatoes, basil, and mini mozzarella balls on a skewer drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar... They are really pretty, easy to make, and healthy!