You love to host and attend dinner parties with friends, the thought of your loved ones and delicious food coming together is your idea of bliss; but you’re trying to lose weight. What should you do?
In the past, asking if the food is healthy or skipping meal elements resulted in you being viewed as boring or unadventurous. Lately, however, it is becoming more common for people to be concerned about their health, and people are intrigued to find out what healthy foods can be served.
If your target is to provide nutritious foods at your next dinner party and still have your guests return for more, check out our favourite tips:
Expand appetiser options
Instead of serving the highly saturated in fat, calories, and low in fibre option of cheese with crackers as an appetiser, try hummus, healthy bean or non-fat yogurt dips served with dipping vegetables, roasted nuts, grapes or apple slices.
Use seasonings to flavour up your food Just because your food is healthy doesn’t mean it can’t taste great. Introducing items such as citrus zest, toasted spices and the classic garlic and onions can give you an immense flavour blow.
Know your recipes thoroughly Test out your recipes first. That is the only way you’ll find out how bland or flavourful it is, if the recipe takes longer or shorter to prepare than indicated, or if it really isn’t what you were hoping it would be. It also provides a way to practise your presentation skills when serving the dish.
Keep it colourful
The more colourful items on the plate, the more flavour you’ll pack into each bite! Not to mention it’s also even more nutritional. This goes for when you’re roasting or browning vegetables, too. Don’t be afraid of golden brown, you’ll find it is a lot more flavourful.
You CAN have dessert
Providing a healthy dinner party gathering doesn’t mean you have to neglect dessert. Dessert can taste great and be healthy at the same time. Fresh or roasted fruit is a great option.
Downsize your plates
This isn’t about regulating how much food your guests take; it’s more about increasing awareness of portion sizes. Classic dinner parties involve several courses, and these frequently emerge on differently sized crockery. The bigger the plate, the bigger the portion. By serving your starters on a small plate and main dishes on larger salad plates you can cut down your portion size, even without your guests’ knowledge.
Don’t forget to have fun!
Just because you’re hosting a health conscious evening does not mean it has to be bland! At the end of the day, it’s all about spending time together with friends and family and appreciating that healthy food can taste delicious!
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