Healthy Starter Recipes

Looking for simple starters that will still impress guests? Looking for dips and canapes or appetizer recipes? Look no further as you can start as you mean to go on here, with ideas to make those occasions memorable.

I have a variety of dinner party starters - some that you can make in advance, and others that are just easy to prepare, such as soups, stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes and more.

This is my favourite one...vegan stuffed pineapple with veg...mmm...

And here is my canapes recipe - great to accompany an appetizer, starter or finger food at a party. I always try and use wholesome, fresh ingredients as people appreciate them over processed foods:-

Ingredients:
Toast for Cheese (crackers with seeds, dried fruit and nuts in, or other good quality crackers), cucumber, half fat mozarrella cheese, smoked salmon in dill, raw mushrooms, pickled onions, fresh mint leaves, turkey breast, pickled herring in dill, dried apricots, whole almonds.

One recipe I have really gotten into lately is stuffed tomatoes. I love the delicate flavour of baked tomatoes, and their soft texture, yet sometimes chewy skin. Tomatoes contain beta-carotene, which makes your skin look fresher and more youthful as it helps protect against sun damage. Tomatoes also hold lycopene which makes your skin less sensitive to UV light damage - the main cause of wrinkles. They also have anti-cancerous benefits and the lycopene are richer in cooked tomatoes than raw ones. What's not to like about them?! Check out this gorgeous stuffed tomato starter:-

Ingredients:
4 large tomatoes
a third of a pepper
1 small red onion
1 slice of granary seeded bread
fresh basil
30g mozarella cheese
basil
salt and pepper
.
Prawns are high in protein and low in calories and fat. However, they are high in cholesterol, but they are high in the 'good' cholesterol, and they lower the 'bad' cholesterol in our bodies. Try this prawn cocktail starter recipe:

Ingredients:
Prawns
Ketchup
Lighter than light Hellman's mayonnaise
Paprika
Lettuce
Cucumber
Apple
Tomatoes
Lemon juice
Lemon
Parsley

This has got to be one of my favourite soups; honey, carrot and ginger soup. Soups are great because they are generally a high nutrient dense food with a low energy density - meaning that we get plenty of nutrients and vitamins from them for a relatively low calorific intake. They also tend to fill us up quicker that eating solid food. Studies have shown that people consume up to 20% less calories during mealtimes when they consume a soup. The science behind it is that the thick liquid bulk of the soup fills us up quicker, and gives us a more satisfying feeling than solid foods do. Bonus!

Try out this recipe:-

Ingredients: 1lb carrots, ginger, handful of fresh coriander, 2 tsps honey, 1 small red onion, 1.5 pints water, 150ml cream fraiche, 1 bay leaf, nut oil, salt and pepper.

Another great vegetarian starter recipe is stuffed peppers:

Ingredients:
2 peppers
1 small red onion
fresh parsley
1 portobello mushroom
1 tomato
1 tbsp of chopped up almonds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tea spoonsps of pesto
2 slices mozzarella cheese
basil
salt and pepper
Bake in the oven at 175 degrees centigrade (350 degrees farenheit) for 50 minutes.

Check out these two avocado and salmon starter/appetizer/canape recipes:-

Ingredients:
2x avocados, 1 piece of wholemeal seeded bread, smoked salmon, Philadelphia lightest cream cheese, a rolling pin.

Another idea for a starter is to serve some delicious chargrilled peppers. This recipe is in blog article form, so check out the blog post here: