Make These Delicious, Healthy Appetizers & Desserts to Become the Potluck Hero
Free-for-Everyone Recipe PDF enclosed
Christmas Time Is Here!!
This month is pure fun and chaos. We have something two to three nights a week. And I love this fact, but that means that this week after a weekend with family and several things coming up this week, this post is going to be short and sweet.
Can You Bring Something?
Many of the events we’re just showing up, but inevitably there’s a party where we need to bring something. And if you’re like me, you want it to be interesting, but still somewhat healthy. In other words, a few notches above the pepper jelly over cream cheese or chips and salsa (not that there’s anything wrong with these, just not interesting and holiday-ish.)
I thought if you’re in the same boat, I would compile a few of my more impressive recipes that don’t necessarily fit the “Real Food Sanity” tenet of easy weeknight meals but they do fit the Real Food and healthy part. They are even budget friendly to boot.
What’s in the Book?
This one is short and sweet, although as I was going through my recipes, I could literally write a long book on just appetizers. So I chose a handful that are different enough to be interesting yet easy to make, healthy and inexpensive.
The desserts are a little more time consuming, but are really delicious and serve 12 people each.
Appetizers
Honey Spiced Walnuts - These are great for snacking, salads or even a fun gift if you place them in a jar or box.
Olive Tapenade with Goat Cheese - The best way to upgrade the cream cheese & jelly app. The tapenade can be made with inexpensive olives since you’re adding other flavoring agents. And I like to spread the goat cheese or cream cheese into a flat circle then pile the tapenade on top.
Eggplant and Red Pepper Puree - This Mediterranean inspired dip is amazing with flatbread or Crostini (AKA Croutons). You can find gluten free flatbread from MYGlutenFree or try these gluten free flatbreads from
made from chickpea flour and carry on the Med theme.Croutons - Call them Crostini or Croutons, they’re basically just thinly sliced bread toasted til they’re crisp and ready to dip. Cut the bread thicker and toast until barely golden and still soft to serve the tapenade and goat cheese like the photo above.
Fried Chicken Meatballs - You can’t beat a good meatball for a crowd pleaser and these are AMAZING! Serve them with cranberry mustard or the standbys of Ranch, Honey Mustard or Barbecue Sauce. (See this page for all my homemade versions of the dressings.)
Desserts
No Bake Chocolate Silk Tart - This has been included in my holiday recipes for years because it’s so good.
Lemon Tart with Raspberries - Again, this has been around for awhile, but I can’t help but include it in a dessert roundup because it is a fan favorite, but it does take a little while longer to make.
Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake - This is a recipe I found years ago and we LOVE. I had my husband make it for my 40th birthday to pair with a white port that had hazlenut notes to it and we’ve never forgotten it. It does take some extra steps to make, but it’s totally worth it.
Rosemary Honey Crème Anglaise - You’re gonna have 6 egg yolks left if you make the cake, so you might as well go a step further and make this sauce. It’s basically melted ice cream as it’s exactly the same ingredients used to make the base of custard-style ice cream. You can skip the rosemary infused milk and just use whole milk or full fat coconut milk. There is some technique involved, but it’s just a few steps.
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The olive tapenade sounds amazing
What a great list!