Shhh! Don’t tell your family, but snack foods such as dips and salsas can be good for them! They also present a perfect opportunity to sneak healthy fruits and vegetables into your family’s diet.
Tips for Dips
A healthy dip starts with a creamy ingredient such as fat-free or low-fat cream cheese, fat-free sour cream or fat-free plain yogurt. Then add seasonings and load it up with fresh vegetables and fruits. Here are some simple healthy dips you can make in minutes:
Creamy Southwestern-style dip: Whip a cup of fat-free or lowfat cottage cheese in the blender until it’s smooth. Mix in a cup of your favorite salsa and serve with raw vegetables or baked tortilla chips.
Currie veggie dip: Beat softened fat-free or low-fat cream cheese with a bit of curry powder (sprinkle a little at a time to taste). Add finely minced veggies such as garlic, onion, broccoli, red pepper and carrots. Chop the veggies as small as possible. Serve with raw vegetables or toasted pita triangles.
Mango dip: Purée two diced ripe mangoes and blend with one cup of fat-free or low-fat vanilla yogurt. Serve with chunks of tropical fruit such as pineapple, kiwi and papaya.
Rockin’ Salsa Tips
Salsas are a bestseller in America, and it’s easy to see why. They’re chock-full of fresh and delicious veggies and fruits, highly flavored, low in calories and often fat-free. Salsas are usually tomato-based, but they can also be made with fruits instead of tomatoes. Tropical fruits, such as mango, papaya, wand pineapple, and stone fruits, such as peaches and nectarines, make great fruit salsas. Here are some easy ways to help your family get their five-a-day fruits and vegetables with salsas:
- Boost the flavor of cooked green beans or corn by tossing them with heated salsa
- Top grilled meat with a fruit salsa
- Top baked potatoes with tomato-based salsa and a sprinkling of grated fat-free Cheddar cheese
- Ladle fruit salsas over frozen yogurt
- Bake chicken or fish with a vegetable or fruit salsa
By creatively using dips and salsas, you can make a great start on serving your family more good-for-them foods that are fun to eat and taste great.
