Any suggestions for a low cal but tasty potluck dish?
I am supposed to bring a 'covered dish' to a picnic. I'd like to bring something that would help me eat low calorie instead of loading up on the kind of food others will bring, like potato salad and devilled eggs. I was hoping for something tasty, not just green salad. Any suggestions? Thanks!
One of my best potluck salads is super simple. It always gets rave reviews (and I make it a little different every time).
At it's most basic
2 bags frozen vegetables
1 chopped onion or a bunch of green onions, chopped
about 2 cups of homemade or bottled dressing (I like vinaigrettes like italian)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (optional)
Mix together the night before (veggies are still frozen) and allow to thaw in the fridge overnight.
You can use any kind of frozen vegetables, but I like california blend (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot) and stir fry blends (especially Walmart's asparagus stir fry blend).
You can use any kind of dressing. I usually make my own light dressing using oil, splenda, rice wine vinegar and salt, pepper, and garlic powder/lawry's, Even a full fat vinaigrette salad dressing usually ends up quite low in calories per serving because the dressing gets diluted from the water that the thawing veggies release.
I add in other mix-in ingredients if I want to get fancy: yellow or cherry peppers, cherry or grape tomatoes, olives, shredded cheese (light touch), any color of bell pepper, artichoke hearts, baby corn, water chestnuts.... just about anything you can think of.
Asian coleslaws are good too. There are a bazillion good recipes online, so I uusually just google and find one that can easily be adapted (I substitute Splenda for the sugar, reduce the amount of nuts/sunflower seeds in the recipe and cutting the oil by 1/2 to 3/4 and using rice wine vinegar. Rice wine vinegar is so mild, you can almost always cut or eliminate the oil,)
Instead of ramen noodles (which many call for), I'll use chow mein noodles and serve them on the side in a little dish, or I'll just leave the can out next to the coleslaw bowl. I've even done the same with the almonds and sunflower seeds and just put plastic spoons in the jars of higher calorie toppings. It's funny how people love interactive food.
If I'm taking my dish to a gathering where I suspect most of the dishes will be high-calorie, I tend to add protein to my salad, so I'll have a complete meal. Canned beans or cheese go nicely in the veggie salad, and shredded chicken and/or shelled edamame goes nicely in the asian coleslaw (if I'm lazy I'll grab a rotisserie chicken or use canned chicken).
I'm not sure what a "covered dish" is... does that mean it needs to be a hot dish? If it doesn't need to be a hot dish, you could try the recipe below. It always goes over extremely well at potlucks, even among people who wouldn't normally choose the "healthy" option. If you don't mind the added fat, regular feta definitely gives it more of that salty zing than light.
Please forgive that I've just copied and pasted the recipe and extra info from a previous post of mine. Keep in mind that a "serving" is meal-sized... the recipe will easily feed 12 or more people as part of a potluck meal.
This is a recipe from I found on epicurious (from Bon Appetit) that I've been making for several years. It's more substantial than tabbouleh, and is very flavorful and filling. It's nice enough to serve as part of a light meal for company, and great to take for a potluck when you want to make sure you have something healthy there to eat yourself! One serving (1/4 of the recipe) is really quite a lot, so when I make this at home I typically divide it into a few more servings and add a little grilled chicken with my meal.
Bulgur Salad with Garbanzo Beans, Feta and Tomatoes
1 cup bulgur
1 teaspoon salt
1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed, drained*
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup crumbled light feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
Prepare bulgur with 1 tsp. salt according to package directions. Drain and cool, pressing to remove excess water from bulgur.
*Optional: Remove skins from garbanzo beans. I can't stand the skins!
Mix bulgur with all other ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
That's it! Makes 4 large servings.
Calories and fat in your bulgur and light feta may vary, but with the brands I use each serving of the bulgur salad contains 340 calories and 9.5g fat.
Last edited by chickadee32; 05-29-2011 at 10:01 PM.
It makes quite a bit, and if you're feeling a little daring, you can bring some light cheese, chopped green onion and low fat sour cream... yum! You could also bring baked tortilla chips.... or find a light version of corn bread.... oh the possibilities!
I am supposed to bring a 'covered dish' to a picnic. I'd like to bring something that would help me eat low calorie instead of loading up on the kind of food others will bring, like potato salad and devilled eggs. I was hoping for something tasty, not just green salad. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Any suggestions for a low cal but tasty potluck dish?
