Baby Shower...healthy appetizer/finger food ideas please!

[winecafe95]

Hello!

Looking for some healthier options for a spring baby shower for about 30-40 people. We're playing with a couple different ideas/themes:

Pandas (baby's room will be pandas & bamboo)
Garden/Spring
Beach (host's home is near the ocean)
BBQ

Any and all menu suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[rmurphy]

I love this recipe for zucchini stuffed tomatoes. If you substitute grape tomatoes for the plum tomatoes, they make a great finger food appetizer.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sa...

[in bocca]

I have been making these meatballs and taking them everywhere. I love the lamb, but I have also made them with ground chicken for a healthier variation.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/40...

[Berheenia]

Devilled eggs.

[Emme]

Spiced Roasted Chickpeas
Roasted Beets and Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary, Feta or Goat Cheese and Chives
Summer Rolls (not fried) with dipping sauce
Salmon or Crab Croquettes with Red Pepper Dipping Drizzle
Broccoli Custard Bites - i use egg whites (and a yolk or two), unsweetened almond milk, cooked chopped broccoli and sweet onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg and a little parmesan if desired. bake at 350.
Chicken Satay
Spiced Nuts (good healthy fats :) )
Baba Ghanoush
Light Soup Shooters
Steamed Dumplings
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Endive Leaves Stuffed
Grilled Fruit
... to name a few ideas...

[winecafe95]

Those sound great...and incorporated some into two potential menus...one more asian-insipired, the other more upscale apps...

Hummus
Caponata
Baba Ghanoush
Olives
Spiced Roasted Chickpeas
Spiced Nuts
Endive Leaves w/Dips
Cheese Puffs
Crab/Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
Breadsticks
Veggie Platter
Fruit Kabobs (grilled!)
Angel Food Cake

Chix Satay
Shrimp Cocktail or Coconut Shrimp w/Orange Marmelade
Chinese Ribs
Mini Crab Cakes
Asian Wings
Summer Rolls
California Rolls (for the momma who craves but can't have sushi!)
Chix Lettuce Wraps
Asian Coleslaw
Chicken Fingers (a New England "chinese" food staple)
Steamed Dumplings or Steamed Pork Buns

[darklyglimmer]

Oh, man, I would have killed for a California roll when I was pregnant. My doc made a Very Big Deal about cross-contamination and scared me away from even the non-raw sushi (as well as anything that had even looked at a deli counter, or been in the same state as one). If you're planning on purchasing the CA rolls, you might want to run those by your guest of honor and make sure she's comfortable with that. If you're making them yourself, it's probably no problem.

(Just FYI, my doc also warned me away from anything that spends large amounts of time on the bottom of the ocean, like crabs or lobsters. Being pregnant can be very alarming.)

[Brunhilde]

Use imitation crab? It's just minced Pollack and seasonings so you wouldn't have that bottomfeeder squeemishness. And yes I know it's not as good, but if you can't have the real thing, it might satisfy some of the craving.

[cheesecake17]

BTW.. my doctor has scared the life out of me about raw (and undercooked) fish. All I want is a piece of raw tuna!! Deli meats I never really cared about so I don't miss it.. but the sushi...

[darklyglimmer]

There's a brewpub nearby that serves a salmon burger with wasabi mayo and pickled ginger. Sushi it ain't, but the flavors were sort of close-ish, so when the craving really hit that's what I'd have. (Although most of the time it left me thinking, "Wow. This sort of tastes similar to sushi but isn't nearly as good. How many months left again?")

[cheesecake17]

Sounds good.. but I don't eat cooked fish. Never did, and now the smell just freaks me out even more! I have been eating tons of pickled ginger though...

[cheesecake17]

I love both menus- and both seem easy enough to pull off! The only thing I would add- to the upscale menu- would be indivudual servings of a springish arugula salad. Maybe arugula with some diced strawberries and almonds in a very light vinaigrette.

Oh, and on the Asian menu.. definitely some type of sesame or peanut noodle dish. Also maybe served in some type of individual serving container.. maybe mini Chinese takeout boxes.

[darklyglimmer]

Reading this again, I'm reminded that there's a restaurant near me that serves coconut shrimp with an orange marmalade, but they add a little bit of horseradish to the marmalade. I'm not quite sure they've hit it out of the park with their particular recipe, but it's an interesting idea, and maybe worth playing with.

I was just introduced to this New England chinese chicken finger thing this Christmas in Maine! I think it's what the rest of us call "sweet and sour chicken," but deconstructed. :)