Declining on the dessert menu when dining at a restaurant is one thing, but closing the social calendar for fear of eating your own high-calorie cooking at a dinner party is taking the dieting rules too far.
Weight loss doesn’t have to be anti-social. And the host needn’t impose a menu of obviously restricted dishes on guests looking for a good night out. A dash of cream taken out here, and the glug of oil removed there, and the host can lift the three-course dinner party meal or the cocktail party to new healthy heights.
Gone are the days when cheese fondues and pâtés sat at the height of sophistication, when a guest or host counting calories faced a hard night.
Forward thinking
Unless you plan on losing weight from the stress, hosting a calorie-counting dinner party needs to be well prepared and planned ahead. Cookbook author Suzanne Gibbs said a weight-watching host can include some rich dishes when preparing a menu that can be balanced out with fresh steamed vegetables, a few salad options, and fruit-based dessert.
Allowing guests to serve themselves from a large platter removes the obvious calorie cutbacks. This way, everyone can have as much as they like, according to their own appetites. Plus it looks generous and guests, apart from the dieting host, can go back for seconds.
Spanish-style tapas parties and finger food is a great option for the healthy host, Gibbs said, because “you can have a lovely combination of the rich and not so rich that complement each other”.
This is also a great way for the host to hide their own carefulness, Gibbs said, as guests help themselves to what they like and are not watching what, or how much, everyone else is having.
“You can put out what you want and no one will notice what you’re eating because they’re caught up in the fun of it all.”
A healthier take on old recipes
Taking out the cream doesn’t mean it all has to be brown rice and boiled vegetables, either. Dinner parties are an excellent way to experiment with traditional dishes, but in a balanced and healthier format. While rewriting the blueprint of a recipe doesn’t always work, you can often replace the cream with low fat yoghurt and the cheese plate with a seasonal fruit sorbet.
“You can often do without butter and cream,” Gibbs said. “The main thing is to be aware when planning a menu that the fat isn’t banking up. You can have one dish that is a little indulgent, but then balance that out with lighter side dishes and perhaps a large salad.” She recommended a finely shredded cabbage salad with Asian-style dressing, for example.
Often, as well, while it may seem like no fun not offering cream with an Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, the guests will probably be relieved that they don’t have to loosen their belts on the drive home.
“Just because it’s fancy and rich doesn’t mean it will be a great success. If you’re having asparagus, don’t smother it with butter. Often lemon juice squeezed over the vegetables just before serving is just as good,” Gibbs suggested.
Thirsty work
Some things to watch out for include sugary drinks, which can go down easily for the busy host but quickly increase the calorie intake. Alcohol in general is high in calories, so consider low calorie beers or sprizters made with soda water and a splash of white wine instead. Sweet cider and bottles of alcopops are laden with sugar, so it’s best to avoid them altogether.
An alternative is to serve a jug of mineral water with a squeeze of lemon juice, or some pretty pomegranate seeds. Glasses of tonic water, filled to the brim with ice and slices of lime, are a satisfying alterative to the classic gin and tonic.
The taste test
One dieter, who refuses to give up on hosting dinner parties just because she is counting calories, says she now has a hard-and-fast rule about eating while she is cooking. She doesn’t. Once doubtful that the food she tasted while she was cooking made any difference, she tested herself by putting everything she would have eaten while cooking into a mixing bowl on the kitchen bench instead. At the end of the food preparation for a dinner party, she had filled the bowl. Shocked into action, she now starts eating only when the guests start eating, and not a moment before.
The modern-day dinner party, hosted by calorie-counters and attended by weight-watchers, is still worth entertaining. Swap the 70s classic pâté for a white bean, tuna and coriander dip, and replace the retro cheese fondue for a small cheese soufflé starter, balanced out with lighter options for the main and dessert. With some clever and often minor overhauls, throwing a healthy dinner party has never been easier.
Menus your guests will love
We’ve put together a formal dinner party menu as well as options for the healthy cocktail party. Serve the Hot and Sour Noodle in little cups at a cocktail party. It’s a warming alterative that satisfies hungry guests quickly, before the other light but sufficient finger food is served.
Menu one – The formal winter dinner party
Hot and Sour Noodle
Kailan with Beef
Caramel banana split
Menu two – finger food
Chicken san choy bau
Corn fritters with smoked salmon
Orange and date salad with honey yoghurt