Holiday South Beach Diet Style

I love this time of year - so many wonderful new cookbooks out!! And lucky me, I received 4 within the last couple of weeks. So expect to see some delicious recipes ahead.

Of course, typically holidays means eating and drinking and, naturally, gaining weight in the process. So I'm doubly happy because one of my new books is The South Beach Diet Parties & Holidays Cookbook and there are tons of great easy-on-the-waist-but-still-delicious recipes.

So I thought I'd share some with you...from appetizers to dessert they're all wonderful.

I admit it - I love shrimp...
The first shrimp dish I remember ever eating was Shrimp Cocktail - humungous ice cold shrimp with "cocktail" sauce (really Heinz chili sauce with a ton of white horseradish and a dash of Worchestershire sauce) that my mother served at dinner parties and were also the only appetizer I would ever choose when we went out to dinner. And don't get me started on garlic buttery baked shrimp served over rice - I'm drooling! Pasta with white wine, garlic and parsley to go with those shrimp??? - you bet! The list goes on and on and on....

So naturally when I was flipping through the SBD Parties cookbook, I had to try out these Grilled Shrimp with a Spicy Chipotle Dip.

The cilantro means it's perfect for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging Event too! Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey is hosting this time around and frankly, her fried fish with aioli looks amazing - check it out!

Back to the book.....there are lots of other appetizers and main course delectables in the Parties & Holidays Cookbook, but I skipped right over to desserts - two chocolatey ones for my Honey.

The first is Mocha Hazelnut Brownies and they're not quite as rich as the Katherine Hepburn brownies I made a few weeks ago, but they don't add a million pounds to your waistline either.

These Chocolate Almond & Orange Clusters, on the other hand, will fool anyone! In fact, last night after five minutes of ooooohing, aaaaaaahing and mmmmmmmmhing my daughter and my Honey both said "now THAT'S better than diet desserts" - They were shocked when I told them where the recipe came from.

The book is filled with different holiday menus like this French Bistro Party:
Endive Spears with Walnut Goat Cheese
Steamed Mussels in White Wine
Chicken Cassoulet
Brussels Sprouts with Garlic (I'm definitely making those next week!)
Frisee Salad with Toasted Almonds
Warm Buckwheat Crepes with Mixed Berries

More menus for Valentine's Day Dinner for Two, Hannukah and Christmas Dinners, Cinco de Mayo and Fourth of July...the list goes on and they're all great. So just because you're looking to eat healthy and stay or get slim, you don't have to stick to carrot and celery sticks for the upcoming holidays!!!

Related links: Food and Drink recipes weekend herb blogging appetizers desserts cookbooks