Christmas dinner undeniably has the starring festive food role, but the fun doesn’t stop once the big day is done and dusted. Boxing Day is a great chance to change pace, from the formality of the Christmas Day sit-down dinner to fantastic finger food.
With Slimming World, you can enjoy every bit of Boxing Day, while staying on track for a ‘feel amazing’ New Year. The lovely online support team here at Head Office show us how Boxing Day is done, with their festive buffet. Here’s what they chose for their slimming-friendly feast…
Bring on the buffet!
Mozzarella cups
These pastry bites are filled with juicy red peppers and creamy mozzarella. A little taste of Italy – and only 1 Syn each!
To make 24 cups –
What you need:
2 x 39g sheets ready rolled filo pastry
low-calorie cooking spray
150g reduced-fat mozzarella, drained and chopped
2 roasted red peppers in brine (from a jar), drained and chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped, plus small leaves to pop on top
What you do:
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.
2. Spray the pastry with low-calorie cooking spray and then cut into 5cm x 5cm squares.
3. Spray a mini muffin tin with low-calorie cooking spray and line 24 holes with a square of pastry.
4. Spray again and lay the rest of the squares on top of the first ones at slightly different angles
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until browned, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
6. Meanwhile, mix the mozzarella, peppers and basil in a bowl.
7. Once the filo cups have cooled, fill with the mozzarella mixture and scatter over the basil leaves.
Prawn and red pepper skewers
These are super simple to make and perfect finger food. Just thread raw prawns and chunks of red pepper onto skewers, sprinkle with paprika or chilli flakes (if you prefer a little spice), then grill for 3-4 minutes on each side (until the prawns are pink and cooked through). Best of all, they’re Free, so you can enjoy as many as you like!
Cucumber Xmas trees
Give Free Food a festive twist with cucumber Christmas trees! The online support team have gone for the veggie option using carrot bases and yellow pepper stars, but you could also use Slimming World Free Food Pork Sausages as the base instead.
Crustless quiche
Sending pastry packing makes quiche much more slimming. This cheesy, veg-packed quiche is delicious hot or cold.
Veggie pakoras
Spice up your spread with a platter of pakoras – and adding a home-made raita dip is sure to impress your guests.
Mini jacket potatoes
These mini jackets are so easy to make and can be topped with whatever you fancy. A dollop of baked beans will go down well with kids – while canned kidney beans (in a mild chilli sauce) are a great grown-up alternative.
Scotch eggs
Scotch eggs are a classic buffet crowdpleaser. Our Scotch egg recipe uses Slimming World Free Food Pork Sausages to keep the Syns low.
Cheesecake squares
Surely no buffet table is complete without a show-stopping cheesecake! The online support team whipped up a yummy Slimming World key lime and blackberry cheesecake (our members can find this recipe on the website). We also have this recipe for yummy blueberry cheesecake squares – at just 1 Syn per square. With a crunchy cinnamon crumb and juicy blueberries that burst in the mouth, this feel-good recipe is one of the heroes of our upcoming ‘that Slimming World feeling!’ campaign (more about that coming up on the blog soon!).
Your buffet ideas
Slimming World member @happy_just_now is ahead of the game with some great buffet table ideas. We spy carrots with low-fat hummus, smoked salmon pinwheels, low-fat prawn cocktail cups (amazing idea to serve the prawn cocktail in lettuce leaves and save on washing up!), Slimming World chips and filo-pastry sausage rolls – yummy!
Food is a huge part of the festive period, and there’s no reason why any Slimming World member should ever miss out. There’ll be plenty of really Christmassy recipes and tips shared in Slimming World groups and on Slimming World Online, to keep you slimming through the season. We’ve seen loads of ‘virtual buffets’ in groups and in our online Community, to help members make informed plate-filling choices – although we must admit that we prefer the real deal!
We’d love to see your Boxing Day (or any other day) buffets. Enjoy every moment and every mouthful of your Christmas gatherings – and don’t forget to send us your slim-friendly food photos!