Red White and Blue Appetizers and Desserts

Festive desserts and appetizers for Memorial Day or the 4^th of July are easy to make and not very fattening either. Try one of these and the recipe could easily become your summer favorite.

Start off your get together with some red, white and blue appetizers. Try serving corn chips, which come in "white" and "blue", and salsa. A nice veggie platter can be made with baby corn (tinted blue with food coloring), baby tomatoes, and traditional ranch veggie dip. Cottage cheese could work instead of veggie dip as well.

Another festive Memorial Day or 4^th of July appetizer is pinwheels. Use regular soft tortillas, or blue corn tortillas. Spread a veggie dip across the surface of the tortilla (some dips with a mesquite or southwestern flavor have a pinkish hue). You can add small pieces of chicken to make them filling. Then roll the tortilla up, and cut ¾" slices.

For a light dessert, try berries and cream. In a parfait glass, place alternate layers of blueberries and strawberries. Use whip cream in between berry layers. If low fat whip cream is used, this dessert will be healthier than other dishes, like ice cream.

A berry dish can be made for the 4^th of July or Memorial Day with blueberries and strawberries. Slice the strawberries, and place both berries in a small ice cream dish. Sprinkle a dash of sugar over the top. Artificial sweetener could be used instead of sugar.

For a dessert that is a little more filling, try angel food cake. It can be topped with strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or any other berry. Different berries can be added to different slices, so that you're sure to have red, white and blue represented.

If these kinds of desserts aren't your thing, smoothies can be a fun treat too. The kind of berry you want to use will depend on what color smoothie you want. Use about a cup of berries, and blend with low fat ice cream or milk to taste. Soy ice cream or milk can be used as well. If you use milk you may want to add a few ice cubes to thicken your mixture. Yogurt could even be added instead of ice cream or milk. If it's not sweet enough, a dash of sugar or artificial sweetener won't hurt.

Red, white and blue appetizers and desserts for Memorial Day or 4^th of July are not hard to make. They can be made earlier in the day and stored until ready to serve, so it's easy to find time to make these. The appetizers and desserts will look nice, and no one but you needs to know how easy they really were to make.