How To Build A Healthy Entertaining Platter

If you spend any time on Insta chances are you would have noticed the growing interest in beautiful entertaining platters - not only are these platters chock-full of tasty morsels but a visual feast with their bright colours and amazing arrangements. Whilst tasting platers are beautiful to look at, they can also be packed full of fat and calories with dips, biscuits, chips and oily ingredients meaning you can consume a whole lot of calories in a very short period of time. So if you love nothing more than designing an amazing food platter, here are the steps to take in order to get the right dietary balance.

As we head into the busy festive season leading dietitian and Tassal ambassador, Susie Burrell has shared her tips for nailing a healthy and delicious entertaining platter.

Susie Burrell is one of Australia's leading dietitians, known for her practical, easy to understand approach to diet, nutrition and wellbeing. With more than 20 years' experience, Susie is a trusted expert in the field.

1) Add bucket loads of vegetables
Forget packing your platter with biscuits and crackers, adding in chopped up celery, capsicum, carrots, baby cucumbers and tomatoes will not only add plenty of colour to your platter, but they are also low carb alternatives to high fat biscuits and chips. Much of the munching that goes on when grazing is mindless, which means we do not eat because we are hungry rather because food is in front of us. Therefore lower calorie foods go a long way in keeping our total calories under control.

2) Seek out lighter crackers
While some flavoured chips and crackers can contain as much as 30% fat, extra thin crackers such as Wafer Thins are a low calorie and low carb option. Even better are the growing range of lower carb options such as the Olina's Bakehouse range which cost a little more but are a much better option nutritionally. Grissini sticks too can work well, as can vegetable-based chips.

3) Add nutrient rich proteins
Protein rich foods including Tassal smoked salmon, smoked oysters and prawns are rich sources of essential nutrients including iodine, zinc and omega 3 fats and are a great way to ensure that any snacking that does take place will also help fill you up.

4) Check out the new style chips
There is a growing range of legume based chips and snacks that generally have a lower fat content than traditional options but are higher in protein and fibre. A couple of my favourites are the sugar snap peas from Harvest and the tasty roasted broad beans and chickpeas from The Happy Snack Food Company.

5) Be fussy with your dips
There are more and more dips available in supermarkets but be careful, just because they are made with vegetables does not mean that they are healthy. In fact, dips can have a fat content as high as 30-40% especially if they are based on nuts or cream cheese. Always check the fat content of your favourite dips and seek out ones with <10% total fat. Some of my favourites include Chris's Egyptian Beetroot and any reduced fat hummus.