Delicious Side Dishes for Your Backyard Memorial Day Party

Appetizers

Backyard parties are perfect for finger foods that guests can nibble on as they mingle. Many guests prefer lighter fare in the summer. Here are a few tasty choices to consider, including ones with lower-fat ingredients.

Cucumber Pesto Rounds

The Easy Appetizer Recipes website offers a simple recipe for a low-fat feta cheese dip that is lightly seasoned with fresh dill and garlic. Add a thin layer to cucumbers sliced in rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Top each slice with a tiny bit of basil pesto that can be homemade or bought from a store.

Mozzarella and Tomato Mini-Skewers

Spear tiny bocconcini (mozzarella balls) on either side of a grape tomato on a toothpick. Make a marinade to drizzle over these mini skewers. For a small platter, mix 3 tablespoons of fresh, finely chopped basil, 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Hummus Platter

Middle Eastern garbanzo (chickpea) dips are yummy with pita bread or chips as well as crudités, such as broccoli florets, baby carrots and small celery slices. The Mama's Lebanese Kitchen website provides an easy recipe based on pureeing garbanzos, garlic cloves, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and simple seasonings.

Sweet and Sour Chinese Kebobs

Wedges of pineapple, bell peppers and onions form a flavorful combination when grilled on skewers with small chunks of pork. The My Recipes website marinates the pork in pureed pineapple, soy sauce, ginger, mirin (Japanese rice wine) and sesame oil.

White Bean Bruschetta

Bread dipped in seasoned olive oil is an Italian appetizer called bruschetta. The She Knows Food & Recipes website offers a variation in which a white bean puree is layered on thick slices of toasted French bread and sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Lower-Fat Deviled Eggs

Eating Well decreases the fat and calories in its recipe for deviled eggs by mixing the yolks with non-fat cottage cheese and low-fat mayonnaise. Chives, pickle relish, mustard and a bit of salt give the eggs zip.

Salads and Grilled Vegetables

Innovative picnic salads and grilled vegetables liven up the Memorial Day menu. Each of these recipes has an unusual twist, whether it is a low-fat variation on a traditional favorite or an unexpected bite of hot pepper in potato salad.

Seven-Layer Salad

Eating Well describes its recipe as a "makeover of a Midwestern classic." Others sometimes call this make-ahead dish "refrigerator salad," because it tastes best after being refrigerated overnight. Layers of shredded romaine lettuce, peas, bell pepper and tomatoes are topped with a creamy low-fat dressing, then sprinkled with basil, bacon bits and shredded cheese.

Colorful Bean, Corn, Avocado Salad

The Group Recipes website offers contributions from cooks around the nation. This healthy recipe from a Seattle cook marries the flavors of black beans, sweet corn, chopped tomatoes, onions and avocado chunks in a bit of olive oil, lime juice and cilantro.

Chipotle Potato Salad

The Backyard Smoker Barbecue Chef website adds kick to its potato salad with a small amount of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapenos; they develop a sour-sweet flavor when mixed in a tangy adobo red sauce containing garlic, bay leaves, oregano and other spices.

Low-Fat Southern Potato Salads

Southern Living Magazine offers two low-fat versions of America's favorite picnic salad. Lemon juice, a small amount of olive oil, and the peppery snap of fresh parsley dress up red potatoes in its "Lemony Potato Salad" recipe. Its "Herbed Potato Salad" is a bit more traditional with a dressing of vinegar, low-fat yogurt and small quantities of mayonnaise and olive oil. Fresh dill gives it a pleasant pickle flavor.

Grilled Artichokes

Michael Chu's detailed article at the Cooking for Engineers website is illustrated with step-by-step photos showing cooks how to steam, grill and eat artichokes, which are rich in dietary fiber. When eating them, dip the fleshy part of the leaves in a pesto sauce or creamy dip.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

The first step in grilling corn in its husks is to briefly soak the corn in cold water. The What's Cooking America website recipe brushes the corn with olive oil and adds herbs before closing the husks and placing them on the grill.