Choose -- and bring -- healthy foods when at parties

[00:00:01] Host Amber Smith: Here's some expert advice from registered dietitian Heather Dorsey from Upstate Medical University. What's the healthy food option for a party?

[00:00:10] Heather Dorsey, RD: When you're thinking about having to go over to a friend's or a family member's house or just going to a gathering, and you want to make sure that there are things that you can eat, a great veggie tray or a great fruit tray, and utilizing that Greek yogurt for a base for a dip.

So a really quick veggie dip based with Greek yogurt is a cup of Greek yogurt, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon, a little clove of garlic, a teaspoon of dried dill and a little bit of parsley. And then if you want to add a little heat to that dip, you can put a pinch of pepper flakes in it.

And likewise with the fruit tray. You can pair it with a delicious Greek yogurt-based dip. Again, start with a cup of Greek yogurt, two tablespoons of honey, a teaspoon of vanilla and a half a teaspoon of cinnamon. And those additives actually really have some deep health benefits with antioxidants and helping with blood sugar control. So that makes it a really healthy dip.

Two of my other favorites to bring that has a little bit more substance to it, is something called cowboy caviar. This is basically a black bean-based dip that you can use with tortilla chips, which are whole-grain corn. You get a can of no-salt black beans, a can of no-salt corn, a nice red pepper, one onion, one tomato, one avocado and a little bit of cilantro. Mix it all together, and you've got this really nice, almost like a high-fiber, vegetable-based dip that's going to keep you satisfied, but very low in calories and healthy for you. You can add some heat with a jalapeño if you want.

And then my go-to is always bringing some guacamole. Avocados are a really good rich source of omega 3's and a healthy fat. They definitely fill you up. So it would be just a couple avocados, a red onion, a couple cloves of garlic, a little bit of tomato, squeeze a lime, some cilantro. And again, if you want to add some heat, you can throw a jalapeño in there.

But just some quick and easy things that you can take to a gathering that you can have and take the pressure off of having maybe some of the more decadent things that the host might be serving. So it's just you're kind of putting yourself in the control seat of, OK, if I bring something that's healthy, I know that that's my go-to that I can go and have, andI won't feel guilty later on for overindulging.

[00:02:47] Host Amber Smith: You've been listening to registered dietitian Heather Dorsey from Upstate Medical university.