During the festive feasts, or rather before them, housewives of any age need to search for recipes for light snacks. Among them, those that are made in haste are especially popular.
So, we will consider options for simple dishes, which not only can be prepared very quickly, they will also be useful.
Pita with squid
A great option for a light snack for any festive feast is pita bread with squid. It cooks pretty quickly, looks very piquant, and also has amazing taste.
In order to cook a dish, you need to get ready-made pita bread, which is sold in grocery stores. The amount of ingredients presented in this recipe is calculated on 200 g of this product.
In order to make a filling for pita bread, you need to take 100 g of fresh squid. They should be cut into thin rings and fry in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes on both sides. To do this, you can use butter - with it, the taste of the finished snack will be more piquant.
After the squids are ready, you can proceed to the formation of rolls. To do this, lay a sheet of pita bread and thoroughly grease it with sour cream with a high fat content. If desired, sour cream can be replaced with mayonnaise. At the very edge of the product you need to put a thin piece of hard cheese, as well as 2-3 rings of fried squid. On top of all this, you need to lay out a couple of branches of cilantro and a small amount of Korean carrots. After this, the sheet must be wrapped in a roll. This procedure should be repeated with each pita. After such a light meal is ready, rolls should be put on a plate for serving and put it in the refrigerator. For an hour and a half, the contents are well soaked and the dish can be served to the table.
Eggplant "Peacock Tail"
An appetizer with this name, prepared according to the recipe described below, looks very bright and original on any holiday table. Its preparation does not take a lot of time, but consists of a dish of the simplest and cheapest ingredients.
To create this light snack in haste, you need to take a couple of ripe small eggplants, wash them well and cut them into medium-sized slices. Each of them must be fried in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil on both sides, until a golden crust is formed. After the vegetable is ready, it must be carefully laid out on a napkin so that it absorbs excess fat.
Separately, it is necessary to prepare a salad for such a filling - it acts as a separate layer in this snack. To create it, you need to grate a couple of processed cheeses and the same number of hard-boiled eggs on a fine grater. To these ingredients, you also need to add 3-4 cloves of garlic, which must first be passed through a press. The resulting mass must be salt to taste, add black ground pepper, a small amount of mayonnaise, and then mix until a homogeneous state is achieved.
After you need to prepare the remaining vegetables. To do this, wash the cucumber and bell pepper. Vegetables must be cut into thin circles, and pepper - into quarters. 10-12 olives should be cut in half.
After all the components of such a light meal are prepared, it is necessary to proceed with the formation of the "peacock tail." To do this, put fried eggplant on a baking sheet. On top of each of them you need to lay a thin layer of salad prepared from eggs and cheese, and on it - a circle of cucumber and a half of olive. On top of each such design you need to lay a slice of bell pepper (for greater beauty of the picture, it is better to take a red vegetable). All details of the snack should be laid out in the form of a peacock's tail.
Chicken thighs in batter
The light snack prepared according to this recipe is perfect for beer, and it can also be served on the table in combination with other alcoholic drinks. To create such an appetizer, you need to take 10 chicken thighs, wash under running water and dry thoroughly with a paper towel.
After that, you need to start cooking batter for appetizers. It is made from a pair of fresh chicken eggs, a pinch of salt, as well as spices that you like. To these ingredients, add an incomplete glass of flour and beat thoroughly with a mixer (at low speed). The consistency of the finished batter should resemble liquid sour cream.
After the egg mass is ready, it is necessary to roll each leg in it, and then lower them into flour. In the resulting form, the legs must be fried in a deep pan using a large amount of vegetable oil. If you wish, you can heat-treat such an appetizer in a deep fat fryer.
Serving such a light snack can be combined with vegetables, mashed potatoes and salads.
Chicken Stuffed Peaches
It's no secret that canned peaches and boiled chicken are the perfect combination. This is exactly what you can use in the process of preparing the next light snack on the festive table according to the recipe proposed here.
To create a snack, you need to take 6-8 whole halves of canned peaches. They should be laid out on a flat serving dish, having previously cut a small amount of the inside - so they will fit a larger amount of filling.
To prepare the filler for such a dish, you need to boil 250 g of chicken fillet until fully cooked. After this, the meat must be removed from the water and cool. After the whole fillet should be cut into small cubes. Add cutted peach pieces to this ingredient.
Finely grated hard cheese (100 g) should be added to meat and peaches. For the preparation of light and simple snacks according to the recipe proposed here, it is desirable to use the product that has a salty taste - in this case, it will perfectly complement the composition of the finished dish.
In a hot frying pan with vegetable oil, chop the chopped onion until transparent. As soon as this happens, send the mushrooms (100 g), cut into slices, to it and continue the process for a few more minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. After all this, you need to pepper the ingredients, add salt to taste to them, mix again and remove from heat.
When all the ingredients are cooked, they must be mixed in one dish, add a small amount of syrup from canned peaches to them, stir until smooth and stuff the fruit tightly.
Stuffed eggs
Stuffed eggs - this is one of the most common recipes for snacks on the festive table. To prepare such a dish, boil 10 hard eggs, cool them and remove the shell. After this is done, you need to cut each egg in half and remove the yolks from them - they will be needed for further preparation of the snack.
In order to make the filling for this light and simple snack, you need to finely chop 300 g of fresh champignons and send them to a pan with hot vegetable oil for frying. When they are half ready, you need to add to the mushrooms a finely chopped small onion head. In the process of processing products, they should be constantly stirred, at the very end of cooking, the mass should be salt and pepper to taste. After it is ready, it is necessary to pour a small amount of chopped greens of dill and parsley into it, if desired, add green onions.
When the filling has cooled, it is necessary to pour 100 g of crushed hard cheese into it, and also add a glass of mayonnaise. For greater severity of taste, the filling for such a tasty and light snack on the table must be supplemented with 2-3 crushed garlic cloves. At the very end, chopped egg yolks should be sent to the mass and mix well. If desired, you can grind the components in a blender - so the mass will take on a creamy appearance.
Cooked contents should stuff the eggs tightly, after which they need to be laid out on a dish for serving and for a more piquant look, decorate with greens.
Chips Salad
Consider a very simple recipe for a light and tasty snack - a salad in chips. Even a novice housewife who wants to surprise her guests and household can master the skills of cooking such a simple dish.
To create it, you need to acquire whole large chips - for this it is advisable to purchase those products that are sold in solid packaging - as a rule, the products in them retain their integrity in an excellent way.
Apart from everything, you need to prepare a salad that will act as a filling for a snack. To do this, cut 200 g of ham without veins into very small uniform cubes. Three tomatoes should be sent to it, chopped in the same way, as well as chopped greens with a knife. To the listed ingredients, pour 150 g of grated cheese on a fine grater of hard cheese. After this, the ingredients should be mixed well and left in this form for a certain time. When juice stands out from the tomatoes, it must be drained, and then season the mass with the necessary amount of mayonnaise.
When all preparations have been completed, put the chips on a plate for serving light snacks so that their notches are at the top. Each slice must be filled with cooked salad so that it lies with a slide. The finished dish should be decorated with fresh herbs - the appetizer can be served on the table.
Smoked salmon
It is no secret that salted salmon, served on the table in its pure form, cut into thin slices, is already an amazing appetizer for any feast. However, if it is smoked, it will certainly not be forgotten by invited guests for a long time. For its preparation it is not even necessary to have a professional smokehouse. You can create such a light and tasty snack in a simple home kitchen.
To cook smoked salmon, you need to get liquid smoke - a solution that can be bought at large grocery supermarkets. Also, this will require fresh, previously thawed salmon - about 500 g. The fish must be cleaned of everything unnecessary, and then cut in half. Each half should be lowered into a container with liquid smoke and left in it for 5-6 minutes. After the specified time, the pieces should be removed and rubbed well with ordinary kitchen salt. Culinary experts recommend using a large amount of salt, not being afraid to use the excess. This is due to the main feature of salmon - it does not absorb too much.
After all the manipulations, it is necessary to wrap each piece in a plastic wrap, which must be done very tightly. In this form, it should be sent to the refrigerator for no more than a day. After the specified time, the fish will be ready - it only remains to expand and cut into thin slices.
Herring with cheese
Another light and inexpensive appetizer for a table set in honor of a celebration is herring cooked with cheese. To create it, you need to take a large carcass of slightly salted fish. It should be cleaned from the insides, remove the head, lateral bones, ridge, and also the skin. After this, the formed halves of the fish should be washed under running water. At the end of this procedure, the fillet must be sprinkled with lemon juice - so the product will lose a large share of its unpleasant for many aromas.
In a separate bowl, put a small piece of softened butter (about 40-50 g), as well as a whole processed cheese. The ingredients need to be thoroughly mashed with a fork, add finely chopped dill and parsley to them (for lack of fresh, you can use dried). To the products you also need to add a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. All components of the appetizer should be mixed well until evenly distributed, after - put all this on the inside of one half of the fish carcass. Top should be invested in the second half. Now the structure must be pressed tightly so that it fixes its shape. After this, the fish should be tightly wrapped in cling film and sent in this form to the refrigerator for half an hour.
After the specified time, you need to cut the carcass into portioned pieces of medium thickness, making cuts across its length. Now a delicious and light snack on the festive table is ready - it can be served to guests, decorating with a small amount of greenery.
Eggplant rolls
Another option for surprising guests invited to a feast. This quick appetizer does not require a lot of culinary experience, in addition, all the ingredients that go into it are very cheap.
To prepare delicious and colorful rolls, you need to take a couple of ripe small eggplants, wash them, cut green tails, and then cut them into thin plates, doing this along the entire length. Each plate should be sprinkled with a small amount of salt and laid out on a table. In this form, they should lie about 30 minutes - for the specified period, the possible bitterness will be eliminated from the vegetable.
While the eggplant is pickled, you can start preparing other ingredients. To do this, in a separate bowl, you need to mix 100-150 g of fat cottage cheese (it is better to use homemade) with a tablespoon of sour cream (at least 20% fat). To the mass, you need to send a couple of crushed cloves of garlic, as well as spices that you like (a dried mixture of Caucasian herbs is great for such a dish). Pour plenty of chopped greens to the cottage cheese, after which everything must be mixed well.
After the specified 30 minutes, the eggplants should be fried in a hot pan with hot vegetable oil. The process is carried out from two sides, until they are ready. After the vegetable is ready, it must be thoroughly dried with paper towels, and then stuffed with cooked salad. It must be laid exclusively on the widest extreme part, one spoonful. After that, each layer should be wrapped in a roll and put on a plate for serving.
This light meal on the festive table will look more vivid if it is decorated with tomatoes and herbs before serving.
Tartlets with crab sticks
Seafood fans will surely appreciate such a light and simple appetizer, prepared according to a simple recipe. To create it, you should first acquire ready-made tartlets that are sold in grocery stores. All the ingredients in this recipe are designed for 8 tartlets.
The filling for such an appetizer on a light hand should be prepared from thawed seafood. To create it, you need to take 100 g of crab sticks and cut them very finely. To sticks, add 50 g grated on a fine grater of hard cheese, as well as a pair of hard-boiled chicken eggs, chopped in the same way. All components should be seasoned with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise with a high fat content, and then mix thoroughly until smooth.
After the salad is ready, they need to stuff each tartlet tightly, putting it in a slide. On top of each design, you need to place a small amount of red caviar, as well as a green sprig of parsley, which will give an original and piquant look to the finished snack. You can put the baskets on a dish covered with lettuce leaves - this way it will look very festive.
To prepare such an appetizer, you can use shrimp instead of crab sticks - the taste will also turn out amazing. However, before mixing seafood with other ingredients, it must first be boiled. To do this, pour boiling shrimp in boiled salted water in advance from the paws and shells of shrimp, add a bay leaf and a small amount of ground black pepper there. You need to cook them for 1.5-2 minutes so that they do not lose their taste.