Many popular appetizers and even some desserts are low in calories and pack a powerful nutrient punch, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutrition blogger and author of Read It Before You Eat It.

Like holiday gifts, the food’s wrapping has a lot of impact, she says. “Fried foods and those wrapped in bacon or bathed in sauces can add unwanted pounds.”

Some holiday foods are loaded with good nutrition such as lean protein in shrimp appetizers, fibre in roasted vegetable side dishes and beta-carotene in sweet potatoes, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago.

“Just because the appetizers never made it to a plate doesn’t mean these foods won’t make it to your hips,” she says.

Taub-Dix offers some ideas for holiday party foods that are low in guilt:

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Article source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/holiday-guide-2011/Gallery+Holiday+foods+that+nutritious+calories/5866341/story.html