Easy dinner recipes: Outside-the-box finger foods for New Year’s Eve

If you’re staying in for New Year’s Eve, you’re going to need some finger food. It’s a time to mingle with friends, sip a cocktail and snack rather than sit down for a full meal.

We have more than 75 recipes for quick and easy finger foods for your New Year’s Eve party. And if you’re looking to surprise your friends with some out-of-the-box ideas, you may want to try a recipe for Lumpia Shanghai (pork and chestnut eggrolls with a sweet dipping sauce), chickpea turnovers, an almond tapenade, chorizo-corn madeleines or pepita and goat cheese bites.

Happy New Year!

LUMPIA SHANGHAI

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, diced
• 1 egg
• Salt or soy sauce
• 1 (16-ounce) package lumpia wrappers
• Oil, for deep frying

Directions:

Combine the pork, yellow onion, green onions, diced water chestnuts and egg in a bowl. Season with a little salt or soy sauce.

Starting with 1 wrapper, place about 2 tablespoons of the pork filling down the center of the wrapper in a “log” shape, about 1 inch from the edges. Start rolling the wrapper up from the short end, then fold in the sides and finish rolling. Repeat with the remaining wrappers until all the filling has been used up.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a deep skillet over medium-low heat and fry the egg rolls, in batches if necessary, until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Each lumpia: 166 calories; 38 mg sodium; 32 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.50 gram fiber.

CHICKPEA TURNOVERS

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper, chopped, if desired
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups drained cooked chickpeas)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Cayenne pepper, if desired
• 2 puff pastry sheets (from a 17.3-ounce frozen package), thawed
• 1 egg, beaten with pinch of salt, for glaze
• 1 or 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (white, black, or a mixture of both)

Directions:

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is tender and light golden, about 10 minutes. Add the jalapeno pepper, if using, the garlic and the cumin, and cook over low heat, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Chop the chickpeas in a food processor with a pulsing motion, leaving a few small pieces. Transfer the chickpeas to a medium bowl. Add the onion mixture and mix well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Unfold one pastry sheet on a cool, lightly floured surface (keep the other sheet refrigerated). Roll the pastry sheet out to a 12-by-9-inch rectangle. Cut the sheet into 12 (3-inch) squares.

Spoon 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each square. Brush the edges of the dough around the filling with the beaten egg. Fold the pastry over the filling to form triangles. Pinch the edges together firmly.

Sprinkle 2 foil-lined baking sheets with water. Place the filled pastries onto one of the sheets. Brush the center of each pastry with beaten egg, and sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Refrigerate the sheet for at least 30 minutes before baking. Meanwhile, roll out the second puff pastry sheet and form the rest of the pastries. This makes about one-half cup more filling than is needed for the pastries; the remaining filling can be used as a spread for toast or crackers.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the pastries for 10 minutes, then rotate each baking sheet and continue baking until the pastries are puffed and browned, about 6 minutes more. Serve hot or warm.

Each pastry: 37 calories; 1 gram protein; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 2 grams fat; 0 saturated fat; 8 mg cholesterol; 0 sugar; 39 mg sodium.
ALMOND TAPENADE

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups pitted black olives (kalamata, Nicoise or similar)
• 2 tablespoons salted capers
• 1/2 cup roasted almonds, whole with skin
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup grape seed or canola oil
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, chop the olives and capers to a coarse paste. Remove to another bowl.

Place the almonds in the food processor and chop coarsely. Add the chopped almonds and the parsley to the olive mix.

Add the oil and cayenne pepper and stir to combine.

Serve with baguette slices or crackers.

Each serving: 92 calories; 1 gram protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 165 mg. sodium.

CHORIZO-CORN MADELEINES

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated sharp Cheddar
• 1 cup finely diced Spanish chorizo (about 4 ounces)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 stick butter, melted, plus 3 tablespoons for tins
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the flour, semolina, baking powder, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and stir with a fork until well mixed.

Add the cheese, chorizo, green onions and corn. Toss to combine. Stir in the melted butter, eggs and half-and-half and mix well.

Brush 4 madeleine tins generously with melted butter. Spoon the batter in to fill each mold about halfway. Bake until tops are puffed and set and bottoms are well browned, about 12 minutes.

Cool slightly, then unmold. Serve warm.

Each madeleine: 74 calories; 3 grams protein; 4 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 5 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 31 mg. cholesterol; 133 mg. sodium.

PEPITA AND GOAT CHEESE BITES

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted toasted sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons unsalted toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
• 1 (4.5-ounce) package spreadable goat cheese
• 1 (2.75-ounce) package mini toasts
• 1 yellow bell pepper, optional garnish
• Few sprigs of cilantro, optional garnish

Directions:

In a small food processor, grind together the sunflower seeds, pepitas, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and orange zest until the nuts are finely ground. Stir in the olive oil and cilantro.

Spoon the goat cheese into a pastry bag fitted with a large serrated tube and a star-shaped tip, if you desire. Pipe about 1 teaspoon of cheese onto each of 24 mini toasts. Set aside any leftover toasts for another use. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of the nut mixture over the cheese. You’ll have some nut mixture left over; use it to sprinkle over salads.

For the optional garnish, cut the pepper into quarters and remove the stems and seeds. Use small hors d’oeuvre cutters to cut circles, stars and moons from the pepper. Top each toast with a pepper decoration. Top the circles with a 1/2-inch piece of a cilantro stem.

Each toast: 38 calories; 58 mg sodium; 4 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.06 gram fiber.

Want more recipes? Follow me on Twitter: @Jenn_Harris_

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