Photo: YoungToymaker / Flickr

Holidays tend to be bad news for dieters, but there’s no reason for Halloween to be a scary time of year – food wise, that is. Having a healthy Halloween is just a matter of being creative with fresh, good-for-you ingredients. With these tasty recipes, nobody will even notice that you’re cutting calories at your party. Plus you’ll be serving dishes that look just as ghoulishly good on the plate as they taste.

Carrot fingers

Fill a serving bowl with your favourite dip. We love a quick blend of fat-free cottage cheese with a little low-fat mayonnaise, green onions, parsley and a dash of lemon juice, finished off with a few drops of hot sauce. Then peel five baby carrots (your ‘fingers’) and cut a diagonal bed for your ‘fingernails’ on the top of them. Attach almond slices to the tips of the ‘fingers’ with a little dip, and place them, spread evenly apart, in the dip so it looks like a hand is poking out of it. Serve with plenty more baby carrots for dipping.

Apple bites

All you’ll need for this recipe is a few green apples and some slivered almonds. Core the apples and quarter them. Then cut a wedge from the skin side of the corners, forming the shape of an open mouth. Finally, press in slivered almonds for teeth on your Halloween apple bites. If you’re not serving these bites immediately, you can make them with baked apples to avoid the fruit browning.

Dried fruit eyeballs

For these tasty, nutritious ‘eyeballs’, get hold of some dried apple rings, dried apricots, and raisins. First flatten two rings of dried apple in the palm of your hand to form the eyeballs. Then slice a piece of apricot in half and place it in the centre of the apple, covering the hole. Finally, add the raisins for pupils.

None of these recipes need cooking, so there’s no need to spend time slaving over your range cookers this Halloween. More fun with less time in the kitchen. What could be better?

Tags: halloween, Halloween 2010, Halloween party ideas