5 healthier tapas to have with an aperitif

Spain and its tapas! What would aperitif time be without them. The truth is that there is no better time of day than leaving work, meeting up with your friends and having a drink and snacking from tapa to tapa as they are placed at the bar. However, if you are in the trend of reducing your calories as much as possible, but you also don't want to look boring and be left without a plan, we want to tell you that we understand you! And there is a solution, there is always a solution.

There is an option, well, maybe several, beyond the fries that usually accompany the appetizer, and at Hanukeii we have decided to bring you 5 tapas so that you can prepare them yourself at home when you make plans with friends or even so that Maybe you order them at your trusted bar. Keep reading!

Mushrooms with garlic and parsley.

Mushrooms and mushrooms have a lot of protein, although it may not seem like it. In addition to providing nutrients and being very very low in calories. With mushrooms we play with the advantage that they can be made in infinite ways. Gratin, grilled, stuffed. That's a matter of taste. A super easy and super simple recipe is garlic mushrooms.

What you need:

• Mushrooms (300gr)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Fresh parsley
• 100 ml of white wine
• 1 splash of vinegar
• Salt
• Olive oil

To cook:

• First we clean the mushrooms and run them through cold water.
• So that they do not oxidize, they should be left in a bowl with cold water and a splash of lemon*
• Cut the garlic cloves and mushrooms into slices.
• We brown the garlic in the pan, being careful not to burn it, since if it burns it will become bitter.
• We add the already cut mushrooms.
• Then we add the white wine and stir everything and raise the heat to evaporate the alcohol from the wine.
• We add the splash of vinegar and the parsley.
• We stir until almost all the broth evaporates and put it on the plate.

Marinera-style mussels

Mussels are a food that you can play with in many ways when making appetizers. Additionally,  they are a great source of iron and protein. You can make them with many different sauces. Although one of the healthiest and our favorite, are mussels marinara style. It is a super simple recipe to prepare and takes around 20 minutes, no more.

What you need:

• Mussels (1kg)
• Onion (150g)
• Oil
• A teaspoon of sweet paprika
• White wine (80ml)
• Salt
• Pepper
• A Laurel Leaf
• Rosemary

As you can see, they are ingredients that you usually always have at home. And it should be noted that it is a recipe designed for 4 people. Now, let's get to the preparation.

To cook:

• For this, first of all we must have the mussels very clean. A trick to make them perfect is that you buy them the day you are going to consume them and leave them in a bowl in the refrigerator wrapped in a damp cloth. It is also important that you check each mussel in case any have a broken shell. Then we take the mussels and place them in a colander to rinse them with cold water, stirring them with our hands. That said, we start with the preparation.
• After having cleaned the mussels, we peel the onion and sauté it in a pan with oil. You have to sauté it for about 5 minutes.
• Then we add the teaspoon of sweet paprika.
• Next, we add the mussels and pour in the white wine. We stir a little so that everything is well impregnated and we add the bay leaf, the rosemary and season with salt and pepper.
• Once everything is in the pan, we cook over high heat for about 5 minutes.
• With this time the mussels should open, if they have not all opened yet you can cook a few more minutes until they open.
• Once opened, place the mussels on a platter and pour the sauce on top. And that's it!

CURRY DRIED FRUITS

Perhaps it sounds boring and very basic, since nuts are something that you always have at home, whether they are peanuts, almonds, or walnuts. But the reality is that you can do countless things with some simple nuts. A very good and healthy recipe that is very popular (if you like spices, of course) is curried nuts, it is a recipe that gives a different touch to traditional nuts to eat them with another flavor than usual. at the same time it is healthy. You can make this recipe without spice or with spice by adding hot paprika. That's up to the consumer's taste.

What you need:

• Nuts (the ones you like the most, or you can make a mix) (200 gr)
• Olive oil (30 gr)
• 1 tablespoon ground curry
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ¼ ground cinnamon
• ¼ sweet or hot paprika
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 Lemon or orange zest
• Ground black pepper

To cook:

• First we heat the pan with the olive oil and add the cumin and curry. You have to mix everything well.
• We add the nuts and stir everything.
• We add the rest of the spices (cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, paprika and salt). And stir well.
• We add the lemon or orange zest, the brown sugar and the black pepper (a little tap).
• Continue stirring for several minutes until everything is well toasted.
• We remove from the pan and let it cool.

If life gives you lemons, make Guacamole!

If there is something that is increasingly consumed and more common in Spain, it is guacamole. Something very simple to do and at the same time is healthy. When it comes to preparing homemade guacamole there is no single recipe, there are many ways and it also depends on taste. The recipe that I bring you today for guacamole is a typical Mexican one, although it is not the definitive recipe either, you can change some ingredients or even add some.

What you need (for 4 people):

• 3 avocados
• 1 green pepper
• A bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 chive
• Lime juice to taste
• Nachos or tostones
• Jalapenos
• Tomato
• Red Tabasco
• Garlic

To cook:

It is a very easy recipe to make and takes around 15 minutes. The ideal is to use the usual mortar, although if you don't have one you can do it in a mixer, but obviously it doesn't look the same.

• First we chop the onion very finely along with the cilantro and green pepper.
• We open the avocado and remove all the meat and cut it into slices.
• We mix all the ingredients with the help of the mortar while we add the lime juice.
• We try it and decide whether to add the optional ingredients or leave it as is.
• If we want to add the optional ingredients, add them all and mix with a fork.

Classic Gildas from the Basque Country.

Although it may not seem like it, the classic gildas are a fairly simple tapa, without much mystery at the same time that it is a light and satisfying tapa. La Gilda was born in the Basque Country and is an icon there. It is a very easy and quick preparation to do, it will not take a few. 10 minutes. Let's start with the recipe!

What you need (for 2 people)

• 6 chillies in vinegar
• 6 salted anchovies
• 12 pitted green olives
• Olive oil.
• Appetizer sticks

To cook:

• We start by draining the chillies and anchovies from the preserving liquid.
• Assemble each toothpick with an olive, half a chilli and an anchovy. Then add another half chilli and finish with another olive.
• Assemble all the gildas like this and then season them with the olive oil.
• You can also assemble them to taste and even with whole chillies, the one I have given you is the traditional way, but of course it can be adapted.
• We place them beautifully on a plate and that's it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HEALTHY TAPAS

WHICH ARE THE LESS FAT TAPAS?

The least fattening tapas are pickle tapas and seafood tapas. They are the ones with the fewest calories and the healthiest. Fried and battered tapas should be avoided. As long as they are with fresh products, the better.

WHAT IS THE HEALTHiest NUT?

There is no nut that is the healthiest in itself. There are several that each have their nutritional properties, such as almonds that have a lot of iron, or pistachios that have a high antioxidant content. Walnuts are very good for the brain. Hazelnuts are also very nutritious, peanuts have something curious and that is that they help control blood sugar levels.

WHAT TO EAT AS AN SNACK TO LOSE WEIGHT?

You can opt for Dips that have been prepared naturally, accompanied by corn or whole wheat pancakes. Dips can be chickpea or beet Hummus, natural Guacamole with lots of lemon, mussels and even olives.