Kitchen Tips Well Fed 5 Lightened Up Summer Potluck Dishes By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on July 1, 2017 Summer potlucks don't have to undo all of your hard work at the gym. Try these lighter takes on summer side dishes for your next backyard barbeque. 1. Potato Salads If mayonnaise is on your do-not-eat list, try these potato salad recipes made with olive oil instead. Savory Spanish Potato Salad Olive oil, red wine vinegar, and garlic make up the dressing for this colorful red potato salad, while olives, shallots, bell peppers, and parsley make it one of the prettiest party dishes of the summer. Photo by lutzflcat. You might also like: Grilled Potato Salad Light and Easy Greek Potato Salad Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad 2. Coleslaw Coleslaw recipes usually start out with loads of fresh cabbage and crispy vegetables, but then it all gets smothered with heavy mayonnaise dressings sweetened with way too much sugar. Try lightening things up with these vinegar-dressed slaws with just a touch of sugar to balance the tartness. Calico Slaw Crunchy cabbage, crisp apples, snappy bell peppers, carroty carrots are tossed with an apple cider vinegar dressing. Like a few other reviewersgale1234 thought it needed just a touch more dressing to moisten all the ingredients. Photo by bd.weld. You might also like: Taco Slaw Jicama, Carrot, and Green Apple Slaw Spicy Bok Choy Slaw 3. Better Beans If you love beans with your summer barbecue, but super-sweet baked beans take you way over your sugar threshold, try going in a savory direction instead. Best Black Beans 15 minutes is all you'll need to pull this side dish together. Perfect for party procrastinators. lutzflcat You might also like: Blister Beans Refried Beans Without the Refry Bean Salad 4. Pasta Salad with a Twist We love Italian-inspired pasta salads, but try branching out into Asian-style noodle salads for a light and refreshing change. Vietnamese Rice-Noodle Salad You can add grilled shrimp, chicken, or tofu to this salad to make it more substantial. A few reviewers used soy sauce instead of fish sauce, and they still raved about it. Photo By Allrecipes Magazine. You might also like: Pesto Pasta Caprese Salad Saigon Noodle Salad Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad 5. Chips and Dip Done Right Appetizers are a big part of summer party menus, but all that snacking and grazing before the main meal can really tank your diet. The answer? Crispy vegetable chips and good-for-you dips. Baked Zucchini Chips simple7355 says the key to getting these zucchini chips just right is to cut them thin and raise the oven heat. Photo by lutzflcat. You might also like: Carrot Chips Kale Chips Baked Sweet Potato Coins Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Reviewers says you can adjust the amount of spices to suit your tastes. Jenny even roasted her own peppers to make this protein-rich dip. Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus | Photo by larkspur. You might also like: Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa Mango Salsa Traditional Baba Ghanoush Related Treat your beach body to summer desserts under 250 calories. Try 5 healthy dips that won't bust your yoga pants. Need guilt-free snacks for your TV binge? We've got you covered. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit