By Nanette Blanchard

Fresh hummus with celery, carrots and pita wedges.

Want to celebrate the New Year but don’t have a lot of time for party preparation? Here are a few healthy and easy finger foods to help you ring in 2015:

• Buy some prepared hummus and put it in a serving dish. Make a mixture of diced tomatoes, parsley, and onion and put it on top of the hummus. Serve hummus with your favorite dippers including whole wheat pita, celery, green pepper, carrot, and cucumbers.
• Mix your favorite vegan dark chocolate chips with a variety of dried fruits and nuts and serve this easy trail mix in paper mini muffin liners.
• Make a little bowl of mixed olives and pepperoncini peppers to serve with toasted whole grain bread wedges.
• Make prepared salsa more hearty by stirring in a can of pinto or black beans. Top with a little diced cilantro and serve with several different colors of tortilla chips.
• Defrost a bag of whole edamame in pods. They can be served hot or cold.
• Cut up your favorite winter fruits and put them on bamboo skewers. For a Mexican variation, try dusting the skewers with a light sprinkling of cayenne or chipotle chile powder and adding some lime wedges.
• Fill pitted dates with about 1/2 teaspoon almond butter. You can add some squares of your favorite vegan dark chocolate on the serving plate.
• Make your own mocktails by mixing seltzer or sparkling water with your favorite fruit juice and adding lime or lemon wedges.
• Looking for a different party decoration for New Year’s? Try rounding up various clocks you have around the house and you can even include photos of clock images printed from your favorite online image source.

Happy New Year from the Vegetarian Resource Group!