Category: appetizer

Noodle Monsters!

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I made these noodles monsters for my niece and nephew, and they liked them so much that they helped make a second round of them.  The kinds’ noodle placement is way more creative than mine was, as is usually the way with kid’s art.

What you need:

wieners – veggie if you like them!

spaghetti noodles

ketchup and mustard for decorating

What you do:

1. Boil a big pot of water.

2.  Poke the spaghetti through the wieners – be creative!

3.  Throw the spaghetti/wieners into the boiling water and cook until the noodles are soft.

4.  Drain the spaghetti/wieners, then use ketchup and mustard to make faces on the wieners.

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Chorizo and Lime Appetizer

This idea comes from my good friend, Sarah.  It’s so simple and so delicious.  I bought the chorizo at Oyama Sausage at Granville Island; I particularly love the red wine chorizo.

What you need:

chorizo

lime

toothpicks

paper towel

What you do:

1.  Slice the sausage.

2.  Heat a frying pan.  Put the sausage in it.  Fry on each side until slightly browned.

3.  Use the paper towel to soak up the fat.

4.  Squirt lime over the sausages, then put a toothpick in each one.  I served them right out of the cast iron frying pan so they would stay hot.

Turkey and Hot Italian Sausage Meatballs

Looking for an appetizer and wanting to make something for the meat-lovers coming to visit, I decided meatballs were the perfect thing.  I thought about what I would love in a meatball, and decided to improve on what I’ve done in the past.  I combined some favourites that I thought would work well together – the spice of the hot Italian sausages, the lightness of the turkey, a punch of flavour from the sun-dried tomatoes, and then some pistachios for a twist.  I put it all into a homemade tomato sauce, which is so easy, and I cooked them for a long time to make the sauce really thick and to give the flavours time to mingle.

I served them on skewers for appetizers, and the leftovers made a great topping for spaghetti squash.  Of course you could always go with the standby comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs.

What you need for the meatballs:

400 grams ground turkey thigh

400 grams hot Italian sausage, removed from casings (or chorizo)

1 egg

1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (or oven-roasted)

1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted pistachios,  finely chopped

1/3 cup finely grated parmesan

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

What you need for the sauce:

1 small onion

1 large can pureed tomatoes

3 tablespoons butter

a little red wine (optional)

a rind from parmesan cheese (optional but amazing! save your rinds for this purpose!)

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil, optional

What you do:

The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until you need it.  The whole recipe can be made ahead of time and reheated.  I think it`s even better the second time around.

1. Start the sauce first by simply emptying the can of tomatoes into a pot, then adding the butter and the cheese rind.  Put the whole onion into the pot – it will simmer to add flavour, and you will remove it at the end.

2. Bring the sauce to a low boil, and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.  Add a little red wine or water if it`s getting too thick.

3.  Remove the rind and the onion, and add salt, pepper, and the optional basil to taste.  If you think it needs it, you can add a little brown sugar to the tomato sauce.

4.  If you made the sauce ahead of time, heat it up in a large pot.

5.  Combine all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl. I mix it with my hands because I’m going to use my hands to make the meatballs anyways.  Don’t mix the meatball mixture too much, just until it is combined.

6. Drop the meatballs directly into the sauce, on a low simmer.  Try not to stir them until they’ve had some cooking time, so they solidify and won’t break as easily.  Spoon some sauce over the tops of the meatballs, so they are all covered.  Cook for at least half an hour, but preferably longer, until the sauce is nice and thick.

Serve on pasta, spaghetti squash, or on toothpicks as an appetizer.

Shrimp Ceviche

If you love seafood, this one’s for you, a nice summery dish.  It’s as easy as cutting up some stuff and letting it sit for a while.  You don’t cook the shrimp; that’s what the lime juice does.  It’s a nice appetizer or part of a light meal that you can serve with nacho chips.  It’s important to get really fresh shrimp!

I found the recipe here.

What you need:

1/2 tomato, diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/2 cup cucumber, diced

200 grams fresh raw prawns, deveined and shelled, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/4 of a Serrano chili, deseeded and finely diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

hot sauce

What you do:

1. Put everything except the hot sauce into a bowl, stir to combine everything.  Put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

2. Taste your ceviche, then add some hot sauce of you wish.

Ready to serve with some nacho chips!

 

 

Watermelon Salsa

What you need:

1 cup tomatoes, diced

1 cup watermelon, diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced, seeds removed unless you like it really hot

2 tablespoons diced cilantro

salt

1 freshly squeezed lime

a few dashes of hot sauce

What you do:

1. Cut up tomato and watermelon into chunks of about 1 cm.

2.  Add everything else and let it sit for at least an hour. Have a taste and see if you need to adjust add more salt or hot sauce.

Ready to go!

Watermelon Gazpacho

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This brilliant, fresh soup is the perfect thing for a hot summer’s day.  I made it up ahead of time, stuck it in the fridge, and just ladled it up for an appetizer.  I topped it with a little feta and cilantro, but you could also chop up a little watermelon, tomato or cucumber to sprinkle on top.

I found the recipe on One Perfect Bite. I just used less olive oil.

What you need:

4 cups watermelon

2 cups tomatoes

1 small jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, diced

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons cilantro (plus a little more for garnishing)

a tablespoon or two of olive oil

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

salt and pepper

feta for garnishing

What you do:

1. Puree everything (except the garnish!) until it is smooth.  I used an immersion blender, but a regular blender would do a great job.

2. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Serve with your choice of toppings: feta, cilantro, chopped tomato, cucumber or watermelon.

Gorgeous Gazpacho!

This is one of the best things I have ever made.  I was transported back to Spain as soon as I took my first mouthful.  Last summer I had the most amazing food in Barcelona, and one of my favourites was gazpacho.  So many meals were started off with this lovely cold soup; I ordered it almost every day.  I never thought I would like a cold soup, but it was so refreshing and flavourful.  I didn’t get a chance to make any last summer, and since winter tomatoes are pretty much tasteless, I waited until summer to try the recipe.

Love.  It.

And it requires no cooking, just some chopping, pureeing, and chilling.  My favourite version was topped with finely diced bits of the soup ingredients, so this one has diced tomato, red pepper, and some of the bread fried in a little olive oil.  I forgot to keep a little of the cucumber aside for the topping, but I recommend that you chop up a little of that too.

I got the recipe here, but I used less onion than the recipe called for. The recipe says it’s for four people, but I think it feeds a lot more people than that.

Enjoy!

What you need:

1 pound of tomatoes

1 cucumber

1/2 a medium-sized sweet onion (the recipe called for two – way to much for me)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups bread (plus more for the topping)

2 red bell peppers

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

7 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons water

salt to taste

What you do:

1. Soak the bread in water for a few minutes, then squeeze most of the water out with your hands.

2. Puree all the veggies, bread, vinegar and water, then slowly add the olive oil to blend it in.  Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Put the soup in the fridge to chill.

4. Dice a little tomato, cucumber and red pepper for garnishing

5. Cut the remaining bread into very small cubes.  Heat a frying pan, then pour in some olive oil.  Add the bread and toss it around the pan until it is slightly browned.

A nice way to serve this is to ladle the soup into individual bowls, then have the toppings in separate bowls so everyone can garnish as they wish.

Easy Homemade Tzatziki

Easy and delicious, that’s what this homemade tzatziki is!  I use my homemade yogurt for it, and strain it to make a Greek yogurt.  It’s great for dipping lightly grilled pita, and for souvelaki.  You just have to plan a few hours ahead so you can strain the yogurt, unless you’ve bought some already thick Greek yogurt.

What you need:

2 cups yogurt, not low-fat

cheesecloth for straining

1 clove garlic, minced (or more if you like it really garlicky)

1/2 english cucumber, grated

salt and pepper to taste

fresh mint, optional

What you do:

1.  Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place the yogurt into the cheesecloth.  Refrigerate for a few hours or over night to and allow it to drain.  Pour off the liquid that is drained.

2.  Grate the cucumber and squeeze it so you get as much liquid out of it as you can.

3.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and optional mint.  Mix it all up.

I like it best when it’s not served straight out of the fridge, so if you keep it in the fridge, you might want to take it out a little while before serving.

Fig & Anise Crisps

Terra Breads makes this fabulous fig and anise bread.  I just made up a mixture of olive oil and maple syrup, brushed it on and toasted it to makes these darlings.  They were delicious with some salty olive tapenade on top to play off the sweetness of the figs and maple syrup.

What you need:

part of a loaf of fig & anise bread, thinly sliced

olive oil

maple syrup

What you do:

1.  As thinly as you can, slice the bread.  Place the slices onto a baking sheet.

2.  Mix some olive oil with some maple syrup, less syrup than oil.

3.  Brush a little of the mixture onto each piece of bread.

4.  Toast them in the oven on about 250-300F, watching closely so they don’t burn.

They were great with the olive tapenade, but I would imagine a sharp cheese or some cream cheese would be fantastic.

Mango Quinoa Salad

Here’s a salad with a taste of summer.  Easy, yummy, and great picnic food!

What you need:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked in 1 cup water

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 mango, cut into chunks

1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped finely (leave the seeds in if you love spicy food)

1/3 cup raisins

1 tomato, chopped

juice of 1 lime

a little chopped cilantro and/or parsley

What you do:

1.  To cook the quinoa, put it in a pot with 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, then put a lid on it and lower the heat, cooking for 15 minutes.  Then remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Let the quinoa cool to use in the salad.

2.  Toss all the other ingredients together in a large bowl to let the flavours mingle, for at least half an hour.  By this time the quinoa may be cooled, and you can either serve the mango mixture on a bed of quinoa, or you can mix it all together.  Serve with a garnish of something green, like cilantro.