Asiago Dip

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/3 cup asiago cheese, grated
1/2 cup spinach or shredded zucchini (lightly sauteed in olive oil)
8 oz. sour cream
1 tbsp asiago cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first five ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to 1 qt. baking dish. (I like to use my small stoneware baking dish). Sprinkle with asiago. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves: 6

Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

2012, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, All Rights Reserved

Prep Time:

30 min

Inactive Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

--

Level:

Easy

Serves:

6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6 ounces good feta, crumbled
• 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup good olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots (2 shallots)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 2 tablespoons good red wine vinegar
• 2 pounds ripe heirloom or cherry tomatoes, 1/2-inch-diced
• 3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves, plus extra for serving
• 20 to 25 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal baguette slices, toasted
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Directions

For the whipped feta, place the feta and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until the cheeses are mixed. Add 1/3 cup of the olive oil, the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until smooth.

For the tomatoes, up to an hour before you're serving, combine the shallots, garlic, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the tomatoes, stir gently, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and taste for seasonings.

To assemble the crostini, spread each slice of bread with a generous amount of whipped feta. With a slotted spoon, place the tomatoes on top. Put the crostini on plates and scatter with the pine nuts. Sprinkle with extra basil and serve.

Zucchini Sticks

Wait right there, you say. It's not zucchini season yet! True. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy these delicious, addictive zucchini sticks. This would be a fantastic appetizer or snack or side dish. These were SO yummy. I think I ate a dozen as soon as they were cooled off - no joke! The original recipe, King Arthur Flour, also includes a sweet onion dip that I bet is mighty tasty, too. Check it out.

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3"-long sticks
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
scant 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Pizza Seasoning or mixed Italian herbs
olive oil spray
2 large eggs


DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the zucchini sticks: Place the zucchini sticks in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Let the zucchini drain for 1 hour or longer; rinse and pat dry.
2. Combine the Panko, Parmesan, and pizza seasoning; set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil.
4. Dredge sticks a few at a time in the egg, then roll in the crumb mixture. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
6.  Serve immediately, with sweet onion dip.

Yield: about 3 dozen zucchini sticks

Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes and Lime Aioli

This is a very impressive appetizer that is quite tasty and not too difficult to make. If you can make pancakes, you can make fritters! Original recipe taken from Cooking Light. 


INGREDIENTS:
8 ripe tomatoes, halved (the vine-ripe variety was a good size for me.)
olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups corn kernels (3 ears fresh)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon salt
Aioli Ingredients:
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 garlic clove, minced

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet (my Silpat works great for this). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil; sprinkle with freshly ground cracked pepper. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and have lost a lot of their moisture. They should look a bit like sundried tomatoes - kind of flat. After 1 hour, check them every 15 minutes or so to make sure they don't burn.
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add milk and egg; stir until smooth. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon pepper, corn, green onions, and salt.
4. Heat some olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by level tablespoonfuls into pan; cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges are golden. Carefully turn fritters over; cook 2 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining batter. (*This is just like cooking pancakes. Add more olive oil as needed in between batches.)
5. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and garlic.
6. Place one tomato half onto each fritter and drizzle with aioli.

Serves: 16


*NOTE: you can make these ahead of time (minus the aioli on top) and store in the freezer or fridge. You can heat them back up by baking for 10 minutes at 350° or in toaster oven on Medium.

P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps with Chicken

I've been dying to make these "knock-off" PF Changs wraps forever! I absolutely love their lettuce wraps and looked through several versions of recipes before finding this one. I've never cooked with ground chicken before, but it really tasted like the real deal! (FYI - I didn't have green onions and used brown rice in the recipe pictured.) 

Ingredients:
16 Boston, bibb or butter lettuce leaves
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 large onion -- chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Asian chili pepper sauce (see Note)
1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts -- drained, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions -- thinly sliced
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

Directions:
Rinse lettuce leaves, keeping them whole. Set aside to drain. 

Cook chicken in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often to break up the meat. Add onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili sauce. Cook until the meat is crumbled and brown. Add water chestnuts and green onions. Cook until onions begin to wilt, about 2 minutes. 

Stir in sesame oil. Arrange lettuce leaves on the outer edge of a platter. Spoon meat mixture in center. Allow diners to spoon meat mixture into lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. 

Note: Asian chili pepper sauce can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. Some brands contain garlic, which is fine. You can use 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes instead. 

Serves 4 (as a main dish - would serve more as an appetizer...)

Swiss Crab Appetizer Bites

Ingredients:
7.5 ounces lump crabmeat, drained and flaked
1 tablespoon sliced green onion
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 (next time I'm using 1/2) teaspoon curry powder
1 (8 ounce) package puff pastry cups
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together crabmeat, green onion, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder and salt and pepper. Spoon equal portions of the crabmeat mixture onto the puff pastry cups. Bake in the preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

I found this great recipe on allrecipes.com and pretty much copied it with only a couple minor changes. It was to die for! Perfect to bring to a summer picnic or party.

Ingredients
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Fuji apples - peeled, cored and diced (plus dipped into lemon/lime soda to prevent browning)
1-2 mangoes
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons strawberry preserves
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
cinnamon sugar (1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp cinnamon)

Directions:
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, mangoes, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and strawberry preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Coat one side of a flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Flip it over and spray the other side as well. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar. Set on a large baking sheet and cut into wedges with pizza cutter.

Bake in the preheated oven about 15 minutes. Make sure they are crisp and not chewy! Repeat with remaining tortillas. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Parmesan Crisps with Pancetta and Roma Tomato Salsa

Michelle and I saw these on the Food Network on Guy Fieri's show. We thought they'd make a great appetizer. And they did!

Ingredients
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons julienne fresh basil leaves
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
balsalmic vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine Parmesan, paprika, and freshly ground black pepper.

On a parchment lined cookie sheet (or Silpat!), add the Parmesan mixture in 2 tablespoon dots, 2 inches apart. Gently pat down into a flat disk.

Place in preheated oven and cook until cheese melts. (about 3 minutes)

Remove from oven and when cheese is cool enough to handle but still moldable, remove and form into small taco type shells.

In a small saute pan cook pancetta until crispy, remove and let cool. When cool, crumble with your hands.

In a small bowl add tomatoes, basil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, olive oil, and toss gently to combine. (A splash of balsalmic vinegar is a GREAT addition)

Add tomato mixture to Parmesan crisps and top with pancetta.

Easy Pizza Hut Breadsticks

From RecipeZaar: Recipe #170013
Makes: 16 breadsticks

INGREDIENTS:
1 (10 ounce) can pizza dough (Pillsbury)
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup olive oil (approximately)
marinara sauce, for dipping

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450º.

Unroll dough onto cutting board. Cut into 16 even strips.

Place each strip on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake 6-8 minutes until golden brown.

While dough is baking, combine all DRY ingredients.

Remove baked breadsticks from oven and brush with olive oil and quickly sprinkle evenly with dry topping.

Serve with warm marinara sauce.