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Showing posts with label appetizers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appetizers. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Stuffed Mushrooms

Again I went to the fridge to find inspiration of what to make and post on my blog.  I saw this big container of mushrooms just asking to be used. 



So I thought “How about stuffed mushrooms?”  I love mushroom and I really like stuffed mushrooms.  These mushrooms are very simple but so delicious!




Stuffed Mushrooms
½ medium onion, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance margarine
8-10 mushrooms
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
1-2 slices of bread (or ¼ cup of bread crumbs)


Sauté the onions and celery in a skillet with the Earth Balance.  Trim and take the stems out of the mushrooms and chop fine.  Put these pieces of the mushroom stems in with the onion and celery mixture.  Cook over medium heat until vegetables are soft about 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir often.

Sprinkle a few shakes of salt, pepper and ground thyme into vegetable mixture.  Add about ¼ of water or less.  Finely break up the bread into tiny pieces and add to the vegetable mixture.  Stir to combine.



Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel.  Fill each mushroom cap with about a teaspoon of the vegetable mixture.  Place in a greased baking dish.  Bake covered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes; take off cover and continue to cook 5 minutes.

Note: You could also add a few shakes of nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavor to these yummy delights.

Friday, October 4, 2013

October 4th - Pinwheels Appetizers

I previously froze half of the mushroom & eggplant mixture (recipe here) from the other day and I still had some leftover cashew cheese so I decided to make some pinwheels for my sister-in-law and nephew to try.  I like the mushroom & eggplant mixture both ways and I really like the cheese pinwheels.




I just made another row of the mushroom & eggplant puffs and then I made the pinwheels.  I spread a thin layer of the mushroom mixture on half of the 2/3s piece of the puff pastry for the mushroom & eggplant pinwheels.  For the cheese pinwheels I spread a thin layer of the cashew cheese on the other third and then I sprinkled some shredded cheddar Daiya on it.  I rolled them both up and then sliced them. 



I baked them at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.



Using the puff pastry is very easy and my mind is racing with yummy ideas to fill it!  Plus it really makes a ton of little appetizers!  

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Hummus

I’ve been web searching hummus recipes for a few days.   I haven’t made any yet until today.  I like the idea of homemade hummus for many reasons.  I have to be honest that it is much cheaper to make it yourself and really not that hard to make as long as you have a food processor!  I used canned chickpeas because I didn’t have any dry ones but I’m going to get some soon!  I also like the idea of varying my own flavors.   I just made the basic one today though.

Here’s the recipe I made up from reading a few.

Classic Creamy Hummus
1 15 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained & rinsed
¼ cup tahini
3 T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic minced
2 T olive oil
3 T water
1 tsp sea salt

Put the tahini and lemon juice in the food processor and blend.  Add the garlic, olive oil and water and mix until frothy.  Then add the sea salt and the drained chickpeas.  Puree until very smooth.  (a few minutes)



Today’s food choices:
Artisan bread
Coffee
Spinach salad from Panera sans the bacon & egg of course
½ Mediterranean Veggie sandwich with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and cilantro jalapeno hummus
Snack – homemade hummus & pita chips
Quinoa, black beans, stir fry veggies


Dinner