Posts Tagged ‘Appetizers’
Quickie App: Heirloom Tomatoes with Mozzarella

Heirloom Tomatoes with Mozarella

This was an easy appetizer we made towards the end of the summer, when delicious, ripe heirloom tomatoes were still available at our local farmers market. Why am I posting this now, when there are still snow showers in the air? Well, because I am tired of this dark and gloomy weather – it is March already, shouldn’t we be looking forward to some brightness?! This eatlovecook take on the classic Italian combination of tomatoes and mozzarella is sure to brighten up your mood and your palate instantly.

This is such a quick snack to make, and it’s one of those dishes where the taste comes purely from the ingredients, so make sure you have the best ones available. Thick slices of the sweet, succulent tomatoes get covered with a slab of fresh, soft mozzarella (buffalo would be best) and gets broiled in the toaster oven. A little salt, pepper and a quick drizzle of olive oil is all the additional flavor you’ll need – we also like a tiny piece of red pepper for texture and color on top. That’s it – throw it in the oven for a couple of mins – no fuss, no effort – just what a lazy summer day calls for!

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Filed under Appetizers, Italian, Quick and Easy
Posted on March 2nd, 2010 | Comments Icon No Comments
Ridiculously easy Goat Cheese-filled Puff Pastry

Goat Cheese Pasty Shells

Puff pastry is one of the most delicious things in this world – crispy, flaky, buttery, and filled with goodness. At times when we crave the puffs but are too lazy to pull out the pastry sheets and roll them out, etc., we turn to the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry shells. And at times when we are too lazy to even whip up a quick filling for the shells, be it savory or sweet, we stick a hunk of whatever soft cheese we have on hand and end up with a deliciously decadent, ridiculously easy-to-make appetizer.

This is a simple, straightforward recipe for days when you want to just pop a couple of these in the toaster oven for a quick snack, or for when you have the oven cranked up for a day of baking and want a bonus appetizer without any extra effort. This can also stand in as a deceptively sophisticated-looking Hors d’oeuvre, and you could easily kick it up a notch by just mixing a few spices, herbs or veggies in with the cheese. Over the weekend, the wife and I just wanted to snuggle in and not do too much cooking, so we kept it simple and used up a dollop of some flavored goat-cheese that we had on hand to enjoy a hot snack on a cold Sunday night.

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Filed under American, Appetizers, Quick and Easy
Posted on December 21st, 2009 | Comments Icon No Comments
Desi Chinese: Vegetable Springrolls

Desi Chinese Springrolls

Like most young couples who grew up in India, wifey and I count Desi Chinese food amongst our favorite cuisines. Despite our tastes being polar opposites in most other foods, we both share a love for most of the common desi-chinese dishes like vegetable manchurian, chicken drums of heaven, hakka noodles, and the new favorite at our weekend dinner table: vegetable springrolls.

These golden-brown crispy rolls of delicious goodness live on the delicate balance of healthy and unhealthy food – they are packed with the fibrous goodness of cabbage, carrot and onion, but are deep fried and absorb quite a bit of the oil. They work well as an appetizer for a weekend family dinner or an impressive pot-luck dish , but I warn you – they are so delicious that you will be tempted to make a bunch at a time and keep munching on them through the week.

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Filed under Appetizers, Chinese, Restaurant Meals
Posted on November 21st, 2009 | Comments Icon No Comments