Fancy Apps!

Here are two quick and easy recipes for appetizers that are far from ordinary. These decadent bite-sized appetizers have a fancy flare and are a sure crowd pleaser!

Honey-rosemary Pear Brie Bites

1 loaf par-baked bread from Trader Joes

1 sliced pear

2 tablespoons honey

Fresh rosemary

Brie cheese

Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices and place on baking sheet. Cut Brie into 1/4 inch slices and place on bread. Cook at 350 for 8-10 minutes. While cooking, place pear slices and 2 tablespoons of honey in medium saucepan. Saute for 5 minutes. Take brie bites out of oven and immediately place pear slices on top of brie. Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Cucumber Greek Bites

1 cucumber

1 package fresh feta cheese (I prefer Bulgarian from Lazy Acres)

Balsamic olive oil

5 slices prosciutto 

Peel cucumber and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Using a tea spoon, hollow out 3/4 of the center of each cucumber bite. Place a small strip of prosciutto (about 2 inches long) in each cucumber, then top with feta cheese. Before serving, drizzle each cucumber bite with balsamic oil.

Mix it up and Mash it Up

We decided to do a spin on your average mashed potatoes and make some mashed cauliflower.  I went to the Santa Barbara farmer's market and they had the most beautiful cauliflower heads, and I had been wanting to try to change up my usual roasted cauliflower, so I thought I would try this out.  It takes a LOT less time and has much fewer calories than mashed potatoes, but tastes just as good, in my opinion better!

Mashed Cauliflower

1 Medium cauliflower head

1 Tablespoon of low fat cream cheese (I used chive and onion, but you can use any type)

1/3 buillon cube

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves minced garlic 

3 Tablespoons of butter

Chives

Break up cauliflower into small pieces and boil it for about 6-7 minutes until it is very soft. Drain the cauliflower and dry it between paper towels.  Mix in all the ingredients, and use an immersion blender or food processor to mash it, then serve!

What did I tell you? Easiest recipe ever? For a few varieties you can switch up the cream cheese for fat free cream, or roast the garlic.  If you think it doesn't taste enough like mashed potatoes you can add either some potato flakes or some actual real cooked potatoes.  

Harajuku Girls

We skipped the tutus, hot pink make-up, fake eyelashes, and ten inch heels, but we are big fans of Love, Angel, Music, and Baby, and we are OBSESSED with this 20 minute Japanese simmering sauce from William's Sonoma.  This was literally the easiest recipe we have ever made! We just put it in the crock pot with some thinly sliced carrots and thinly sliced green onions. EASIEST dinner ever.  We served it on the top of some fresh grown butter lettuce.

Peace, Love and Flower Power

Up for a groovy time!?!?! Throw on your tie-dye shirt, skip the shower, grab your guitar (well maybe don't skip the shower), and throw a hippie-inspired love fest at your joint (no pun intended).  In the spirit of the psychedelic 60s fashion that is making a full circle and coming back into style, we decided to throw a flower power party.  These are some very far out treats to make, so invite your friends over and in the words of the Beatles "all you need is LOVE!"   
So get the party started and "MAKE FOOD, NOT WAR!" peace and love.

Flower Power Paninis

Rosemary herb sourdough bread

Pesto

Tomato

Mozzarella 

Pesto

Turkey

Brie

Honey Mustard

Mayonaise

Flower Cookie Cutters

Make your sandwich up, leaving out the tomatoes (Really, you can put anything you want on these little sandwiches), then cut them out with your flower shaped cookie cutters, then toast them up in a Panini machine (or if you don't have one you can just use the oven or toaster)  

Ice-cream Flower Power Pots

Mini flower pots

Straws

Mint Chip Ice Cream softened

Smashed Up Oreos

Flowers

Get your flower pots cleaned and ready (if there are holes in the bottom on the pot cover them with seran-wrap).  Cut the straw so that it is a little shorter than the height of the flower pot, then place the straw in the middle of the flower pot.  Fill up the pot about three-fourths of the way full with the softened ice cream while your straw is still in the middle (so that it makes a little tube in the middle of the ice cream.  Put these in the freezer until the ice cream is hardened up most of the way, then pull them out and sprinkle the smashed up Oreos on top so that it looks like dirt.  Make sure not to fill the straw up with Oreos, then put the flower in the straw.

Souper Bowl

I know the super bowl is on every boys mind with playoffs going on, but this will keep you happy and full even if your team isn't doing very well.  If you think French Onion Soup seems more daunting to make than getting sacked by a 200 pound football player, think again! It does take longer than the whole super bowl game to make, and those of you with sensitive eyes may be crying harder than Drew Brees fans, but it tastes AMAZING, and is extremely healthy.  

French Onion Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large red onions, thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon sugar

4 leeks, including the tender green part, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 cups beef or chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper

baguette sliced

shredded jack cheese or shredded gruyere cheese

In a large saucepan saute the onions in oil until wilted (approx. 15 minutes).  Add the leeks and sugar and cook over medium low heat until caramelized.  This take a LONG time (about 45 minutes) so be patient, because this flavor is what makes the soup so wonderful.  Add the garlic, stock, wine and thyme, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Preheat your broiler, and serve portions of soup in oven proof bowls, then place the bread slice and sprinkle (lots) of cheese on top, and put it in the broiler for about two minutes until the cheese is bubbly and brown, and then serve immediately.

Soup's On!

If you're craving some healthy warm soup this shivery cold winter then this is the perfect soup to try!  After normally sunny Santa Barbara received more than a years worth of rain in just a short week, and everyone in sight was sneezing and coughing with colds, we were dying to eat some hearty, healthy, and tasty chicken soup. 

Tortilla Soup with Chicken and Avocado

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup crushed plum tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

4 cups chicken stock

1 skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

salt and pepper

Crunchy Tortilla Strips

1 dried chile, such as ancho seeded

1 avocado, pitted and diced

1/4 cup shredded jack cheese

2 teaspoons lime juice

1/4 cup light sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 

Saute the onion, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of hot oil until golden brown.  Then blend the mixture and tomatoes either in a food processor or blender (or my handy magic blender stick).  In the same frying pan, add one more tablespoon of oil, the tomato mixture and the cumin, and cook until dark about 5 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan on low heat and add the stock.  cover partially and stir for about twenty minutes.  Add the chicken strips and simmer until they are opaque throughout about 3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.   Serve the soup with a mixture of all the toppings, and enjoy!

Kissable Peppermint Bark

Our favorite treat during the holidays is by far peppermint bark, so we had to try our hand at it this year. It turned out great and very tasty! We used festive treat baggies to wrap them up and delivered them to our neighbors.

1 bag Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

1 bag Ghirardelli white chocolate chips

2 candy canes

Wax paper

Clear area on counter and place large sheet of wax paper down. Place candy canes in ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.

Empty entire bag of milk chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1-1 ½ minutes then remove and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Immediately pour over wax paper. Spread evenly then let sit until hardened (about 40 minutes). Heat entire bag of white chocolate chips for 1-1 ½ minutes then immediately spread evenly on top of milk chocolate.  Sprinkle bag of crushed candy canes on top and enjoy!!