Orange-Spiked Beet and Walnut Spread

Toasted walnuts, roasted** beets, and a kick of orange juice brightens up this vegan spread

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If you read Wednesday's post and thought I sounded conflicted about posting so many meat-containing recipes in a row, you're very perceptive.  I've got a Guinness-soaked easy meal, a terrific Thai cold-busting soup, and a Fast From The Farm Share supper on deck--but they all involve meat.  And I feel the need to share a vegan recipe in the midst of all this meat so here's one that's been percolating on my mental back burner for a while.

Why do I say percolating?  Well, the recipe I wanted to make just wasn't working for me.  I kept trying variations within the parameters I'd established, and when I hit upon the final concoction that worked I realized I didn't have the exact proportions to share with you.  So I'm going to explain the concept, give you some measurements as a jumping off point, and leave it at that.  I mean, with 6 ingredients [including salt and pepper] there's plenty of 'taste and adjust' for each of us to do.

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to love beets from my CSA farm share, so when I got an email from goop including a recipe for beet and walnut spread I mentally filed it under the 'Beet Recipes to Try' section of my brain.

Don't tell me you don't have a Beet Recipes to Try area of your brain? Pity.

This Beet and Walnut Dip is my inspiration, and I am sure it is delicious, but I a) was running low on tahini and had some hummus to make and b) desired to have another tahini-free appetizer in my spread.  So I took the beets, walnuts, olive oil and salt from that recipe, and was trying . . .  trying . . . trying . . . to make something other than BeetyWalnutButter.  I failed. I was about to grab the goat cheese and de-veganify it when I remembered how well beets and oranges go together (hello, Beet Juice Mimosas!). I grabbed some freshly squeezed Hamlin orange juice from the Band Fruit Fundraiser, threw the concoction back into the food processor to incorporate the juice, and DONE!  The orange juice and olive oil emulsify to fluff up the BeetyWalnutButter into an Orange-spiked Beet and Walnut Spread.

As much as I love my Beet and Goat Cheese Spread, I was looking for a vegan addition to my Awesome Vegetable Apps and Snacks collection (link to my Pinterest board) and this one works great.  I like it on carrots or crackers and spread on toasted sourdough bread in a sandwich.  I think it would be delicious topped with sautéed mushrooms, as the earthy flavors of beets and mushrooms make a nice pairing in my favorite Danish smørrebrød:  liverpostej.

If you've got beets, walnuts, an orange and a bit of time to use the oven, as well as a food processor or amazing knife skills, you can enjoy this vegan spread today.  It makes a colorful addition to an appetizer table.

For more recipes using beets, please see my Beet Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, or the garden abundance. More recipes! I'm pinning more recipes to my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like behind-the-scenes shots, please follow me on Instagram. When I encounter an article that makes me think or makes me laugh, I share it on my Facebook page--please follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pinwheel Pizzas

Pepperoni pizza flavor inexpertly rolled into individual pinwheel pizzas. 

Question:  When is a pizza not an entree but instead an appetizer?
Answer:  When the pizza is little, cute, and can be consumed in a couple of bites.  Bonus points for alliteration.

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I had the puff pastry pizza idea for a while before I could execute it.  Luckily I picked up 2 boxes of puff pastry when I hit the outlet mall, so I had plenty of material to practice play with, because this was tricky for me to do.  I may make pizza crust look easy in my Pizza Primer, but you'll find some puff pastry outtakes on my FB page.

My first try [using fresh mozzarella and RTFM for baking instructions] was tasty but messy.  I baked the puff pastry for 10 minutes until it blew up like a throw pillow, then whacked it reasonably flat with my pizza peel [you may incorrectly assume I'm exaggerating here] and attempted to spread sauce on the flaking crust, added the toppings, and returned to the oven.  By the time the cheese was starting to melt the crust was starting to burn.  I went back to the drawing board.

Disregarding the published instructions and going rogue, I debated just topping the rolled-out puff pastry dough and baking it, but in the end I decided to roll it up and slice into pinwheels.  [Add another "p" while I'm at it.]  My slices were a bit squooshy because I again RTFM didn't see Bryn's suggestion to chill the rolled dough for 30 minutes before slicing. Do as I say in the instructions, not as I did.  Had I bought a 3rd box of puff pastry I would need to buy a new freezer to store it I'd carefully remove the package of dough from the box, rip the box to shreds so I'm not tempted to be led astray by the instructions on it, and try the pre chilling method before posting.  But #AppetizerWeek is here, and I wanted to bring you a rare Thursday pizza recipe so you get this after only 2 tries.

I made this pizza using pickled banana peppers which did not grow in my garden.  [Oh, there were banana pepper plants, 3 of them, planted in my garden.  They produced, over the course of the summer, I think about 5 peppers.  Total. Woot.]  If you prefer pickled jalapeños they'd also be a good combination with pepperoni--we just had that combo on a regular pizza crust last weekend.

If you prefer to avoid pepperoni, tomorrow in my final #AppetizerWeek post I'm sharing a vegetarian puff pastry pizza.  It's topped with roasted garlic oil, caramelized onions, spinach, olives, marinated artichokes, and goat cheese.  But because today's pizza name is such an alliterative mouthful, I'm calling tomorrow's pizza Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites.

Visit all the other Appetizer Week blogs for more amazing recipes:

• Bacon Jalapeño Poppers by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Cheesy Melt by Kiss My Smoke
• Turkey Meatballs with Blackberry Sauce by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• BBQ Flavored Popcorn by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Loaded Sweet Potato Waffle Fries by Food Done Light
• Bacon Wrapped Smokies with Brown Sugar by What's Cooking, Love?
• Almond Crusted Baked Eggplant by Je suis alimentageuse
• Crab Rangoon Dip by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Mini Chicken Tacos by Clarks Condensed
• Cured Ham & Olive Tortilla Pinwheels by From Gate to Plate
• Mustard and Gruyere Batons by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced Nuts by My Catholic Kitchen
• Crispy Cheese Twists by Life Off the Clock
• Baked Sriracha Bites by Organized Island
• Mini Pita Pizzas by Home Cooking Memories
• Slow Cooker Salsa Pulled Chicken Sliders by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Green Hummus by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Low Sodium Cauliflower-Potato Bites by Cookerati
• Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza/Pinwheels by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Sriracha Chicken Pockets by Lemons for Lulu
• Candied Bacon by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto by Food Lust People Love
• Crispy Baked Green Bean Fries by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Smoked Salmon Dip by Wonky Wonderful
• Low Carb Monster Fingers by Yours and Mine are Ours

Sriracha Butternut Squash Hummus

Spicy and creamy, this make ahead vegetable appetizer perks up any occasion.

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I was trying to describe to a friend what a shake of sriracha brings to a dish.

"Well, it's heat.  But with flavor . . .  It doesn't burn your mouth like a really hot pepper, it doesn't numb your mouth like Szechuan peppercorns . . . it's just . . . heat.  But with flavor . . ."

[Clearly I suck at the whole food writing thing. Let me feed you instead.]  When I add a shake of sriracha chili sauce to vegetables, like my Soy Sriracha Roasted Mushrooms, happy things happen.  When Laura adds sriracha to vegetable muffins, StrangeButGood things happen.  I was in an experimental mood when I whipped up this batch of Sriracha Butternut Hummus for #AppetizerWeek.  I'd roasted one of the butternut squash in my Strategic Winter Squash Reserve (link to a photo on my FB page) and used half in Buffalo Butternut Hummus . . . but I had the second half beckoning me to play.

I like playing with the vegetables from my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share.  Getting a weekly box of fresh local vegetables means my family is more likely to eat vegetables.  It sounds silly, but just getting the produce into my kitchen is half the battle sometimes.  Figuring out what to do with them?  Well, that's why I created a Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient--so when I've got beets, kale, or peppers I can see several recipes for how to use them and pick which one suits my fancy.  Other folks who enjoy eating from a farm share agree, so I think I'm on the right track.
I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas on what to do with your butternut squash, click here.

If you are serving vegetarians or vegans I recommend checking your sriracha sauce to make sure it does not contain fish extract, or making Buffalo Butternut Hummus and creating a layered dip to suit your eaters.

Visit all the other Appetizer Week Blogs for more Snack Time Deliciousness:

• Meatball Bites by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Gluten Free Onion Butter Pretzels by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Crawfish Dip by Call Me PMc
• Low-Carb Shrimp Guacamole by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Bourbon Pulled Pork Sliders by Cooking in Stilettos
• Sun-dried Tomato Dip by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Sriracha Butternut Hummus by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Margherita Pizza Sticks by Makobi Scribe
• Chicken Parmesan Meatballs by Flavor Mosaic
• Feta-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Shrimp by Food Lust People Love
• Ham and Sauerkraut Balls by From Gate to Plate
• Cheddar Cayenne Crackers by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Baked Pickle Chips by Lemons for Lulu
• Cheddar Cheese Olive Puffs by Life Off the Clock
• Manchego and Roasted Pepper Stuffed Mushrooms by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Restaurant-Style Chipotle Salsa by Home Cooking Memories
• Mango Jalapeno Sausage Rolls by Food Done Light
• Ham & Cheese Mini Cracker Sandwiches by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Spicy Cheese Rounds by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Low Sodium Chicken Stuffed jalapeno Poppersby Cookerati

Corn and Black Bean Salsa in Avocado Cups

Corn, black beans, and pepper in a lime vinaigrette served in avocado cups.  Vegetable appetizers for game day snacking that's good for you

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For my family, the Superbowl is usually an excuse to sit in front of the TV and eat crap snack foods.  Our list of snacks changes slightly year to year, but, like Thanksgiving, there are some standbys.  In addition to the recipes shown below, I've added a Game Day Snacks to my tags (right side bar) since we like to eat appetizers as well as sandwiches and quick snacks.  Check it out!

My son loves Buffalo Chicken dip.  Even though I wasn't planning to make it, he cobbled some together using thin sliced chicken lunchmeat, bits and pieces of cheeses, and salad dressings.  And Frank's Red Hot® sauce, of course. (There's no relationship to disclose--I buy it because I like it.)

My daughter--well, I can't say she loves guacamole, though she certainly likes it.  Making the guacamole became her job after she needed to give a speech in Spanish class and decided to demo how to make guacamole.  Yes, the apples do not fall far from the tree. :)

My spouse will eat anything, but he loves Slow Cooker Salmon Artichoke Dip and I love him, so I whipped him up a batch.  I had an ulterior motive, however--a big slab of salmon and a desire to have leftovers for this.

One problem with putting up your own corn? De-silking.  Must do better next season!

My new item was this Corn and Black Bean Salsa from Kate at Diethood.  I didn't have everything her recipe called for, but it was super easy to chop all the jalapeño, red onions, and cilantro for my daughter's guacamole and Kate's corn salsa at one time.  Since my New Year's Resolutions involve adding more avocado to my life, I served it in avocado halves and it was delicious.

Grab the following ingredients, head over to Diethood, and make yourself another Awesome Veggie Appetizer (link to my Pinterest board).  Then enjoy the game--or the commercials, or both--with something delicious to munch on.
For other recipes using Avocados, please see my Avocado Recipes Collection. For other recipes using Beans, please see my Beans (Legumes) Recipes Collection. For other recipes using Corn, please see my Corn Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For ways to Use This Blog, please click here.

Soy Sriracha Roasted Mushrooms

Soy sauce and sriracha marinated roasted mushrooms for a savory bite.  Easy to make and addictive.

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Welcome to 2014! Have you resolved to eat more veggies?

The common theme I'm seeing among a wide variety of eating styles, from vegan to Paleo, is this:  eat more vegetables.  The best way to eat more vegetables is to have them in your kitchen. A terrific way to get vegetables into your kitchen--while supporting your local community--is to find a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share near you.  On the left side bar you'll see a Local Harvest gadget.  If you're in the US, you can type in your zip code and see what's available in your area.  If you live in the Seattle area, you can buy direct from local farmers via Farmstr.  Check out Farmstr here.

I always want to eat more veggies, so I've got another awesome veggie appetizer for you.  This one came about as a happy accident.  Like Liz, I attempt to maintain a well-stocked Asian pantry.
Key word:  attempt.

I was at the grocery store, swinging by the fancy cheese section looking for magical markdown stickers when I tried a sample of teriyaki marinated mushrooms (my eyes are starting to read 'magical mushrooms' right now, and while these tasted magically delicious, they are not that kind of mushrooms).  Those teriyaki mushrooms tasted so delicious I resolved to make them at home right away.  My spouse and I are the ones who enjoy mushrooms in our house, so I figured I'd branch out from our Skillet Mushroom Dip for Two and have another easy, eat it hot or warm or room temperature make ahead mushroom recipe in my repertoire.

I consulted this week's library loan cookbook, All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art (Amazon affiliate link), and adapted Molly Steven's roasted mushroom recipe.  I intended to splash in some teriyaki sauce after the mushrooms were done, but as you can see from the title that didn't happen.

I forgot that I'd used up all the teriyaki sauce in this meal.  Oops!  Well-stocked Asian pantry fail.  Instead I grabbed the sriracha and the soy sauce and made a delightfully zingy marinade.

This is easy.  This is fast.  This is a make ahead.  This is an awesome veggie app!  To find more awesome veggie apps and snacks, check out my Pinterest board. For other recipe ideas using mushrooms, please see my Mushroom Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. Want to know How to Use This Blog? Click here.

Black Eyed Pea and Kale Salad in Salumi Cups: A New Year's Day Good Luck Appetizer

A bite size appetizer of black eyed peas and kale salad, served in salumi cups. A terrific bite to ensure good luck in the New Year.

Why is it considered good luck to eat black eyed peas on New Year's day?  Since I didn't learn about this tradition until I lived in the South as an adult, do Northerners/East Coasters/ Westerners/Midwesterners not have good luck ever?  What about folks in other countries?  Not everyone eats black eyed peas, you know.
Heavy questions for a busy time.  All I know is in addition to jumping into the New Year (from a stair, not a chair) I like to eat black eyed peas this time of year.  I'm good with these traditions--one's silly fun to do, and the other's tasty.
Sometimes I like to make Hoppin' John, sometimes I like to change it up a bit.  Here's a bite size appetizer way to get your New Year Good Luck, and if meat is not your thing, there's a bonus recipe below to an alternate salad/leftover remake.
Updated Note:  My mom emailed me that she knew salumi was not a typo but she didn't know what it was.  Salumi is the name for a category of dry cured meat.  Salami and prosciutto are examples of salumi.  I'm thinking pepperoni may be as well.  Learn something new?  I try to each day!

Thanksgiving Leftover Remake--Poutine?!

Roasted potatoes topped with cheese curds and gravy, with optional turkey, turning Thanksgiving leftovers into a new meal.

Gravy seems to be an orphan leftover in my house.  We always seem to eat up all the mashed potatoes but not all the gravy.  Yes, I know I can make a Thanksgiving casserole with all the same stuff I just ate moistened with gravy, but I like to find different tastes for my leftovers.  So what do I do with my leftover gravy?

Well, it's the season of excess plenty, so why not make poutine?

[Big Ol' Honkin Disclaimer:  I have never eaten real poutine.  I am not even Canadian--my Canadian mom chose to take a job in the US where she met my dad--though I've got relatives and friends Up in the Great White North. But it seems very wordy to say "potatoes topped with cheese curds and re-heated leftover gravy" when "poutine" conveys the same idea.]

It never occurred to me to make poutine at home.  For this, I give credit to my son.  He and I share a similar affinity for unagi and furikake, so if he wants to try something it's a good bet that I would also like it.

In my house, on your birthday, you get to choose what you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert.  My son wanted the appetizer for his birthday dinner to be poutine.

Poutine is no amuse bouche.  I had no idea what I was in for!  I'd heard of it, sure, but had no clue that we'd be too full from the appetizer to appreciate dinner!  I decided to try it again, when I had leftover gravy, as a stand-alone snack/meal thing.

Try this if you have more gravy than mashed potatoes!

Layered Summer Veggie Appetizer

When you think about appetizers, do you throw a bone to the healthy contingent and include some carrot sticks and hummus?  Is your conscience soothed by adding celery sticks to your Buffalo chicken dip?  Do you pick up a veggie tray at the store and call it good?

Are vegetable appetizers an afterthought?

I want to change that.

I'm on a quest to create awesome vegetable appetizers--ones that are demolished before the cocktail weenies or cheese balls, because they are just damn good.  I've got a Pinterest board, Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks, and as I find new ways to turn vegetables into desirable appetizers I'm pinning them there.  Please leave suggestions in the comments so I can add them--thanks!

Cherry tomato confit, cucumbers, banana peppers, artichoke hearts, olives and feta

Last winter, I started things off here with a Slow Cooker Salmon Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip and a Skillet Mushroom Dip for Two.  In the spring I started a craving for Five Layer Mediterranean Chicken (or Chick Pea) Dip that continues today.  Lately, I've been kinda dippy, with Fattoush Dip with Kale and Sumac Hummus and Indian-spiced Eggplant Yogurt Dip.  Today I want to share another delicious way to incorporate seasonal vegetables into your happy hour, cook out, tail gate, or indulgent dinner for one:  the Layered Summer Vegetable Appetizer.

While the autumnal equinox is weeks away here in North America, the mood has shifted to autumn.  The kids are in school, football marching band season is in full swing, and the sled hockey gear is back out. However, the garden and the farm share are packed with late summer vegetables--peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and squash are filling up my weekly box.  I created this layered appetizer to show off the best of late summer produce.

Grilled red peppers, grilled red onion, grilled yellow squash, artichoke hearts and feta

Discerning readers will say "hey, that looks like the Fattoush Dip she posted 3 weeks ago" and you'd be correct.  Other clever followers will think "what, another Wednesday eggplant dip recipe?"  Right again.  However, I'm sharing this recipe now, not next summer, for a few reasons:

• the base of this appetizer, roasted eggplant, is still very much in season and you might be looking for new ways to enjoy it
• I think this is a party-worthy appetizer, and while I'm not hosting anything until Fall, you may be looking for new appetizer recipes
• with the variety of special diets around, vegetables are a great way to create a dish that nearly everyone can enjoy

Indian Spiced Eggplant Yogurt Dip

Roasted CSA farm share eggplant seasoned with Indian spices and tempered with yogurt for a spicy, tangy kid-friendly appetizer.

Eggplant in the CSA farm share, as I have admitted recently, is something that requires thought on my part.  It's not like carrots or broccoli, familiar enough to eat any old way.  It's not like a tomato that can be delicious on a sandwich or put up when we get too many all at once.  It's not like beets, that I hog all to myself enjoy in a myriad of ways (check the Visual Recipe Index for recipe ideas by vegetable).

Eggplant is in a (very small) class of vegetables that the kids will eat, and happily, one particular way.  This summer I'm trying to change that.  When I made my Baked Eggplant Chips for the same-named Pizza the kids were not big fans.  I tried an Indian-spiced eggplant chip and the texture put my daughter off, but I was on to something--keep the flavor, use the food processor.

Fattoush Dip with Kale Hummus

Subtitle:  A Fast Farm Share Dip Dinner

Freshly chopped summer produce and preserved vegetables layered over a bed of kale hummus and topped with pita chip croutons.

The other day I shared how I can or freeze summer produce to enjoy during the winter.  Today I'm sharing how I can take the fresh farm share bounty and make a fast supper (for one) or appetizer (for two) in minutes.

I've travelled across the middle of the US recently, and many non-highway roads I've been on have had farm stands.  These stands are selling tomatoes, melons, corn, peaches, cucumbers, squash--the bulk of the summer produce is ripe and ready from Michigan to Delaware (and probably other places, but I haven't been to them this week).

A CSA farm share haul from a few weeks back.

With all this ripe fresh goodness at your fingertips, making a quick and delicious dinner is easy.  I brought home the farm share box, realized we had plenty of leftovers for the kids to scrounge dinner, and decided to treat myself to a riff on my Five Layer Mediterranean Chicken Dip.  I'd first made that dip before cucumbers and tomatoes were in season, and I'd thought the concept (base of dip topped with goodies and eaten with pita chips) was a good one. Mine started with a base of Kale and Sumac Hummus (recipe below) but any hummus will do.  I also keep a few jarred vegetables on hand (olives and artichoke hearts) to add some layers of flavor to the fresh produce.

As an aside, in my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient (a page on the bar above) I have a category for Veggies in Jars where I index my recipes that use artichokes and olives, as well as capers and sun dried tomatoes and probably something else.

All I needed to do was grab a cucumber, a banana pepper, a couple of tomatoes, and after a few minutes of chopping I had a fresh crunchy cool zingy dinner ready to go.  When I realized that I'd unwittingly combined many elements of Fattoush into an appetizer, I decided to call this Fattoush Dip with Kale Hummus.

Only one problem--I was at the end of the bag of pita chips.  So I quickly regrouped (I am a military spouse, after all, and plan F or U or B or R is my specialty), used the pita chip crumbs as croutons, and turned this into an appetizer eaten with a spoon.

Pick a Veggie Sushi Rolls

This is the third time I've written today's post, and no matter if it's the charm or not I'm going with it.  First, I was going to share kohlrabi, egg, and Spam sushi rolls.  Then a post about gyro sushi rolls, then unagi, green onion, and salad mix rolls.  Finally I just decided to combine a bunch of sushi photo collages and call this Pick A Veggie From The CSA Farm Share Box and Roll Your Own Sushi.  However, many of the food porn photo sharing sites I submit to have character limits on post titles, so a bit of editing happened.

I started sharing sushi posts soon after I started this blog, with a smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber sushi.  Later I shared my #strangebutgood maple teriyaki salmon sushi.  Today I'm going to illustrate how I take a (usually leftover) protein and combine it with on-hand vegetables to make sushi.  Sushi makes a great portable lunch when you are outside enjoying nature during warm days.  It's a real treat to open up your lunchbox and pull out more than a squashed sandwich.  I love to send my kids a 'disposable lunch' on field trips (disposable required by the school) using up leftover containers filled with whatever I had on hand, rolled up sushi style.

If you're looking for recipes featuring sushi-grade raw fish, look at some of my links below--I'm in the middle of the country and cooking for my family--you will not find me buying blocks of sushi grade tuna, though if you'd like to send me where it is, I'd be delighted to eat it. :)

My daughter and I have enjoyed lunch together a lot.  When she was a preschooler, she'd have school a couple of mornings a week and come home for lunch/nap.  Later, it was lunch before getting on the bus for afternoon kindergarten.

We'll gloss over the crowded, noisy cafeteria and lunch starting at 10:40am in our last district.  Here in Ohio the kids get an hour(!) lunch break and my daughter usually comes home for lunch.  My son usually finds something worth staying for  at school.

 My favorite lunches-with-my-young-daughter were in Hawaii, picking up a to-go order at Aloha Sushi.  There, my daughter would get tekka maki and I'd have unagi hand rolls.  The warm grilled eel, warm sushi rice, and delicate nori wrapping utterly satisfied me in a way that no store-bought box of sushi can.

When my son asked for unagi sushi for his birthday supper, on a night coinciding with our first CSA farm share pick up, I knew I'd be rolling up some farm fresh produce with our eel.  I just didn't know what it would be until I got the box (I've mentioned I like the Iron Chef aspect of CSA subscriptions, yes?). My possibilities were varied--salad greens, kale, Swiss chard, asparagus, green onions, garlic and strawberries.  I opted for onions and salad mix.  My son thanked me for not getting too wild for his birthday dinner.

I got wild later.  Since I had roasted asparagus, leftover roast chicken, and all the sushi fixings out, I rolled up some Roast Chicken and Asparagus rolls.

Leftovers from Gyro night in a sushi roll?  Why not?  Drain the tzatziki sauce really well (overnight in the fridge) for best results.

These meals follow the Theorem of Cooking Once and getting 2 different meals with the result, just like with my Chicken Adobo Summer Rolls.  The Food Blogger Corollary is simple--you've got the camera out and your kitchen is already messy, so why not get 2 blog posts for 1 kitchen clean up?  When I made Spam Chirashi Sushi I saved some slices of meat in stick form to use in these sushi rolls.  My daughter brought them to school for a food sharing event in her social studies class.  If you've never made sushi, refer to this post for more step-by-step instructions.  It's really fun once you get the hang of it, and even your failures taste delicious.

Pick A Veggie From The CSA Farm Share Box and Roll Your Own Sushi

NOTE:  I created this recipe to be gluten free through my choice of ingredients (Spam is GF!). Check labels to confirm that your products (I'm talking about you, soy sauce) are also gluten free. Good sources for determining that your products are gluten free can be found here:

http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/

http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/ 

Using the recipe in this post for the building blocks listed below, for each 8 piece roll, you will need

1 sheet sushi nori

1 cup cooked seasoned sushi rice (1 1/2 cups if you want double rice inside out rolls)

a thin schmear of mayonnaise

Protein (see NOTE below)

Vegetable (see NOTE below)

With damp fingers, spread the rice across the sheet of nori on an Old Bamboo or the rolling device of your choice (I've got a New Pink Plastic, and while it's easier to clean than my Old Bamboo I like the hand feel of the bamboo better).  Spread a thin schmear of mayonnaise across the rice.  Top with the rest of the components.  Use the Old Bamboo to roll tightly away from you, stopping after one complete revolution to lift the mat so it doesn't get rolled up with your sushi roll.  Squeeze tightly.  Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 8 pieces, wiping the knife with a damp towel in between cuts.

Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

NOTE:  Protein suggestions are 1/3 cup sliced Japanese Omelette (4 eggs, mixed with 1 teaspoon each sugar and salt, scrambled and chopped); 1/8 can of Spam, prepared per this post; 1/2 cup chopped roasted chicken, dribbled with teriyaki sauce; 2-3 slices prepared gyro meat, fried; 1/4 package marinated BBQ eel, or what else?  Vegetable suggestions are 1/3 cup finely shredded carrot, 1/3 cup peeled kohlrabi, sliced into sticks, 1/4 cup sliced spring onions, 2-3 pieces salad greens, 1/4 cup well-drained tzatziki sauce, or what else?

I've got some other ideas to tempt you:

California Roll at Just One Cook
Chirashi Sushi at Ninja Baking
Dragon Roll at Just One Cook
Festive Cucumber and Ginger Sushi at Ninja Baking
Ginger Cashew Nori Rolls at Spabettie
Jewshi with Caper Mayo at What Jew Wanna Eat

This post is shared on the Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Mostly Homemade Mondays, the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up Pot Luck Party, What's Cookin' Wednesday, What's In The Box, Food on Friday and the From The Farm Blog Hop.

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Open-faced Shaved Beet Sandwiches

I don't know why I'm spending my lunches waxing rhapsodically about beets and the farmers that grow them, but here I go again.  You know that when you get beets you should eat the greens pretty quickly, but the beets themselves will hang out in your fridge for a while.  You can shred and freeze them for later use, you can roast them and put them on or in a pizza, or you can make a tasty appetizer.  What I recently learned was that you can also love them raw.  All thanks to Martha.

Even though I work at a thrift shop, I'm still pretty frugal about shopping there.  I always check the clearance section when I get to work, and rarely scan the racks (oh who am I kidding--I check out the kitchen section all. the. time).  Whenever I see good magazines in the clearance rack, I snap them up.  I mean, it's the same thing year after year;  people always want to declutter their space and find new crock pot or grill recipes.  Only the trendy colors and vegetables (talking 'bout you, kale) change.

This is why I bought a couple of old issues of Martha Stewart Living--I figured I could find an idea or two for seasonal foods.  Late one night, while reading the March 1998 issue in between an article about building your own stone wall and an article about ordering seeds and bulbs from foreign catalogs, I read about shaving raw beets and tossing them with a balsamic vinaigrette.  The next morning I dutifully carried down the March 2004 issue and prepared to follow the recipe.  (Did you notice it was a different issue?  You're doing better than me.  I thought I'd hallucinated the whole balsamic-marinated shaved beet thing. What, you don't hallucinate about shaving beets? What do you hallucinate about?)  Because I was feeling lazy, I didn't walk back upstairs to get the correct year, I just winged it.  Then I winged it again the next day since it was so good.

This is easy, this is delicious, this is raw . . . give it a try.  The worst that will happen is your kitchen will look like an abattoir.  I've got a dark counter so I have no idea how bad it really could look.

Five Layer Mediterranean Chicken Dip

Would it be awful to suggest you make Slow Cooker Greek Chicken Tacos just to have the leftover meat to make this appetizer?  Oh, and make Avocado Feta Dip (my variations are below) too, because that's what provides the foundation for this delicious appetizer.  If you don't eat chicken, scroll down and see the photo I took yesterday of something I think would go great instead, marinated chick peas, or skip it and just use the rest--still utterly delicious, but you'll have to call it a Four Layer Dip.

When I think of appetizers, I tend to return to my favorites time and again.  After all, they are favorites for a reason!  You can find them over there -----> in my Recipe Index By Category.  In the Appetizer category.  That was probably redundant.

I always like to try new things, however, so this recipe came about as a combination of wanting to try something new, wanting a familiar appetizer, and the desire to use what I've already got in my fridge.  Voila!  Taking a page from the many Mexican layer dips I've enjoyed over the years, I present to you Five Layer Mediterranean Chicken Dip.  Thank you to Linda for help with the name.  I can develop the recipes, grow the celery, prepare the food, take a few photos, write the post . . . but dreaming up recipe names is HARD! (Yes, I'll take some feta with that whine.)

About five minutes after I took the first photo, this was all that was left.  I know we were hungry, but holy cow!  This appetizer is delicious.  We ate it with pita chips and carrots, but home re-grown celery, snow peas, zucchini or yellow squash slices would all be great delivery vehicles for this stuff.

Maple Teriyaki Salmon Sushi w/ Apple and Carrot (Quick Take)

Sushi and summer rolls are a great way to take a small amount of leftover protein, some farm fresh veggies, and a carb like rice or rice noodles to make a quick, interestingly packaged snack or appetizer.  My family loves to eat something so visually appealing and it comes together super quickly if your pantry is stocked.

We eat rice a lot, so I always make a full pot in my 3 cup version of this rice cooker (the 3 cup size is great for our family, therefore 95% of my rice cooking needs.  It makes no sense to me to buy a giant rice cooker for the handful of times a year I need to cook more than for us).  We never finish the pot, however, so I wrap up the extra rice in single serving patties and save it in the freezer.  That way, I nearly always have cooked rice on hand.  With leftover rice, this rolls up fast and easy.  Get it?  Rolls up?  Back to the sushi, Kirsten.

I had a bit of salmon left over from this dip, and carrots, but right now I'm waiting for the CSA season to start and I had no cucumber or kohlrabi for crunch.  I like a bit of crunch to my sushi, don't you?  Looking through the crisper, I decided to try apple slices.  Why not?  I admit the thought crossed my mind that, if it worked, this could be a candidate for Laura at Sprint 2 the Table's weekly Strange But Good party.  I'd baked the salmon very plainly, with only a bit of Pampered Chef dill mix as seasoning.  That left it a blank canvas, so I mixed up a maple-teriyaki dressing which paired nicely with all 3 elements.

Slow Cooker Salmon Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip

Salmon combined with swiss chard in a hot artichoke dip, served from a slow cooker? I'm in.

Updated photo, same great recipe!

It's steamy--I could hardly wait to eat a bite!

I still remember the first time I had hot artichoke dip.  It was amazing.  It became a regular on my roster of hot party dips because the key ingredients either could hang out in my pantry or were fridge staples.  Then I moved to Hawaii and my friend Sara served my beloved dip--but with salmon.  It was eye-opening@  Sara had been inspired by a crab version, and a smoked salmon version, but made it her own with a salmon filet and liquid smoke.

I've kept liquid smoke in the pantry ever since.

I never empty the bottle, however.  I keep moving and giving away the open bottle first.  Then I get to discover where the liquid smoke is shelved in a new grocery store and carry on.

Thus was the status of my hot party dip roster (everyone has one of those, right?) until I read Farmgirl Fare's Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip.  Her seamless blending of my most prolific garden green with my favorite dip inspired me to add it to my recipe.

If you have a massive salmon filet, use part of it in this dip and part with oranges on pasta.  I did.  When it's warmer, I have other plans for my salmon filets, so stay tuned.

I've made this with both marinated artichoke hearts and canned (non-marinated) artichoke hearts.  I think it works well both ways.  If I have canned choke hearts I add mayo, and if I have choke hearts in oil I use less mayo.

Beet & Goat Cheese Spread

New photo, same delicious recipe!

I love beets but my family doesn't.  I continually look for new ways to present beets so that everyone will discover how good they are.  One of my favorite ways to eat beets is this soup.  The family will eat it, especially if I puree it, but they don't love it like I do. That's why I was delighted to get this recipe from a friend.  She got it from her CSA farmer!  The inspiring recipe was for crostini, but I use it on crackers, on bread in a sandwich--good with radishes, cucumbers, sliced cheese and lettuce, and as a dip for sliced veggies.  This keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

For other recipes featuring beets, please see my Beet Recipes Collection, part of my Visual Recipe Index.

K.I.S.S. {Beau Monde Dip with Cottage Cheese and Vegetables}

My family doesn't really go for cucumbers.

When we get them in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share my first thoughts are big:

  

I'll make gyros and use the cucumber to make tzatziki sauce!  

We'll have Indian food and I'll make raita!  We'll have sushi!

This past summer I got into pickling.  The one common burger topping in our house is pickles.  Thanks to Food In Jars, I've discovered how easy and tasty it is to put up a couple of jars of refrigerated kosher dills.  I've expanded that to include pickling several other vegetables.

But sometimes I need to remember the KISS principle.

Keep It Simple, Sillybilly.

For other vegetable appetizers, please see my Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks Pinterest board. For other recipes using cucumbers, please see my Cucumber Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. Want to know how to Use This Blog? Click here.