Smart Appetizer Ingredients

Do you, like me, hope to get invited to many impromptu backyard barbeque and gatherings this summer?

Perhaps you’ve gotten to know me well enough through these blog posts to know that I dislike unnecessary trips to the store. One of the best parts about being invited to someone’s house for dinner, besides the good company, is that you don’t even need to think about dinner or its ingredients. But wait — you’ve got to bring something, right? Perhaps it’s an appetizer you volunteer. Then you discover you have no fresh veggies in the crisper, and recall you finished off your chips and salsa last night.

I have two “Smart” ingredients for you to keep on hand this summer are sure to fulfill any last-minute, or even well-planned-out appetizer.

The first is pre-made mini phyllo shells.

These will be in the freezer section. They are sometimes hard to find. Much more available is phyllo dough, from which you would have to make your own cups. They are doable, but fussy, and the pre-made cups sacrifice no flavor. SO, if you find the frozen pre-made cups, stock up, and here are some of the many ways you can put them to good use:

Cook the phyllo cups according to package directions. Then fill with:

• Goats cheese topped with your favorite chutney
• Goats cheese topped with roasted red pepper and fresh mango strips
• Brie topped with cranberry sauce or a rich jelly (toast for 3 minutes)
• A combination of equal parts cream cheese and Greek yogurt with a splash of vanilla or lemon extract, topped with our choice of fruit. These can, of course, double for a desert, and you can even substitute chocolate mousse for the cream.

• Chicken Salad with Sundried Tomatoes, Spinach and Feta from the 30 Spectacular Salads cookbook.
• Chicken Salad with Apples and onions from the 30 Spectacular Salads cookbook.

The second Smart appetizer base is RED STAR yeast, one of our often-mentioned favorite Smart ingredients.

A typical kitchen contains flour, salt, oil and water most days of the year. If you add to that yeast, you have the makings of a crusty bread that can be made in a jiff, sliced and toasted and topped with any number of toppings for an easy and delicious appetizer. The other day I was having an impromptu meeting at my house. I whipped up a loaf of French Bread from the RED STAR website. After I basted the loaf with water, I sprinkled it with garlic salt and Italian seasonings. When it was done, I sliced it, gave it a quick brush of olive oil, and toasted it for 4 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I topped it with cream cheese, and then the mushroom gratin (mentioned a few blog posts ago) I always keep in my freezer, combined with some roasted red pepper strips I had in the refrigerator. They were a huge hit, and the STAR of the show was the bread. Here are some other ways you can top your bread crustinis:

• Prosciutto and roasted asparagus
• Brie, granny smith apples and gorgonzola cheese (toasted for an additional 4 minutes)
• Fresh sliced tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar
• Fresh sliced tomatoes, avocados and goats cheese
• A mixture of 1 jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped, 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup diced onion and a dash of hot sauce (toasted for an additional 4 minutes).
• A combination of Feta cheese, onions, balsamic vinegar and canned diced tomatoes, drained*.

* Canned diced tomatoes have a very long shelf life, and packages of crumbled Feta have a shelf life of more than 3 months (check package for expiration date). Add both to your Smart ingredients stash, along with some RED STAR yeast, and you will have last-minute appetizer fixings on hand all summer.