Shrimp with Mango Salsa Appetizer

Guest post from Kelly!

The East Coast has been experiencing a major heat wave, with temperatures over 100 the past week. This has been coupled with an intense Derecho (Weatherman speak for a bad storm that’s like a tornado or hurricane but not a tornado or hurricane) that caused wide spread tree damage and power outages. Thankfully my home fared well, but it is still too hot to cook much of anything.

I came up with this recipe while trying to develop a quick appetizer I could pull together in a jiffy with ingredients on hand. I don’t fancy myself a cook so I was pleasantly surprised when this came out well!  Martta immediately thought “guest blog post.” 

Ingredients:

• 1 Bag Frozen Shrimp
• Baguette, sliced into rounds
• 1/2 Red Onion, diced
• Cilantro, chopped
• 1 Mango, diced
• 4-5 Cloves of Garlic, diced
• Orange Juice (I used fresh – approximately one orange)
• Lime Juice (Fresh, four limes), divided

Seeing as how I don’t fancy myself a cook, I don’t have exact measurements for the ingredients, but it’s something you could definitely play around with to your tasting.

Start off with defrosting the shrimp according to the package directions.  Then marinate the shrimp in a mixture of the garlic and lime/orange juices for approximately two hours.

When I was ready to cook the shrimp, I threw everything into a skillet and cooked according to the package directions. In the meantime, I made the salsa with the onion, cilantro, mango and the juice from two limes. Once the shrimp was cooked, I placed the salsa on a piece of baguette with a shrimp on top. This can be a quick appetizer to entertain company or if you are a single girl like me, a light and easy dinner.

Enjoy!

–Kelly

Cream Cheese Spinach Tortilla Rolls

Once a year, I host our neighborhood Bunco group. We have such a good time chatting, playing, eating, and of course indulging in a glass of wine… or 3. Because I was hosting in March, and a week before St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to go along with a green theme, and add in a few shamrocks here and there. I’ll try to share all of my recipes over the next week!

Today, I’ve got a recipe my Grandma shared with me a few years ago. It’s super easy, and always a crowd pleaser. These cream cheese rolls are similar to the ones you see on catering trays from the grocery store, but cheaper, and so easy to do yourself!

Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese – softened

1 packet dry ranch dressing mix

Half of 1 small can chopped olives

1 small can diced green chilies

fresh green onion – about 3, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 package tortillas – I used the spinach wraps for the green color, but you can use plain, low fat, whole grain, whatever you like!

Mix all the ingredients together… except the tortillas! I let mine sit overnight so the flavors could blend, but you don’t have to… maybe let it sit for a good hour or 2. Take one tortilla, and spread the mixture all over, evenly. I think I used about a 1/2 cup per tortilla, and made about 5 tortillas worth.

Roll up the tortilla, making it as tight as you can. You don’t want gaps or spacing inside the tortilla. Chill for about an hour, then slice them up! I cut off the uneven ends (a snack for me!), and sliced the rest in approximately 1 inch increments. Done!

I served mine on a chilled glass cake stand… I think it helped keep the cream cheese cold for a longer period.

Some tips:

You can make the filling a day or 2 ahead! However, I don’t recommend rolling them until a few hours before your party or event. I made one roll a day ahead to see if it would be ok, and it was slightly soggy. Yuck. I even rolled it in plastic wrap, but I think the humidity of the refrigerator, plus the cheese, just doesn’t work.

Enjoy your St. Patty’s Day!

-Heather

Hummus Three Ways

One of the new treats I tried out for this year’s Oscar Party was hummus three ways.  I figure if the gurus on Top Chef can have all their dishes three ways, why can’t I?  And I do think it turned out sensational (if I do say so myself). 

To make this hummus extravaganza happen, I picked up votives at Ace Mart for a little under $0.50 a piece.  Heather contributed black bean hummus (which she’ll have to blog in the future), Costco contributed a tub of Sabra’s roasted pine nut hummus and I made a batch of Giada’s white bean hummus – my version is always heavy on the parsley.

Chop veggies in sticks.  For the black bean hummus I had carrots and celery (I did spring for the extra effort of chopping whole carrots so they would be tall enough in the glasses) and for the roasted pine nut hummus, baby cucumber spears.  I followed the directions for Giada’s pita chips but rather than cut the pitas into triangle shapes, I created sticks by cutting strips of pitas then cutting the strips in half.  They fit perfectly into the small votive glasses and were the perfect tool for scooping out yummy hummus!

To make sure the edges of the glasses stayed clean, we pipped the hummus into each cup – it’s faster and easier than cleaning edges!  All the types were a taste sensation and the little cups were all gone by the time the party was over.  I can’t wait to try this again next year!

–Martta