Avocado Deviled Eggs

Since many of us have leftover Easter eggs to use up, I'm reposting this recipe from last year.

Deviled eggs always make me think of my sister, Katie because she loves to make these. For that reason, I've never actually made them myself till now. She always brings them to gatherings and events so I've not needed to make them. Now that I did them myself and realized what work it is to sit and peel all the eggs, I miss her making them for me! =0) Well, I couldn't resist trying this unusual version that turned out so yummy! Hope you enjoy them too!

You can make these one of two ways.

1. mash 1/2 an avocado in with the yolks and then add as much mayo as you need to get the consistency you want.

OR

2. put some chopped avocado in the bowl of each egg half first and then fill it with the yolk filling.

Here's the basic recipe for the deviled eggs.

6 hard-cooked eggs

1/4 cup mayo

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp vinegar

------------------------------------

Peel and rinse the eggs. Slice in half and carefully remove the yolks putting them into a bowl. Mix the yolks with the remaining ingredients (and mashed avocado if desired).

Fill egg centers with filling. If using avocado for garnish, first toss them in a bowl with some lemon juice so they don't turn black too quickly. Serve immediately.

-----------------------------------

Variations~

I've seen other variations of these as well such as adding chopped cilantro and tomatoes to the avocado version.
~There are also the curried version (omit the mustard and vinegar and substitute with 1/2 tsp of curry powder).
~There's also the Parmesan cheese version (omit the mustard and vinegar and add 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese).

Baked Brie

Brie is my ultimate favorite appetizer. I love cheese and well, this has long been my favorite cheese. I know you aren't supposed to eat molded cheeses when you are pregnant but I craved it and ate it anyway through both my pregnancies. Some things are hard to give up. So, here I give you not only an incredibly wonderful tasting appetizer but also an impressive presentation of a dish. Oh, and the best part, it's one of the EASIEST appetizers to make!

Brie comes in wheel or a wedge with a thick tough rind around it. Once you break through the rind you get to the creamy soft cheese that is inside it. Brie is very mild and creamy but the rind has a nice kick to it. Some people hate the rind and others love it. Both parts are eaten. The rind softens when heated up.

Melted, brie makes an amazing cheese to dip into. You can melt it on it's own but wrapping it in this pastry dough gives it another rich dimension. Far from healthy, but I had to post about making baked brie. Don't ever, ever, make this on your own. You HAVE to have other people around to eat it with you otherwise you are likely to eat the whole thing.

You can get really creative with baked brie and I'll list a lot of things you can bake with it but first, here's how you do it.

What you need:
one wheel of brie cheese (Costco sells a nice sized one)
1 sheet of pastry dough
filling of your choice
1 beaten egg

Lay out one refrigerated pastry dough sheet.
Slice brie wheel in half to make two wheels.
Place one of the halves on the pastry dough with the rind side down.
Next, put on a layer of your favorite filling (the pictured one has minced fresh garlic and a thick spread of butter.)





Put the top of the wheel down on top with the rind facing up.
Wrap the edges of the pastry dough around the wheel bringing all the points to the center. Pinch them and press them to seal the dough.









Brush with a beaten egg.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 min. or until golden and puffy.


Let the baked brie rest 20 min. before cutting and serving.
I recommend putting the baked brie into something with a lip for serving. At least a platter with an edge on it since the melted cheese will run out.

Here is a list of ideas of things you can serve it with to dip with:
wheat thins
multi-grain crackers
butter crackers
sliced baguettes
sliced apples
cubed sourdough bread

Here is a list of ideas of things you can stuff it with:
1/2 cup of pesto
dried chopped cherries and chopped walnuts
dried chopped apricots and sliced almonds
strawberry jam
raspberry jam
pomegranate jelly
pomegranate seeds
caramelized onions with sliced almonds
dried chopped fruit sauteed in 1/2 c of wine and reduced
butter and minced garlic
sliced apples or chopped apples with chopped walnuts
chopped bell peppers
chopped artichoke hearts, butter, and minced garlic
sliced sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil
capers and marinated chopped artichoke hearts
cranberry chutney
olive tapenade

This appetizer also can work well for a light lunch with salad and soup or for a finger food gathering.

BBQ Shrimp

These de-veined and shelled frozen shrimp are great on the BBQ. I seasoned them with lemon pepper and garlic. We dipped them in melted butter. Oh ya! What a special treat this was.

Cook till pink and solid white through and through.

Crock-pot Meatballs

This isn't something I would normally make but since I'm married to a meat-loving man, I make meatballs. And I keep looking for ways to make my cooking life even easier so yet again I find a way to make it in the crock-pot. And this TWO step process is just about as easy as it gets!

1. Put your frozen meatballs (homemade ahead of time or store bought) into the crock-pot.
2. Dump a jar of your favorite pasta sauce on top (or for those of you that have made your own, go ahead and dump a jar of your homemade and canned sauce).

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (optional)

This works well for a spaghetti dinner or for meatball subs. My husband REALLY likes the meatball subs with a slice of provolone cheese.

I even got away with serving these as an appetizer. I cut each meatball in half and served it with slices of bread on the side.

Fried Zucchini

Just trying to use up all the garden produce still.....I love fried zucchini. Yum. So I figured I could give it a whirl. It went something like this:

1 c bread crumbs (plain or Italian style- if using plain then add 1 tsp Italian seasoning)
1 tsp garlic (mixed into the bread crumbs)
vegetable oil
eggs beaten

I washed and cut the zucchini into spears. Dipped the zucchini into the egg then into the bread crumb mixture. Into the skillet with the veggie oil they went until they were crisp-tender (I believe is the trendy term). These are piping hot so let them cool before dipping them in, yes, you guessed it, ranch dressing. My friends who know me well know that just about everything in our gets dipped in ranch dressing.

The breading didn't stick so well so maybe doing the traditional breading style would work...the one where you put it in flour, then egg, then the bread crumbs.

note- other than the zucchini these probably aren't very healthy so if you're dieting, you probably don't want to make these!

Layered Bean Dip

Have you made layered bean dip lately? One of my favorite summer things...yum.

I use:

vegetarian refried beans

guacamole or mashed fresh avocados

sour cream (I always use Daisy cause it doesn't have other stuff in it)

Mexican style shredded cheese

salsa or fresh chopped pico de gallo

olives

chopped cilantro

tips:

~if you want it hotter you can add a minced (seeded) serrano chili.

~sprinkle the bean layer with some garlic powder for an added flavor

~squeeze fresh lime juice over the top for a citrus zing

Zucchini Cakes

I've been wanting to try these for a longgggg time and boy were they worth waiting for! Even my kids and hubby who all hate zucchini liked them. Husband ate two of them! We called them "Z cakes" so the kids wouldn't know what was in them. These were so quick and easy too!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 2-3 small/med. sized zucchini)
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion (I used green onion)
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning TM OR Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
olive oil for frying

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine zucchini, egg, and butter or margarine. Stir in seasoned crumbs, minced onion, and seasoning. Mix well.
Shape mixture into patties. Dredge in flour.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Saute patties in oil until golden brown on both sides.

These are wonderful served for lunch with salad.

Variations~
if you prefer to use a different oil you can because olive oil is easy to burn.
you can use Italian bread crumbs and omit the Italian Seasoning.

Individual Quiche

These are great little appetizers which would also be great for a high tea or brunch tea. I've made them in the past and don't have a picture for you.

1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 green onion with top, sliced
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 garlic clove, pressed
Dash of ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Let pie crusts stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Lightly spray a mini muffin tin with olive oil. Whisk milk and eggs.


2. Chop bacon, zucchini and mushrooms. Add tot he milk and egg mixture, bacon, zucchini, mushrooms, green onion, cheese, garlic and black pepper; set aside.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll one crust to a 12-inch circle. Using a biscuit cutter (large enough to fill the tin holes up the sides, cut out 12 pastry pieces. Press one pastry piece into each muffin cup. Repeat with remaining crust to fill remaining muffin cups.

4. Fill each muffin cup with a rounded scoop of vegetable mixture. Bake 17-20 minutes or until crusts are light golden brown. Cool in pan 2 minutes; carefully remove mini quiches from pan.


Serve warm.
Makes 24 appetizers

Variation
~make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon

Veggie Kabobs for dipping in Hummus

You've probably seen the cute little fruit kabobs that people make with the yummy fruit dip.....








Well, here's a new take on it that I found on The Food Network website.....make it even healthier with veggies. That's right, chop your veggies into dippable (is that a word?) size and skewer them. You can use simple wood skewers. Then stack them on a platter with a bowl of hummus dip. This is also a fun snack to pack in a lunch for work or a picnic. A fun way to eat veggies. To get kids involved, let them help with picking out the veggies they like and skewering them. You can substitute ranch dressing dip or other dips of your choice.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a really yummy appetizer that you can stuff with just about anything you like. The night I made these, I did them the following way:

2 boxes of cream cheese

1 bag of "real bacon" (found near the salad dressing at the store)

4 chopped green onions with scallions

dash of salt and pepper

2 large boxes of whole mushrooms

Do not rinse the mushrooms but rather wipe them off with a wet paper towel. If you rinse them they'll absorb the water and get spongy. Remove the stems (with a spoon if you have to). Mix the remaining ingredients together till creamy. Fill the mushroom stem holes with the cream cheese filling and pile it high. Bake on a foil covered cookie sheet at about 375 till lightly browned on top.

Variations-

add chopped crab or lobster meat

add cilantro

omit the bacon and add sun-dried tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese

omit cream cheese and bacon and add feta and chopped spinach

Chicken Salad

This is a super easy thing to make.

You can either bake chicken to make it or in my case, I just make it anytime I have left over baked or roasted chicken. I'm not a big fan of reheated chicken because it's always dry the second time around so this is a great way to use up leftovers.

Chop the chicken (I use about 2-3 chicken breast)
Add about 1/2 - 1 c real mayo (not miracle whip)
1 can sliced water chestnuts chopped
1/4 c sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Notes-
You can use light mayo but if you do you'll need to increase your seasonings.
You can add all kinds of additional seasons to taste (such as dried parsley) but you may not need any seasonings if your chicken was already well seasoned.
You can add other things like sliced grapes, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado if serving it as a sandwich, etc. I like to use spinach instead of lettuce on my bread or wrap.
You can serve this on bread like a sandwich, with lettuce wrapped in a tortilla, with corn chips, or on crackers as a hefty dip (like you would tuna on crackers) for a luncheon appetizer.

In a hurry? Use canned chicken (found by the tuna in the store) and drain it well. Season it well and toss with remaining ingredients.

This is a great summer lunch or light dinner and is also a great main dish for a baby shower, bridal shower, or tea party.

Potato Skins

Okay, until I can go grocery shopping there are going to be some unhealthy recipes posted on here so I apologize for all of you out there that are trying to start your New Year's weight loss resolutions! =0)

I tried a new way of making potato skins for new year's eve that is similar to a style that one of our local restaurants does and it came out really well.

I pre-baked the potatoes to soften them up a bit...about 20-30 min. will do. I like to bake them in a muffin tin so that they aren't rolling all over the oven. Then I cut them in wedges and cut a slice of their white center off to make them flatter. Then I layered them in a casserole dish (sprayed with olive oil) like you would lasagna except with cheese, chopped cooked bacon (I was in a hurry so I used that crumbled real bacon that's in the salad dressing section of the store), chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, and a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top the last layer with cheese and bake in the oven for another 20 min or so until the whole thing is melted through the center. I made some ranch dip and our potato skin casserole was enjoyed. Believe it or not, the layers separated just fine for those who wanted to take a layer right off the top.

You can make this vegetarian by using soy substitute bacon or leaving the bacon out. For a healthier version you could use turkey bacon if you'd like to.