Appetizer recipes

Spinach and artichoke dip--Jamie Hoskins

Ingredients:
1 package cream cheese
1 (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup spinach, drained and chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Allow cream cheese to come to room temp. Cream together mayonnaise, Parmesan, Romano, garlic, basil, and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach, and mix until blended, Store in a container until you are ready to use. Spray pan with PAM, pour in dip, and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. or until the top is browned, Serve with toasted bread or chips.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms--Haydee Hyde

Ingredients:
60 whole white mushrooms
2 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. Minced garlic
2-8oz pkg. cream cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ cup parmesan cheese
½ tsp pepper to taste
½ cup green onion finely chopped
2-6 oz. Cans crab meat
½ cup mozzarella cheese
Pre-heat oven 350 degrees.

Spray cookie sheet.
Take stems out of mushrooms, chop stems.
Heat oil, add garlic, and chopped mushroom stems. Cook until soften. Cool. Stir cream cheese, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, cooked mushrooms, green onions, pepper and crab meat. Fill mushrooms, put on cookie sheet. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Creamy Phyllo cheese straws--Alicia Alba (from Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee)

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ tps. Salt
1 box phyllo dough, thawed
1 stick of butter melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the cream cheese, egg, parmesan and salt in a small bowl. Spoon mixture into a plastic bag. Make it a pastry bag by cutting off the corner of the bag to make a ¼ inch diameter opening. Set aside. Lay out thawed phyllo dough. Brush top sheet with melted butter. Pipe a line of cheese filling along the long edge of phyllo (about ½ inch from each end). Fold over the end to seal in the filling and roll up the straw. Repeat with remaining sheets of phyllo and place on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Serve warm plain or with your favorite dipping sauce (pesto, marinara, garlic butter, etc.)

Mozzarella, Tomato and Pesto Bruschetta-- Joie Spencer

Ingredients:
1/4 c. butter- softened
4 cloves garlic- minced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
(6) 1/2" slices Italian or French bread
6 slices mozzarella cheese- trimmed to fit bread slices
3 Tbsp. basil pesto
(6) 1/4" slices Roma tomatoes
julienne fresh basil- to top

- Mix butter with garlic and garlic powder
- Spread butter mixture over bread slices
- Place a slice of mozzarella on each piece of bread
- Place a slice of tomato on each slice of mozzarella
- Spread 1/2 Tbsp. of pesto over each slice of tomato
- Place bread on a cookie sheet and bake in 500 degree oven for 4 min., or until cheese has melted
- Sprinkle basil over top

Niemann Marcus-- Michelle Beheiter

Ingredients:
8-10 strips Crispy Bacon
1 cup fine grated Swiss and Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3-5 Green Onions
3/4 cup Slivered Almonds
Enough Mayo to moisten

Mix all ingredients. Best if refrigerated for several hours before serving.

Clam Dip-- Tara Hille

Ingredients:
2-8oz. Cream Cheese
1 small can minced clams
2 tsp. Worcestershire
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. onion salt
1 Tbsp. milk

Soften cream cheese, then add drained clams and remaining ingredients. Add a table spoon or so of milk and beat with mixer. Add more milk, if needed, to get desired thickness. Chill and serve with chips.

Cheesy Chip dip--Tara Hille

Ingredients:
1-8oz. Cream cheese
1 can chicken
1 cup cheddar cheese
Favorite Hot Sauce to taste

Combine ingredients and bake @ 350 degrees for 30 min. Can also use microwave for a quick fix. Serve warm with chips.

Fruity Pebble chips and dip--Pat Fuhriman

Ingredients:
Take flour tortillas and "wash" with egg white
Sprinkle fruity pebble cereal on each one - about 3 tbsp
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges

Dip in strawberry yogurt

Mexican Cheesecake (Sopapilla)--Pat Fuhriman

Ingredients:
2 cans Crecent Rolls
2 8oz. cream cheese
2 Cups sugar
1 stick butter
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Unroll 1 can of crescent rolls and place on bottom of pan. Mix 1 cup sugar with all of the cream cheese until creamy. Spread mixture in pan. Cover mixture with 2nd can of crescent rolls. pour 1 cup of sugar over the crescent rolls. Drizzle stick of melted butter over the sugar.

Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 30-35 minutes

Cheesy corn dip --Pat Fuhriman
(didn't serve this one that night but it is oh, so good!)

Ingredients:
1- 8 oz container sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3 - 11 oz. cans mexicorn drained
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 - 4 oz cans diced green chiles
2/3 cups sliced green onions

Combine sour cream, mayonnaise and cumin in medium bowl, stir in mexicorn, cheese, green chiles and onions. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.

PHYLLO CHEESE TRIANGLES--Sheila Moen

Ingredients:
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or less, depending on how spicy you want it, i would use less)
4 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350, coat baking sheets with cooking spray
Stir together oil, mustard, salt and cayenne in a small bowl.
Lay one sheet of phyllo on a work surface. (Keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel.) Dampen a pastry brush with water and use it to brush the phyllo lightly with the oil mixture. Sprinkle with about 1 1/2 tbsp of Parmesan. Lay another sheet of phyllo on top. Lightly brush with more oil mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining phyllo, oil mixture and Parmesan.

Cut the phyllo stack crosswise into 4 strips. Cut each strip into 7 triangles. Transfer the triangles to the prepared baking sheets.
Bake the triangles, 1 sheet at a time, for 6-10 minutes, or until golden crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 28 Triangles

21 calories per triangle; 1 G Fat, 1 Mg Cholesterol; 1 G carbohydrate; 1 G Protein; no fiber and 51 mg sodium.

Cucumber Sandwiches--Jill Anderson

Ingredients:
French Bread
fresh cucumbers, sliced
8 oz. Cream cheese
1 pkg. Ranch Dressing

Mix the ranch dressing and cream cheese together. Slice the french bread lengthwise and spread the mix on one side. Add sliced cucumbers.

Pineapple Salsa-Leigh Christensen

1 Medium pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped (or 1 large can of pineapple tidbits)
½ large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1-2 sorrano or jalapeno peppers, de-seeded and minced
4 green onions, minced
3 tablespoons cilantro
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Serve on chicken as an entrée or with tortilla chips or cinnamon tortilla crisps.

Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps

Spread butter or margarine over desired number of tortillas and sprinkle with mixture of ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes, until dry and crisp. Cool and serve with pineapple salsa.



Hummus (adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook)
Emily Gibb
- ¾ cups dried chickpeas (equivalent to 2 cups cooked chickpeas, roughly 1 can), soaked and cooked according to package direction, reserving some of the cooking liquid
- 1 ½ tsp minced garlic
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- Dash of tamari
- ¼ c lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)
- ¼ cups tahini
- 2 tbls parsley, tightly packed
- 2 scallions chopped (including about half of the greens)
- Black pepper
- Dash of cayenne
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender and mix until well-blended. Add small amounts of reserved cooking liquid to get the consistency that you want and the texture is as smooth as you like it. Adjust the seasoning to suit your personal taste; I usually add a little more lemon juice, garlic and salt. Chill thoroughly before serving. Serve with sliced veggies, pita chips, warm pita bread (I brush the pita with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt before warming in the oven) or whatever else suits your fancy.
*Tamari is a higher quality soy sauce with a fuller flavor than regular soy sauce, though you can use regular soy sauce without much of a difference.
*Tahini is ground sesame paste and can be bought in many international and natural food stores.
** A 1 lb package of dried chickpeas makes slightly more than 6 cups cooked chickpeas. Cooked chickpeas and hummus can both be frozen for use later.
Here's my recipe from the cooking group:

Herbed Cream Cheese Dip Mindy Gilkey

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sour cream
1 T. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 tsp. dry minced onion
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. thyme
Tabasco sauce (few drops)
Pinch parsley
Pinch dry mustard
2 T. chopped olives (opt.)

Cream together sour cream, cream cheese and lemon juice. Add other ingredients and blend well.

Fruit Dip- Pat Fuhriman

1 can Sweet and Condensed Milk
Remove wrapper from can. Boil can in water for 3 hours. Add water to pot as needed.
Remove from water. Allow to cool before opening. Serve and enjoy!