Sheila makes a great sun-dried tomato dip – lots of flavor and easy to put together, so we thought we’d add it to the munchies table for our GameDay gatherings this year. You know, the table where people graze all afternoon and evening in between the chili and pizza and sandwich snacks. Nobody ever died eating it, so we figure it’s a keeper. 😉
It’s been such a hit that we’ve been putting it out at the barbecues as well. Celery, cucumber sticks, baguette toast – they all work to scoop it up.
10 teaspoons roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
½ teaspoon dried herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Note: all the jars of sun-dried tomatoes in our store contained Italian spices. That’s fine for this recipe, since they combine nicely with the herbs de Provence.
Instructions
Drain the chickpeas into a small bowl, saving 5 Tablespoons chickpea water.
Mix the chickpeas, chickpea liquid and the rest of the ingredients together in a food processor until well combined. About 2-3 minutes.
Chill until ready to serve or serve immediately.
Serve with toasted baguette slices, celery, or pita chips.
I’ll admit it. I’ve got a sweet tooth. That’s not a secret, but the doc says I should drop ten pounds and that means cutting back on calories. No more eating a dozen cookies in one evening, or having two of those amazing chocolaty chocolate muffins for breakfast, or several of the Vegetarian Detective’s super brownies at one sitting. I could have gotten away with extra helpings of everything before I got sidelined from my very active job, but no more.
We plan a pretty balanced menu, with lots of fruits and veggies, but it’s the extra potatoes and slices of pie that do me in. Exercise burns some of it off, but pushing away from the table is the best diet plan out there.
The Doc and Sheila and I came up with a way to help me lose the weight and it’s mostly about reducing the desserts. She promised not to bake batches of three dozen cookies/muffins at a time and I promised not to hound her or sneak out to the bakery. The Doc admitted that I might feel deprived if I gave up dessert completely, so the new plan could include a daily ‘something’ for my sweet tooth – just not five daily ‘somethings.’ He hinted that fruit between meals might change my cravings, but I’m hedging my bets on that.
So, here’s what Sheila came up with: single serving cookies. That way, there won’t be yummy leftovers calling me from the kitchen, tempting me. She tells me the idea has been around for a long time, but she never had a reason to try it before.
I call them mookies, because to me they’re like a cross between a cookie and a muffin. So simple to make, not a lot of cleanup involved and I can make one myself. All you need is a microwave and a few ingredients and in less than ten minutes of prep and cooking time, you’ve got a dessert.
NFL season has begun, baseball season is winding down, and hockey season gets under way next month. We need Game Day recipes!
This week we decided to serve a new twist on an old standby. Game Day Flatbread. What’s flatbread? Basically, it’s a lot like the bread you see under the sauce on a pizza. Some of it tastes and looks like pita bread without the pocket. It’s firm enough to hold meats, doesn’t get soggy while it bakes, and keeps its texture when being eaten. People place a variety of cheeses and veggies on the flatbread and bake it in the oven. Picture heating up an open-face sandwich. Yes, it does look like pizza. Our Game Day Flatbread sandwich has no tomato sauce, and I’ve yet to see one in a pub or restaurant that does. But without the tomato sauce, the flavor mix and cooking time is different.
You can make the actual flatbread yourself, but why bother when you can buy various tastyversions – gluten-free or naan or herb seasoned or unleavened, etc – right in the bread aisle of almost any grocery store. Tortillas won’t work. Find the kind that you would use to make a gyro. Or look for the brand that we get: Toufayan flatbread.
We plan to let our game day partiers make their own, mixing and matching the toppings they like best, but here is a tasty recipe for spinach & cheese flatbread, with a note for one with sausage. Sheila and I will prep the spinach, tomato, and sausage beforehand, so that all the guests have to do is put together their own creations.
We did a LOT of taste-testing for this one, basically because I could not decide which cheese and tomato combo I liked best. Yup. I’m stickin’ to that story. Sheila would back me up, but she’s busy trying another sausage one. 😉
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary)
4 grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place flatbread on cookie sheet (or pizza pan)
Spread 1 teaspoon mayo on the flatbread
Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix on top of mayo.
Stir fry 2 cups fresh spinach in olive oil, sea salt, onion powder, and garlic powder until just wilted, about two minutes. Separate and spread evenly across the mayo-herb layer.
Evenly sprinkle 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese on top of the spinach.
Evenly spread 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese as the next layer.
Evenly spread the tomato pieces next.
Evenly spread the remaining mozzarella cheese.
Evenly spread the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Evenly sprinkle the remaining dried Italian herb mix on top.
Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly, crispy brown and cheese is melted. Serve right away.
Each flatbread can be cut into quarters for appetizers or served whole for one person.
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Sausage variation
If you’d like to add sausage to the mix, use:
1/4 cup ground, chopped, cooked mild Italian sausage. Add it before the tomato layer.
Reduce the amount of Parmesan cheese and also adjust the salt in the spinach, because the added sausage may make this version too salty for some.
For other Game Day recipes, click on the links below:
