Tag Archives: appetizer

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Bites

The Super Bowl is this coming weekend and even though my team isn’t playing, I’ll still be watching and wanting to munch on snacky-snacks. So, I’m dedicating this week to munchies, appetizers, and snacks that you can enjoy on Super Bowl Sunday!

Most people love buffalo chicken so these Buffalo Chicken Cheese Bites are a perfect bite to serve guests or to take to a friend’s house for the big game. I made these spicy, cheesy, crunchy apps with chopped precooked chicken but rotisserie chicken or chicken breasts will work as well. The chicken is mixed with buffalo sauce, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and scallions and rolled in layers of flour, egg, and bread crumbs. These bites were baked to help save some calories but they could easily be cooked in a skillet with some oil for a crunchier coating. I loved the light, slightly crispy coating and the creamy, oozy filling of these bites. Serve these with your favorite blue cheese or ranch dressing. I guarantee they’ll be a hit!

The ingredients (I forgot the scallions):

Chop up the chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl with the buffalo sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and scallions. Mix well.

Place 1/2 cup of the flour onto a plate, 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs on another plate, and the eggs into a shallow dish. Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, scoop chicken mixture into the palm of your hand and roll into balls. (If the mixture doesn’t stick together, try adding some more cream cheese – I used an extra ounce of cream cheese). Roll each ball into the flour first, then the egg, then the bread crumbs and place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Add more flour and bread crumbs to the plates as needed.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350ºF oven.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • 1/3 Less-fat cream cheese
  • Reduced-fat cheddar cheese
  • Panko bread crumbs

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Macaroniandcheesecake.com

Asian Lettuce Cups

Have you ever eaten lettuce wraps at an Asian restaurant and thought, “I want to make these”? Or at least, “I wish someone would make these for me”? Well, here you go. These Asian Lettuce Cups turned out exactly how I wanted them to and didn’t disappoint at all. For some reason, I expected lettuce cups to be difficult, or at least annoying, to make but they were so easy!

You brown mushrooms and ground turkey with garlic and ginger over the stove and move it to a bowl. In another bowl is mixed a simple sauce of hoisin, soy, vinegar, and hot chile sauce. These tasty cups have a slight sweetness from the hoisin, a subtle saltiness from the soy, a real kick of spice from the chile sauce and a delicious crunch from the butter lettuce and celery. The recipe calls for water chestnuts which I don’t really care for so I used celery instead but I think carrots would be great too. I think you could use ground beef or chicken here too so use whatever you like! One serving is two lettuce cups but trust me, it’s difficult to stop at just two!

The ingredients:

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet and cook mushrooms until soft. I chopped mine up a bit because I don’t like big chunks of mushrooms but feel free to leave the caps whole if you prefer.

Once mushrooms are soft, move them to a large bowl to cool. In the same skillet, add the remaining oil, turkey, garlic, and ginger. Cook until turkey is fully browned.

Move turkey mixture to the bowl with the mushrooms and add scallions and celery (or water chestnuts). Mix well.

In a small bowl, combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and hot chile sauce.

Spoon two tablespoons of turkey mixture into one lettuce cup and top with a tablespoon of sauce. Enjoy!

Additions:

  • Celery

Omissions:

  • Water chestnuts

Substitutions:

  • Dried ginger for fresh ginger

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Spicy Chickpea Samosas

When it comes to spicy food, lately I can’t get enough. If my tongue or the back of my throat doesn’t burn just a touch from whatever it is that I’m eating, I’m just not satisfied. Usually I can get my kick by adding a little bit of cayenne pepper here and there so when I come across a recipe with “spicy” in the title…I may as well melt!

These Spicy Chickpea Samosas not only have a slight kick but they are full of other delicious flavors like garlic, ginger, cilantro, and scallions. Samosas are a typical Indian street food which are fried but here they are baked which makes them a healthy appetizer, snack or light lunch. These are made with phyllo dough which usually uses tons of butter to make them flaky and decadent but the dough here is sprayed with non-stick spray which lightens it up while still keeping the layers crispy and flaky. I love the fact that these are vegetarian, as most traditional samosas are, but feel free to swap out the chickpeas with ground meat if you choose. This chickpea mixture is so good by itself, I could just sit and eat it with a spoon!

I served my samosas with a side of sweet, tangy mango chutney but this recipe has instructions to make a cucumber raita that can be made which will help tame that spicy heat. But I say bring that heat on!

The ingredients:

In a large skillet, cook carrots in canola oil for 3 minutes until carrots are slightly softened.

Add in scallion, ginger, and garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add in tomato paste, cumin, mustard, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute.

Stir in peas, water, and chickpeas. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add in cilantro and lemon juice. Allow mixture to cool.

Unroll the thawed phyllo dough and cover with a damp towel or paper towel to keep it from drying out. Take one layer of the phyllo, lay it on a flat surface and spray with non-stick spray. Carefully place another layer of phyllo on top of the first one and spray with non-stick spray as well.

Fold phyllo dough layers in half lengthwise and flatten with your hand. Place a spoonful of the chickpea mixture at one end of the dough. Carefully fold one corner of the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle.

Continue folding the dough in triangles until you reach the end. Place on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter or spray with non-stick spray and keep covered with a damp towel. Repeat with remaining layers of phyllo.

Bake the triangles in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes.

Additions: None

Omissions:

  • Butter (I used non-stick spray instead)

Substitutions:

  • Ground cumin for cumin seeds
  • Dry mustard for brown mustard seeds

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

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