Life has been so busy lately! Apologies for not posting in forever! Bruschetta week challenge turned into bruschetta month. One thing I did find out through these trials is there are a lot of variations on the same ingredients and hot artichoke is one of them. I tried out this recipe because the ingredients are all really close to what goes in a hot artichoke dip and hello artichoke dip is delicious! Anyway so I figured this had to be pretty tasty since the flavors are so familiar, and it was! Husband thought it was hella good and so the last addition to the bruschetta bar was found. Testing different variations of bruschetta recipes was really fun. Also searching recipes for crostini’s was a big help as well. I realized the possibilities in a bruschetta bar are endless and can be adapted to anyones tastes.

Hot Artichoke Bruschetta
adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 (6.5 ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
2/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 French baguette, cut into 1/3 inch thick slices
black pepper

Preheat the broiler.
In a medium bowl, mix marinated artichoke hearts, cheese, red onion, garlic powder and mayonnaise. Top baguette slices with equal amounts of the artichoke heart mixture. Arrange slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
Broil in the preheated oven 2 minutes, or until toppings are bubbly and lightly browned, top with ground black pepper if desired.

In my search for different bruschetta recipes, I realized a heartier recipe was in order. Not everyone wants to be full on veggies and bread, we need some meat! Yay for chicken! This recipe is really delicious, it’s a filling and super flavorful appetizer that is sure to please everyone! The sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese go great with the Italian dressing that is also used as the chicken marinade! You could even convert this recipe into a salad or a sandwich!

Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Bruschetta
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups Italian salad dressing, divided (I used Newman’s Own)
3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, I used the mediterranean flavor
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
1 baguette French or sourdough sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:
Place the chicken and 1 1/2 cup salad dressing in a bowl or bag and marinate at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the grill for high heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Discard dressing used for marinating, and grill chicken 7 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. Cool and chop.

In a large bowl, mix the chopped chicken, spinach, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and remaining 1/2 cup dressing. I used pre-chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed off and dried.

Brush the bread slices with olive oil, and cook 1 minute per side on the prepared grill, or until lightly toasted. Or toast bread in the broiler for 3-5 minutes. Place portions of the chicken mixture on the toasted bread slices and serve. Top with some parmesan cheese for garnish.

I love tomatoes and basil together. They are such great flavors and when you toss in some olive oil, vinegar and garlic, it is absolutely delicious! I realized how easy this recipe is to make and how easy it is to polish off the bowl with slices of toasty baguette. This recipe is going to be in heavy rotation at my house now, it is so easy tasty and cheap to make.

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta
adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

8 ripe tomatoes. hot house or vine ripened
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or sourdough
1/4 cup olive oil
parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on your ovens broiler to preheat.

While the oven is heating up, chop up the tomatoes finely. I also squeeze the tomatoes over the sink and remove most of the seeds, you don’t have to be meticulous. Then put the chopped tomatoes, garlic, 3 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Then add the chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste. I put the bowl in the fridge or leave out on the counter for the flavors to marry.

Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Drizzle or coat one side of each slice with the 1/4 cup olive oil with a pastry brush. I also use spray olive oil for this step, it’s faster and you use less olive oil and still coats evenly. Then place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven is ready place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 3-5 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown and flip to get both sides lightly browned.

This recipe makes about 24 small slices For serving immediately, I recommend topping the bruschetta mixture with light sprinkle of parmesan cheese. The second way of serving is placing the bowl of tomato mix with a slotted spoon out on the table next to your toasted baguette slices, so your bread won’t get all soggy.

Bruschetta used to be my favorite appetizer, but for some reason over the years it faded in popularity with me. But in preparation for a baby shower, I have decided to learn how to make various types of bruschetta. For a bruschetta bar!! It’s really “in” these days, having these food bars at parties, you know, burrito bar, mashed potato bar and dundundun…bruschetta bar! I used to love the classic tomato and basil bruschetta as an appetizer out at dinner and I realized I still do. The classic is still delicious but the modern twists on the old favorite are just as tasty! But these days various foods on top of sliced toasted bread are considered bruschetta. So I searched and scoured the web for enticing and interesting flavors. After doing some testing I have found some great bruschetta recipes which are also husband approved! I have decided on having four of them, I have three down so far, with one still out there to try! I think I am going to be sad when this testing is over I don’t get to have bruschetta for dinner anymore. Hope you enjoy the recipes!

I was flipping through a health magazine and came across this recipe. I had heard of harissa before but I had no idea what it was so I was really interested in trying this recipe. It’s a fresh slightly spicy roasted red pepper sauce that is delicious over white flaky fish! We had some roasted potatoes and green beans with the tilapia with harissa and was delicious. My husband especially liked it and he is not a big fan of most fish dishes, so this recipe is definitely a keeper. This would go great with other white fishes, like mahi mahi, sea bass, snapper and halibut.

Tilapia with Harissa
adapted from Women’s Health Magazine

Ingredients:

2 6 oz tilapia filets
1 12 oz jar roasted red peppers
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove minced
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

For the harissa, combine roasted red peppers, cayenne, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and cumin in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For the fish, lightly oil a grill or grill pan and heat to medium high. Season flesh side of the fillets with salt and pepper to tasteand place skin side down on the grill. Cook until the skins are lightly charred and crispy about 4-5 minutes. Turn the fillets over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Fish should flake with a little pressure from your fingertip. Top with harissa and serve immediately.

It was one of those heavy, foggy San Francisco days and while putting laundry away, Giada’s TV show was playing in the background. When she said, “white bean and chicken chili” it immediately caught my attention. I tuned in right then and there to see what was next. The ingredients she used seemed so light and yet so flavorful when all combined, I just had to make it. This chili is perfect for both summer and winter days and as always, so much tastier the next day! However, I did make some changes to the chili. Instead of ground chicken, I used ground turkey. Also, the recipe also calls for swiss chard but I used spinach leaves instead (about 3/4 of a salad bag). In the end, it was delicious and my husband loved it.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

Adapted by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
* 2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 2 (15-ounce cans) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces or spinach leaves
* 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
* 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ground chicken or turkey, salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken or turkey is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir the flour into the chicken or turkey mixture. Add the beans, swiss chard or spinach, corn, and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened. Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the chili into serving bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

I was walking around Whole Foods one day after class and I saw something deliciously interesting on the shelf. A smoked salmon nicoise salad! I had only heard of nicoise salad with tuna. When I visited Paris a couple years ago I had a traditional nicoise and it was really good. So I thought what was going on with a smoked salmon version? I checked it out it still had all the ingredients I recognized the boiled egg and the capers to name a couple, but there was asparagus instead of haricot verts (green beans). Nice…so the next day I made it for dinner and it was delicious!! Even husband who is not a big fan of salmon really enjoyed it. I did add some sliced avocado, I know it does not belong in a nicoise but I was craving it. I just bought some yummy pickled cherry peppers so I added those on the side, so good!! I also used my favorite dijon salad dressing recipe with the salad and its a keeper.

Smoked Salmon Nicoise Salad
Ingredients: serving for two salads
4 oz. smoked salmon sliced in 1 inch pieces
2 hard boiled eggs cut in half
1 medium red potato boiled and sliced
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 small red onion chopped
10 stalks cooked asparagus
4 red cherry peppers-optional
1 bag lettuce mix
1/2 a sliced avocado-optional

Separate 1/2 of lettuce mix on two dinner plates. Seperate all ingredients in half, i.e. 2 oz. smoked salmon, 1 hard boiled egg, 1 Tablespoon capers, 1.4 chopped red onions, etc., between the two salads. Top with dressing and serve.

Dijon Viniagrette dressing
adapted from epicurious.com
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk together the mustard, shallot, sugar, salt, pepper, and vinegar in a small bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. This dressing is so delicious add it to any salad, then add some gorgonzola…hmm so good!

This cheese ball is so awesome and super easy to make. My mother in law taught me how to make her famous cheese ball and it is a great snack to bring to parties.

Ingredients:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 bottle bacon flavored cheese whiz
1 small container crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese, 4-5 oz.
2 green onions finely chopped, discard 1/2 of the green stalks
1/4 tsp garlic powder
chopped walnuts, a small bag in the baking aisle at the grocery store is perfect.
crackers for serving

Directions:
Mix all ingredients the night before shape into a ball and put in the refrigerator. Before serving roll in the nuts forming a ball.

A couple months ago, the wife and I were walking up and down the aisles of our local Safeway looking for dinner ideas and I spotted a lady sampling ranch dressing and something that looked like a bottle of Tabasco. Being that this was a couple weeks before our wedding and we were both watching our weights, we tried our best to avoid the lady sampling ranch…mainly because I know one taste of ranch can possibly send me into a downward food and resulting shame spiral… so anyways, as all this worry and turmoil was going on in my head about whether or not I should take a closer look, I was magically loured in by this nice old lady and her siren song of free sample goodness…

It turns out she wasn’t sampling ranch but Chipotle Tabasco sauce…She just mixed it with ranch and gave you a hand full of baby carrots to dip into the mix. The mixture was like 90% Tabasco and 10% ranch. The Chipotle Tabasco was rather mild for Tabasco (it is still pretty spicy) but the flavor was freaking awesome! I immediately said, “where can I get a bottle?!?” and she said, “well right here?”…I must have sounded like a shill for the Tabasco company… Still reeling and excited about my new find, I spun around looking for something I could cook where I could use this awesome sauce… I thought, hey this sauce can be easily used as a spicy steak sauce or at least go good in a marinade, but nah, not feeling like steak…then I saw it….a pack of party wings! I thought, this would totally taste awesome as a base for a buffalo wing sauce! So we picked up the wings, went home and tried our hands at making buffalo wings with this sauce and I have to say it came out pretty freaking good. We actually liked it so much we had to cook it again the next day for a drinkiemob beer tasting.

Note: At the time we didn’t own a deep fryer, so this recipe includes both baking and frying instructions just in case you were like us and had to bake your wings. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Ingredients:
1 pound of party wings
3 Tbsp Chipotle Tabasco Sauce (I end up adding more depending on how I feel that day…so start with 3Tbsp and go from there!)
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 Tsp salt
1/4 cup of flour

Cooking Instructions:

Sauce: Melt the butter and mix in the vinegar Tabasco and salt. That’s it…now taste. This is where you can adjust to your tastes. Note: The more vinegar you add the more it will taste like pro buffalo wings!

Baking: Set your oven to 350. Line a baking tray with some foil and give the foil a quick spray with some cooking spray and set aside. Then take the cup of flour and throw it in a big zip lock bag. Then wash the wings, dry off with some paper towels and then toss in the bag with the flour. Seal the bag and shake the bag to lightly coat the wings with flour. Note: Make sure to not coat your wings with too much flour because they will not brown if they are too covered with flour. Then place the wings on the baking tray and toss in your pre-heated oven. Cook for 20 minutes, and then flip each wing and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes until done. Once cooked, take the wings out pop them in a bowl and cover with the sauce and eat!

Frying: Heat your deep fryer to 375 degrees. Wash the wings with some water and dry off with paper towels. Once the wings are dry, toss them in the fryer for about 12 minutes or until I am done. Once cooked, drain off excess oil and toss into a bowl and coat with the sauce and eat!

Note: I end up making two batches of wing sauce. One to coat the wings and another to dip my wings in for an extra added blast of goodness.

Pesto is delicious. I have not met anyone who thought otherwise about pesto. I realized I had some fresh basil leaves in the fridge and a whole container of fresh spinach ready to be eaten. I whipped out my food processor and went to work.

Spinach Pesto Sauce

adapted from recipezaar.com

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups firmly packed fresh spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup walnuts or pine nuts
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Pulse ingredients while drizzling olive oil through the opening in the lid of the processor. Occasionally scrape sides as needed and continue blending until the pesto is smooth. I saved half in a plastic container with a lid to freeze. The pesto will remain fresh in the fridge for three days or frozen for 3 months.