Party Appetizers

This past weekend was one of my oldest and dearest friend’s 25th birthday, and I got the pleasure of hosting a surprise party for her at my apartment! Naturally, I took this opportunity to play around with a few recipes as well as set up my first charcuterie boards! I must say, with all of the colors from the various fruits and vegetables, getting the boards to look pretty was not as hard as I imagined it being!

Can you taste the rainbow by just looking at them?! And these were super easy to do. I chopped up my veggies and cheese the night before the party which helped cut out some time. Then, the day of, I grilled the asparagus and made the avocado white bean dip, then assembled the trays and kept them in the fridge until the party was about to start!

Now, that green dip you see is the avocado bean dip I crafted up and I have to say, it was a huge hit. It goes super well with everything from every type of veggie to crackers and cheese. And, it requires only a few ingredients plus about 5 minutes of your time!

Ingredients:

1 avocado, cubed

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup spinach

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 T cilantro

1/3 cup fresh basil

2 T lime juice

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp salt/pepper each (plus more to taste)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Serve with your favorite veggies and crackers!

In addition to the charcuterie boards, I decided to make two different types of bruschetta and two different types of flatbread. I needed finger foods and based these on the ingredients I could use for a few recipes across the board (punny, yes?!). Finally, my friends mom was nice enough to bring down her favorite cakes and snacks from when we were younger. All in all we had quite the assortment of items.

I wish I could say I had lots of leftovers for meals this week, but my flatbreads and bruschetta were almost gone before the birthday girl even arrived! Which I suppose is a good thing.. although I am really craving the sauteed mushroom and onion flatbread right now and wish I had some left over…

Sauteed Mushroom & Onion Flatbread with Mozzarella and Feta

*This recipe is going to be described somewhat vaguely because the amount of toppings needed will vary based on the size of your flatbread*

1. Saute mushrooms and onions in a heated skillet with 1-2 T olive oil on medium-low setting. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until desired tenderness is reached. Add 1 T butter and 3 cloves garlic (minced) to the pan and stir until melted.

2. Brush a little olive oil onto the flatbread. Add ~half of the mushrooms and onions and melted butter from the pan onto the flatbread.

3. Add sliced mozzarella and then top with the rest of the mushrooms and onions. Add feta cheese. Cook based on whatever type of flatbread you are using and allow to cool slightly before slicing. Mine cooked approximately 5-6 minutes.

The other flatbread I made was a Pesto Caprese–I used an organic pesto I found at Aldi, shredded and fresh sliced mozzarella, sliced tomato, and basil.

For the bruschetta, I did an herb goat cheese with proscuitto, arugula, and a drizzle of honey on half of the bread slices, and a classic tomato bruschetta for the other half!

For the tomato mix I used a half carton roma tomatoes (halved), 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1/4 cup fresh basil (sliced), 2 pinches oregano, 1 T olive oil, 2 T balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and divide onto bread pieces.

I had the best time putting this together and she was most definitely surprised! It’s always a treat getting to see my best friends and spend time away from the craziness of our lives catching up. I hope everyone else had an amazing weekend as well :)! Happy eats!