Gourmet Meals For Less

The holiday blues, a snowy day and a little spice

 

 

I've been in a funk.  I think it's a combination of things.  The days being shorter, the nights being colder. The post-Thanksgiving let down and the lack of energy to gear up for the Christmas madness.  I haven't even put up my tree yet. Sigh.  But yesterday I got myself together and cleaned my house, finished piles of laundry, and put away all my fall decorations when I happened to glanced out the window to see this.

 

 
and I became a little happier.

 

 
There's nothing like the first snow to get you in the Christmas spirit.  It was so quiet and peaceful on on our property.  The house was clean, the laundry was done and this morning my husband has promised to get my Christmas decorations out before he leaves for work.  I did sneak in a little snack break yesterday and finished off a bowl of one of my favorite holiday appetizers.  Cranberry Salsa. Not to be confused with Cranberry Relish or Cranberry Sauce.  This is another dish entirely.

 

 

A friend of my moms shared this recipe with her years ago and it was an instant family favorite.  It has that perfect combination of sweet and spicy with a little bite to it!  I have modified my mom's recipe a little bit to make it my own.  The beautiful red from the cranberries makes it such a pretty holiday dish, and the best thing about this recipe is it's no bake and you have to make it at LEAST two days in advance.  Now that's my kind of appetizer.  Delicious, easy and make ahead.

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Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Salsa

Ingredients:

1 bag whole fresh cranberries
1 large or two small jalapeno peppers (depends on how much heat you want)
1/2 small red onion
1 large orange
2 tsp. orange zest
1/2- 3/4 cup of sugar
2-3 Tbs. orange juice
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cut jalapeno peppers in half (seed if desiring less heat or leave whole if you like more heat).  Coarsely chop peppers.  Coarsely chop 1/2 of a small red onion. Combine cranberries, red onion and jalapenos in bowl of food processor.  Pulse several times until chopped and well combined.  Do not chop until mushy.  Open up lid of food processor and add in zest of orange and peeled and separated orange segments.  Pulse two more times to combine in orange.  Place cranberry mixture in a medium size bowl.  Stir in sugar, orange juice, lime juice and salt.  Cover and allow to sit for at least two days.  Taste before serving and and additional sugar if it needs more sweetness.

This is also good with cilantro in it.  You would need to add 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro when processing cranberries.

Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.  For an extra treat place thin slices of Parmesan or Havarti cheese on crackers and top with salsa!  So good!!

 

 

 

Cranberry Salsa will last for days and days in the refrigerator and only gets better with time.  Though if you serve this at your holiday party, odds are you won't have any leftovers.  In fact, you might  want to make a double batch so you can have the leftovers all to yourself for a snack..on a snowy day...and all will be right with the world.

Enjoy!

Is there a plural for hummus?

 

Here's a question for ya...if the plural of hippopotamus is hippopotami and the plural of cactus is cacti than is the plural of hummus... hummi??  I means seems logical to me in my quirky brain...but on the off chance it's not right we'll just call this
Hummus Three Ways!

With the onslaught of football season, we have spent the last few Saturdays sitting on our butts eating, and while this is enjoyable it's not necessarily the best thing for our bodies..specifically the butts we've been sitting on.  I decided this week we'd forgo some of the more fattening dips and I'd whip up some low-fat, but oh so tasty, hummus with homemade baked pita chips.  I often make plain hummus and have on occasion made black bean, but had never made sun-dried tomato hummus.  Wow!  It was so good and a great use for my endless supply of dried tomatoes.  Everyone seemed to enjoy having several options to choose from and the cool thing about hummus is you can make it a day or two in advance and just pull it out when you need it.

The "hummi" and homemade pita chips looked so nice displayed in my....

 

 

University of Alabama Crimson Tide, Go Bama! chip plate!

I don't care who you root for, you have to admit that is one awesome plate my mom-in-law got me! I served my Hummus Three Ways with pride in this glorious piece of pottery and it wasn't too long before we were able to see the pretty pictures underneath of the stadium and school because the "hummi" went fast!  Consider serving one, two or all three of these at your next football party.  Your guests and their butts will be glad you did!

 

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Hummus-Gourmet Meals for Less

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce can of chickpeas, reserve liquid
2 Tbs. tahini
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3-4 Tbs. lemon juice to taste
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can.  Blend ingredients minus chickpea liquid, until thoroughly combined.  Add in chickpea liquid until mixture is smooth.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.  Top with parsley if desired.

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Black Bean Hummus-adapted from Ten Dollar Dinners

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. white whine vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Blend ingredients together in a food processor or blender until almost smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste and pulse once or twice to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

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Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus-adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas, reserve liquid
1/2- 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes or oven dried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tahini
juice from 1/2 a lemon
olive oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
parsley to taste (chopped, optional)

Directions:

Drain chickpeas, reserving liquid.  In a food processor or blender combine chickpeas, tomatoes, tahini, garlic and lemon juice. Puree. While pureeing add in small amounts of chickpea liquid until ingredients start to form a paste, and add in olive oil until hummus is a smooth consistency but not runny.  Add salt and pepper to taste and top with parsley if desired.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Next time you are craving some hummus, don't buy it for an exorbitant amount at the grocery store, make one of these simple, easy recipes!

Enjoy!