I was craving a nice light summer snack the other night while I was reading and really wanted to munch on some of these cucumber hummus appetizers. Unfortunately, there was no hummus in the fridge or chickpeas in the cupboard and I was about to make some boring old popcorn, but then I spotted a tub of feta and these new Mediterranean inspired cucumber apps were born! I topped the crisp cucumbers with a creamy feta and pecorino romano cheese spread and then sprinkled on a healthy dose of chopped sun dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. Yum, these were very tasty and even fairly healthy little bites.

By the way, am I the only one who can never spell Mediterranean correctly? I’m always so off that my spell check never even has any recommendations!

Mediterranean Cucumber Appetizers
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 large English cucumber, cut into slices (I had 30)
1/2 cup finely chopped sun dried tomatoes
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Directions:
Place feta, pecorino romano, and milk in a food processor and pulse until smooth, about 1 minute. Evenly cover cucumber slices with the feta spread. Top evenly with sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 138 calories, 10.1g fat, 1.2g fiber, 6.5g protein per serving
Cost: $0.88 per serving

After submitting all my dessert recipes to the Pillsbury Bake-Off (please cross your fingers for me!), I had a few extra ingredients in the fridge to use – one package of pie crusts and one roll of cookie dough. I had developed so many sweet treats that I stuffed the cookie dough in the back of a drawer and took out the pie crusts instead with an appetizer idea in mind.

I combined caramelized onions, mushrooms, and spinach to make a yummy filling for little mini tarts made with a mini muffin pan. Then I topped the tartlets with blue cheese. These were so cute and perfect for a party, or in our case, dinner!

p.s. Don’t forget to get in your bids for the Bloggers Bake for Hope Bake Sale that benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets with Blue Cheese
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 box Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts (15 ounces), softened according to package directions

Directions:
Heat butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add onions, cover pan, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until onions are caramelized.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add mushrooms and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Place cooked mushrooms in a large bowl. Add baby spinach to the same skillet and stir until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add spinach to the large bowl with the mushrooms. Mix in caramelized onions and salt.

Heat oven to 375˚F. Unroll pie crusts and place on a flat work surface. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter to cut 12 rounds from each crust. Press each round in the bottom of 24 cups of an ungreased mini-muffin cup pan and press dough up the sides to form cups. Fill evenly with caramelized onion mushroom filling and bake at 375˚F for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from mini-muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with blue cheese. Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition: 138 calories, 10.1g fat, 0.7g fiber, 2.7g protein per serving
Cost: $0.68 per serving

The holiday party season is here! I tend to be more of a grazer in general (it’s actually sometimes a little embarrassing how often I reach for the goodies in our snack drawer at work!), so I love it when a plentiful appetizer spread at parties lets me try new bites throughout the evening. I always first pounce on the stuffed mushrooms though. They are one of my very favorite apps and in fact, of the 16 appetizer recipes currently on my blog, 3 are for stuffed mushrooms, which is about 20%!

I always sauté my mushrooms on the stove first to get the moisture out and then just warm them through in the oven after filling them up, if needed. For this version I stuffed them with mashed potatoes with feta and topped them with caramelized onions. I stirred in feta because I happened to have it on hand, but I think goat cheese would also be lovely. You can, of course, also use leftover mashed potatoes to make these!

Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large yellow onion, cut into thin strips
24 ounces baby bella mushrooms, stems removed
2 Yukon gold potatoes (mine were 13 ounces), scrubbed, peeled, and cut into chunks
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled feta

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter over medium low heat in a large nonstick pan and cook onions for 45 to 55 minutes, or until caramelized, stirring occasionally.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat and sauté mushrooms for 7 to 10 minutes, or until tender, working in batches. Remove from heat and drain well.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add potato chunks to the pot and boil for 10 to 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and mash in a large bowl (yield should be about 1 1/2 cups). Mix mashed potatoes with buttermilk and salt until smooth; mix in crumbled feta.

Spoon potato mixture into mushroom cavities and top evenly with caramelized onions. Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition: 105 calories, 4.7g fat, 1.9g fiber, 3.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.73 per serving

As promised, here’s the recipe for the almond and red pepper stuffed mushrooms that we served at our URS screening party. I love stuffed mushrooms – they are one of the first apps I reach for at events and I’m always thinking about new ways to enjoy them. This particular flavor combination was inspired by a toasted almond and red pepper pesto pasta that I make at least once a month.

To make the filling, I simply pulsed the toasted almonds, shallots, garlic, roasted red peppers and basil in a food processor and then added in a bit of store bought tomato sauce to sweeten it up and add another layer of flavor. I topped the mushrooms with some shredded mozzarella cheese this time but feta also works beautifully. The best part about this recipe is that you can cook the mushrooms and prepare the filling the day before the party. Then a few hours before serving, you can assemble the stuffed mushrooms on cookie sheets and warm them up as needed for gathering. Recipes that can be prepped the day before a party = a happy host/hostess!

Almond and Red Pepper Stuffed Mushrooms
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 24-ounce packages of whole mushrooms, washed with stems removed
3/4 cup chopped shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 24-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
1/2 cup of your favorite tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 350˚F. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes or until toasted.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat and sauté mushrooms for 7 to 10 minutes, or until tender, working in batches. Remove from heat and drain well. Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a nonstick pan and sauté shallots for 5 to 7 minutes or until soft; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.

Place shallot mixture in a food processor with the toasted almonds, roasted red peppers, tomato sauce, basil, red pepper flakes, and salt; pulse for 20 seconds or until well combined.

Heat broiler. Spoon filling into mushroom cavities and place on a large greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly on top. Broil for 2 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes about 24 servings of 2 mushrooms each.

Nutrition: 87 calories, 6.6g fat, 1.5g fiber, 3.9g protein per serving
Cost: $0.75 per serving