Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Mediterranean Cucumber Appetizers

Appetizers

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

Sweet Potato and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms Topped with Hazelnuts

I love stuffed mushrooms and serve them almost every time we have friends over, but I’ve been wanting to lighten them up for awhile now since the usual cream cheese-filled versions are very heavy. When I was making my Truly Outrageous Baked Sweet Potatoes, I was...

Cucumber Hummus Appetizers

I really enjoy every aspect of having friends over for dinner (except for the cleaning part, of course!) and was especially excited for the meal we had last night with our friends Geeti and Puneet because Geeti is also a huge foodie. We had an absolutely amazing feast...

Wild Mushroom Dip with Toasted Bread Strips

I recently had the pleasure of creating a recipe for Natasha’s 5 Star Makeover Summer '10 Special that she just posted this week. For the challenge we received a package of unique ingredients from Marx Foods and were asked to use one to makeover a dish! I chose to use...

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets with Blue Cheese

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...

Cheesy Mushroom and Leek Crostinis

We started our last day of our anniversary trip to Portland by indulging in a few sticky buns and croissants at the Standard Baking Company. Of course, we also filled up a bag with a few loaves of bread to bring home. The sourdough was excellent! Then we headed off to...

BBQ Rice Balls Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

I have a problem – I can’t stop stuffing things with cheese! I recently saw arancini (Italian rice balls) filled with cheese on Lisa is Cooking and Brown Eyed Baker, and immediately started drooling. Of course, I wanted to add my own little twist, so I drew...

Almond and Red Pepper Stuffed Mushrooms

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...

Coconut Curry Mussels

This weekend was lovely in Boston and my hubby and I took full advantage of the unusually warm weather by taking a long walk around our neighborhood. We live within a 5 minute stroll of many shops and restaurants and one of our favorites is a small family-owned meat...