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

Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms

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...

Pizza Onion Rings

A couple months ago, Apolinaras and I spent a long weekend in Chicago. I was scheduled to give a seminar about my lab’s research at the AACR conference at McCormick center, and Apolinaras tagged along to keep me company. Apolinaras and I went to college and grad...

Chicken Parm Bites Stuffed with Mozzarella

I recently splurged on some of those cute little fresh mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil and herbs. They are so addicting! We enjoyed them when our friends visited last weekend, but I bought a huge tub because I wanted to play with them in a new recipe. I...

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Crostinis

It’s about time for a recipe post around here, huh?  Don’t worry, I actually spent all last weekend in the kitchen getting ready for our Ultimate Recipe Showdown screening party on Sunday, so I’ve got two appetizer recipes ready to share!  It was the first...

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...

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hummus

We have a serious hummus/pita bread ratio problem at our house. Whenever we get a tub of hummus from Trader Joe’s and a pack of pita, the hummus disappears before we’re done with the pita bread! Most of the time I discover the poor forgotten pita in the back of the...

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...

Caramelized Onion, Apple, and Bacon Phyllo Cups with Gorgonzola

Is it phyllo or fillo dough? Whatever the spelling, I haven’t made anything with these crispy flakey layers of buttery deliciousness in a couple years, which is such a shame. But, last week when I was picking up some frozen puff pastry for an upcoming recipe, I...