After the holidays I swore off any more entertaining. As usual though, time heals all wounds and I am in party mode once again. For this weekends festivities I will be experimenting with crostinis. Now while I love the classic bruschetta, I wanted to kick it up a notch and try a couple of these more unique recipes….

Pesto Tomato Crostini

• 1 cup pesto
• 1 loaf French baguette
• ½ pound fresh mozzarella
• olive oil
• 4 medium tomatoes, sliced
• salt, to taste
• ground pepper, to taste

1. Set your oven to 375 degrees

2. Slice the bread into 1 ½” slices and arrange them on a baking pan

3. Spread a layer of fresh Pesto Sauce on each round of bread

4. Slice your mozzarella into rounds and place a slice of cheese on top of each slice of bread

5. Place a tomato slice on top of each piece of cheese

6. Slide the tray of baguette rounds in the oven until they lightly brown and the cheese melts (about 5 minutes)

7. Add salt and pepper to taste

Edamame & Pear Crostini

• 16 ounce bag of frozen shelled edamame
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped mint
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 baguette
• 1 Bartlett pear, diced

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Boil the edamame in salted water for 10 minutes.
3. Remove beans with a slotted spoon and place in ice water for a couple minutes to cool; then drain. Set aside 1/4 cup of the whole edamame and place the remaining edamame a food processor; process until coarsely chopped.

Beluga Lentil Crostini – from 101 Cookbooks

1 lb. black beluga lentils

1 sweet baguette, sliced thinly into 1/6th-inch rounds

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil or melted clarified butter

1/2 t. fine-grain sea salt

8 ounces spreadable goat cheese

a small splash of milk

3-4 large cloves of garlic

2 big bunches of chives

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the lentils: Wash and pick over the lintils Place the lentils in a large saucepan and cover with water using 2-3x the quantity of lentils.Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Lentils should be tender but not splitting and falling apart. Salt to taste at this point – use somewhere between 2t. -1T. of salt for a pound of lentils. Remove from the heat and drain any remaining liquid. Let cool.

Make the garlic crostini: In a large bowl add the oil/butter and salt. Add all the sliced baguette rounds to the bowl and toss well. Place rounds in a single layer across two baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove and let cool. Cut the ends off the garlic cloves. Take a single clove in your fingers and gingerly rub the top of each crostini with the garlic to give each slice a bit of a garlic kick. Don’t overdo it.

Make the chive goat cheese spread: In a small bowl add the goat cheese and a small splash of milk (just enough to thin the cheese and make it spreadable). With scissors, snip one bunch of chives into the goat cheese and stir to combine. Set aside.

For assembly all ingredients should be at room temperature. Take each crostini and give it a spread of the goat-chive spread. Top with a small spoonful of lentils. Garnish with more chopped chives (and pretty purple chive blossoms for the platter if you can find them).

- makes about 5 dozen

Sweet Pepper Crostini

• 6 slices baguette (1/2-inch-thick)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup roasted red bell pepper strips
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella or fontina

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet. Brush the oil over the bread slices.

Bake until pale golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.

Arrange the bell pepper strips atop the bread. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Broil until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

Chicken Crostini – from blogchef

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 ¼ cups Italian salad dressing (divided)

4 cups fresh spinach (torn)

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

8 sun dried tomatoes (packed without oil, chopped)

1 (16 ounce) loaf focaccia bread (or French bread, cut into ½” thick slices)

¼ cup olive oil

Step 1: Place chicken breasts and 1 cup of Italian salad dressing in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Marinate for 3 hours. Heat a grill, and discard and left over dressing from the chicken marinade. Grill chicken 7 minutes per side or until the juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink inside. Allow to cool and shred or cut into small pieces.

Step 2: In a large bowl mix cooked chicken, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese. Toss with remaining salad dressing until well coated.

Step 3: Brush each bread slice on both sides with olive oil. On the same grill used to cook the chicken, grill bread slices 1 minute per side or until lightly toasted. Place portions of the chicken mixture on each bread slice and serve.

*Happy Friday*

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

Broccoli was never high on my vegetable acceptability list.  As far as greens went, I tended to be more of an asparagus and spinach girl. For some reason whenever I thought of broccoli, I envisioned scowling kids from the 1950′s refusing to eat their vegetables. Oh, and I wasn’t too fond of the smell either. But I put my prejudice aside and simply started serving broccoli to the family. Here’s why:

When it comes to basic nutrients, broccoli is a mother lode. Ounce for ounce, boiled broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange and as much calcium as a glass of milk. One medium spear has three times more fiber than a slice of wheat bran bread. Broccoli is also one of the richest sources of vitamin A in the produce section.

Not too shabby for a tiny, stinky tree. Here are three recipes that I have been serving up lately. Not surprisingly, we all like our broccoli different ways…

Broccoli with Parmesan Sauce

A very simple and super-quick recipe. At 95 calories and 8 grams of protein per serving this dish pairs perfectly with a bun-less buffalo burger. *Kid Favorite*

Chicken Tomato Broccoli Salad

With 231 calories and 24 grams of protein per serving, you can’t go wrong with this main course salad. *My Favorite*

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

FANTASTIC Broccoli soup recipe to take the chill off these cold winter days. 410 calories, 19 grams of protein and 15 grams of carbs per serving. *Hubs Favorite*

Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/3  cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 3  tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1  tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1  tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1/4  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• Salad:
• 1  pound small red potatoes
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1/2  pound diagonally cut green beans
• 2  cups cubed cooked chicken (about 8 ounces)
• 2  tablespoons chopped red onion
• 1  (10-ounce) package gourmet salad greens (about 6 cups)

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Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 1/2 cup halved, seeded, and vertically sliced kumquats
• 1/2 cup carrot juice or orange juice
• 1  tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2  thyme sprigs
• 1  bay leaf
• 2  teaspoons rice vinegar
• 2  teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2  to 2 tablespoons freshly ground mixed peppercorns or black peppercorns
• 4  (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (about 3/4 inch thick)
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• Fresh chives (optional)

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Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment