Category: Appetizer Dishes

Strawberry, Tequila & Aperol Slushy Drink!!

When Murray & I were in Italy about 9 years ago, we discovered a delicious drink..the Aperol Spritz. Once we were home, we tried to get restaurants to make it, but not many of them had the Aperol. It wasn’t easy to find in the liquor stores in Edmonton either. Over the years, it became known & this year the Aperol Spritz is the ‘summer drink’ I think.

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Marilyn Dishes6 Comments

Nacho Bake

I think this is a good day to revisit my post with a recipe for the Layered Nacho Bake. You can make this as a vegetarian dish using ground round or only vegetables & cheese…or use some ground beef… all options are delicious! Perfect to nosh on while watching the Oilers play..or your fav team! Or good for a Cinco de Mayo party! Any reason, any time, any way…. this is cheesy & delicious.

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Please leave a comment & let me know what you think. You can follow me on Facebook or Instagram…marilyndishes

 

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Baba Ganoush

As with Hummus, there are so many recipes for Baba Ganoush & I pretty much like all of them. Some are made with mayonnaise which I really like but the one that I have been making lately uses tahini.  Very quick & simple, delicious & healthy. If you can not eat tahini, add mayonnaise in its place. If I am using mayo I add enough to get the colour I like. I know that is not very exact, but somehow it works. I like the baba ganoush to be a medium grey colour if that helps!!

Here is the recipe

Baba Ganoush with Tahini

! medium size eggplant

1 lemon, squeezed *** discard lemon

1 clove of garlic, minced  *** tip if using a food processor, you can drop a peeled clove of garlic into the food processor while it is running & it will get minced!!

1 -2 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp tahini *** if you want to make this for Passover, use mayo!

Method

  1. Line a cookie sheet with foil
  2. Wash the eggplant & prick it with a fork in a few places. Put it on the cookie sheet & bake in a 350 oven for an hour or until it is very soft. ***I put on an oven glove and squish it to see how done it is & when it is very soft & the skin is wrinkled, it is done  ***alternately cut the eggplant in half, spray the foil with non-stick spray, put the eggplant cut side down, bake until soft
  3. Let the eggplant cool
  4. Cut off the stem end of the eggplant & cut it into chunks
  5. Place the eggplant into a food processor or blender. add the lemon juice, minced garlic, salt & olive oil, process until you have the consistency your like  *** I like mine smooth

Enjoy!

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Hummus & Baked Pita Chips

There are so many recipes for Hummus & so many options to buy it ready-made in the grocery stores. But..I like making it myself. It is fast, easy & I can have it on a whim. I started making my own over 25 years ago and have come up with a recipe that we love. Lemony & smooth.If you don’t like yours lemony, just add the lemon juice gradually and taste as you go! Eat it with pita, fresh or baked, crackers, vegetables, on toast or just with a spoon!  I toasted some pita in the oven which I had frozen when we had too much one time and it is great!

Here is my recipe for Hummus

 

Hummus

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed  *** some people peel them to get a smoother hummus but I never want to spend the time doing that!

1 tsp garlic paste  ***or 1 clove of garlic minced

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice  *** juice from a whole smallish lemon

1 tsp Kosher salt ***regular table salt is fine

4 Tbsp olive oil

3 heaping tbsp Tahini paste

2 Tbsp water

Method

  1. Put the chickpeas in a food processor and process until they are smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides *** be careful not to cut the spatula on the blade..I have done that many times!
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
  3. Serve in a bowl with a bit of olive oil drizzled on top if you would like!

 

Baked Pita Chips   

Preheat oven to 400F ***I just turned my oven on while I was preparing the pitas, so it wasn’t quite at 400 degrees yet

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Ingredients

I pkg of large pita pockets

olive oil

kosher salt

dried parsley

Method

  1. Split pitas in half
  2. Using a pastry brush, brush on some olive oil all over the inside part of the spit pitas
  3. Sprinkle with kosher salt & any herbs you might like. I like house salt only & some dried partly flakes
  4. Cut the pitas in triangles…cut in half then half again…or once more to make smaller triangles  if you prefer
  5. Place the triangles on a lined baking sheet, not layered. & put into the oven
  6. Check after 5 minutes and keep your eye on them as they can burn quickly.

 

Hummus

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Layered Nacho Bake- Vegetarian

Run don’t walk to the grocery store so you have time to put this together for the game..or anytime actually! This is a cheesy yummy nacho bake that you will need a fork for! Layers of nacho chips, refried beans, salsa and lots of cheese..nothing bad here!

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Marilyn Dishes2 Comments

Smoked Salmon Spread

Well, this was delicious!  Smoked salmon, cream cheese, mayo, horseradish, capers and parsley to garnish. It was all I could do but not eat the whole bowl at one time. Seriously!! In November I was in Toronto and had a smoked salmon sandwich on a bagel at the restaurant Schmaltz Appetizing, 414 Dupont St., and they had horseradish on it, so when I saw this recipe from Martha Stewart I had to try it. I was not disappointed! I had to run out to buy bagel chips but it was worth it!
Here is the link to the recipe

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