For Laree & my Date Night Dinner this week, we basically combined a series of appetizers into a meal. I got inspired for this by a couple of things. First of all, how often have you fixed a killer appetizer that was so good you weren’t hungry for the main course after eating it all up? Happens to us all the time. And with all the spring time fruits and vegetables hitting their peak, I wanted a smorgasbord of fresh and healthy flavors that would satisfy and celebrate the beginning of summer and kind of balance each other out and create a full meal.
I’m also a huge fan of bruschetta and crostini. There’s just something irresistible about fresh fruits and vegetables on toasty bruschetta, especially paired with a glass of wine and some sparkling mineral water. It kind of transports me to some imaginary Italian countryside villa, particularly when I’ve got “Italian Traditional Radio” playing on Pandora in the background!
Here’s the menu:
Quinoa Tabbouleh
This one came straight out of the June 2012 issue of Bon Appétit with some minor proportional changes. We halved the recipe, but then realized that there wasn’t going to be the right proportion of quinoa and vegetables, so we used the full cup of quinoa, but left the vegetable proportion at half. This is really a matter of preference, but we preferred this quinoa to vegetable ratio over what the original recipe called for. Original recipe also called for 2/3 cup parsley and 1/2 cup mint, but we used a generous 1/4 of both. Below are the proportions we used.
We cooked the Quinoa in 1 1/4 cup chicken broth for about 10 minutes then let it stand while we prepped everything else. Make the dressing by combining lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
When the quinoa is cool and fluffed with a fork, combine in a bowl with the vegetables. If you prefer more veggies to quinoa, then add more. We also halved the dressing from the original recipe, so you can certainly increase to your taste, but this worked out perfect for us.
- 1 Cup Quinoa
- Pinch of Sea Salt (not really necessary if you use chicken broth to cook the quinoa)
- 1 Tbs fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- Salt
- Freshly ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 large English hothouse cucumber, diced
- 1/2 pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley (preferably flat leaf)
- 1/4 cup chopped mint
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Edamame, Mint & Romano Crostini
This ended up being a real treat and was probably the star of the show for Laree. I’d recommend grilling the bread, but we were tired and didn’t feel like firing up the grill, so we made our crostini’s more like bruschetta in the oven, brushed with olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove when they were done. We used Cuban bread since the ciabatta was way too thick in diameter and the baguettes at Publix were too thin, but use whatever you like best.
This is a variation of another basic crostini recipe that originally called for peas instead of edamame and shaved Parmesan instead of Pecorino Romano, but that’s what we had on hand and a block of Parmesan is totally expensive considering we were just going to be using a few shavings.
The only part of this recipe that takes any time is making the edamame paste. Blanch the edamame until it’s tender (I didn’t blanch long enough my first time so it didn’t mash well), a few minutes if you’re using frozen edamame. Pull one out with a spoon and test it. Ideally you want it as pasty as you can get it, but you can see from my picture mine wasn’t (it was still delicious!).
Drain the peas then mash in a bowl with the olive oil and salt. Spread the mixture on each of your crostinis, then garnish with shaved Romano, chopped mint and some balsamic vinegar. If you have extra time and want to go to the extra effort, you can make a balsamic reduction and drizzle over to make the balsamic flavor a little more intense.
- Some slices of bread (we made 4 each for each kind of crostini), cut at an angle, brushed with olive oil
- Garlic clove for rubbing toasted crostini
- 2/3 cup frozen Edamame (thawed reduces blanching time)
- Salt to taste
- 1-2 tbs Olive Oil
- Pecorino Romano, shaved thin
- Chopped Mint
- Balsamic Vinegar
Peach, Prosciutto and Ricotta Crostini
Got this recipe from Epicurious.com and pretty much made it “as-is.”
The peaches are in season in the south and this is kind of like a fusion of southern and Italian tradition!
This is totally easy and you make it on the spot. The only thing that takes a few minutes is peeling (only if you want to) and slicing the peach. Toast the crostinis, then top with a spoonful of ricotta on each crostini, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, torn pieces of prosciutto, a honey drizzle and a couple of peach slices. Add a drop or two of the balsamic reduction for an extra kick.
- More slices of bread
- 1 ripe Peach, sliced thinly
- Ricotta cheese
- Freshly ground Black Pepper
- Prosciutto, just a couple very thin slices from the deli
- Honey
- Balsamic Vinegar (reduction is optional but delicious)
Arugula, Tomato and Romano Salad
This is probably the easiest salad that we put together. It is simply halved grape tomatoes and shaved Pecorino Romano cheese on a bed of Arugula, topped with your favorite vinaigrette. We could make our own, but my current favorite is Brianna’s Real French Vinaigarette.