Tag: appetizer


Jul
2017

Mango Red Paprika Hummus {Healthy & Low-fat}

categories: Appetizers, Breakfast, Dips, Dips & Sauces, Sides, Summer

I love dips dearly, hummus and salsa being my absolute favourite. Mango season means making mango salsa every other day in this household and chips are always welcome but I don’t really even need any accompaniments with it. I eat dips by spoonfuls tbh! But I had never thought of adding mango to hummus so I was very skeptical before attempting mango hummus the first time. Also, I know I am quite behind in blogging all the mango recipes I made this Summer as the mango season is almost over in most parts of our country. But if, like me, you keep stash of mango cubes in the freezer for rest of the year then you are in luck and can still make this delicious hummus in any season for that matter (read recipe notes)!

This hummus is full of healthy ingredients and contains good fat from mango and olive oil. The hummus doesn’t require using Tahini which means you already have all the basic ingredients in your pantry. I use dry roasted sesame seeds instead of Tahini. The dry roasted cumin and red paprika lends a great depth of flavour to the hummus. I love serving it with multigrain lavash or as a spread on toasted whole wheat bread.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend (while I sulk because I work Saturdays ?) with a bowl of this luscious mango hummus in one hand and a book in the other. Enjoy!

Print Recipe
 Mango Red Paprika Hummus
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a fry-pan heated on a medium high heat, add sesame seeds and cumin seeds. Reduce the heat and let it dry roast until they slightly change their colour (about 5-7 minutes) to pale brown.
  2. In a blender or food processor jar add all the ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth. If needed, add a bit more olive oil to bring everything together.
  3. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and sprinkle a pinch of red paprika on top. Serve with nachos, lavash, toasted bread or veggie crudités. Keeps well stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Recipe Notes

For this recipe, frozen mango could be used as well. Just thaw the mango until it reaches room temperature and it's ready for hummus.

Share this recipe:

Jun
2014

Mango Cucumber Salsa

categories: Appetizers, Dips & Sauces, Quick Fix, Sides, Summer
Mango Cucumber Salsa1
Hi! Trying to compensate my absence with back to back posts. I need to blog all the summer recipes I’ve made before the rainy season officially starts and I am really lagging behind. I thought at least I’ll give you this mango salsa recipe before mango season is ends. This salsa is a perfect accompaniment to your chips and a great side to grilled chicken or lamb chops.
I don’t remember how many bowls of this sunshine I have devoured this summer. It is my absolute favorite. I eat chips just so that I can have salsa (or any other dips/condiment for that matter!!) and end up having it by spoonfuls in lieu of chips! I have a couple of peaches sitting in my fridge, waiting to be used up & I most certainly plan of turning them in to this salsa sans cucumber this evening (with mint of course!).
Enjoy& be patient.
Weekend is almost here! 😉
Mango Cucumber Salsa2
Mango Cucumber Salsa:
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 0 minute | Total time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded & finely chopped
  • 1 cucumber, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 1 ripe mango, sliced, pitted & finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cup)
  • Salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade (can be subbed with coriander leaves)
  • Juice from 1 lemon

Don’t know what is basil chiffonade? – Pioneer woman tells you here!

Directions:

Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve (about 3-4 hours max otherwise it turns mushy). Serve with your favorite chips or a meat of choice.

Share this recipe:

Jan
2014

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa

categories: Appetizers, Dips & Sauces, Entrée, Sides

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa1

 

This salsa is so so good. I made it the other night when few friends came over and I knew after the first bite that I had a winner. Thankfully I had clicked few pics beforehand (food blogger problems!) so I decided to make it a post.

Actually, it is quite silly of me to be presenting this as a recipe with strict measurements because, really, you can just chop, drop and taste as you go! So consider this as a rough guideline. You may substitute orange juice in the recipe with lime or make it using pineapple instead of strawberries. Summer on your plate!

 

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa3

 

This recipe here works so perfectly and you can use it on chicken, fish, meats, tacos, bruschetta, or just scoop it up with chips! Pretty versatile. Bring it to a pot-luck or a party and I bet no one has had it before! It is sweet, tangy, spicy and has a lot going on. Strawberries are in abundance right now, so go for it!

Brighten up your Monday with this simple yet cracking dish!
Have a great week ahead! 🙂

 

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa2

 

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa

Serves: 3-4 | Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
  • Zest and juice from 1 medium orange
  • Around 20 fresh strawberries, chopped into small even dice
  • Fresh cracked black peppers
  • Handful of cilantro, rinsed and finely chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl, let onion, jalapeño, orange juice and zest steep till you prepare strawberries.
Add strawberries, pepper, cilantro and toss. Chill until ready to serve.

Note: Don’t make this much more than an hour or so before serving. Like all salsas, it will wilt and the fruit may get a little mushy. An hour is the optical amount of time for the flavors to meld and the juices to start flowing. Longer than that salsa will slowly start to lose its fresh appearance.

Share this recipe:

Jul
2013

Skinny Beetroot Hummus

categories: Appetizers, Dips

Skinny Beetroot Hummus2

I’m a huge fan of hummus and can’t get enough! I can have it for all three meals of my day. Oh-yeah! 🙂

A quick, low-fat, protein-packed and super-easy home-made hummus! A pink hummus! As a dear friend quoted ‘If I could I would cover my life in pink!’ I would too!

The hummus gets its pink color from the addition of a boiled beetroot. If you are not a big fan of beetroot, still add it as I promise you won’t be able to taste it at all! It’s sooo good!!!

I stirred in lemon zest to finished hummus and it went a notch up! It became truly Ah-mah-‘zing’ actually!!!

Cheese-lovers can add Parmesan cheese (to be added during blending) to this lovely appetizer but I wanted to keep it low-fat so I skipped it.

So let’s blend-blend!

Skinny Beetroot Hummus1

Skinny Beetroot Hummus

Serves: 4 | Stays fresh for 3-4 days, refrigerated in airtight container

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight, boiled and drained
  • 1 medium beetroot, peeled, boiled and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 Tbsp Tahini
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • salt, to taste
  • zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

Add boiled chickpeas to the blender jar. Add garlic cloves, tahini and 2 Tbsp olive oil to jar and blend.

Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and salt and blend again.

Add beetroot pieces and remaining lemon juice and olive oil to blender and blend till smooth and creamy.

Stir in lemon zest, transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

*Soak chickpeas overnight. If short on time, soak them in just boiled water for at least 3-4 hrs. It will take a bit long to cook but will do the job.
*I used pressure cooker for boiling chickpeas and beetroot both. I boiled them separately.

Accompaniment options: Pita bread, Nachos or Tortilla chips, My Skinny Carrot Sticks, veggie crudites or simply a spread on toast! Sky is the limit actually!! 😉

Share this recipe:

Apr
2013

Cheesy Broccoli Bites

categories: Appetizers

Broccoli Bites3

 

Hello beautiful people,

I hope you all had an awesome weekend. I personally had a very enjoyable Sunday (I have a working Saturday 🙁 ). But on Sunday, my hubby’s few friends and us got together for a brunch and played Pool, Dumb Charades etc. and it was whole lotta fun!!! And then my Monday Blues started (can u blame a girl???).

So coming to last weekend, I was too tired after work on Saturday to cook anything elaborate for dinner and too finicky to eat out or order in! Plus there was a broccoli head staring at me in fridge from last week and I hate wasting/throwing any form of food. Hence I thought of making this eezee-peezee appetizer and decided to serve it over Tomato & Red Pepper Soup.

It turned out to be an amazing combo!

Posting my recipe for Tomato & Red Pepper Soup is a tale for another time (I know you can’t wait but plzz wait!!!). So here comes the recipe of yummilicious Cheesy Broccoli Bites!

Ingredients:

  • 250 gms fresh broccoli head, cut into florets and steamed
  • 100 gms grated white cheddar cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

Cut broccoli into big florets. Let it steam for 2 minutes and then chop it finely.

Broccoli Bites1
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

 

broccoli Bites
Form small patties with your hands and lay on a greased parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 375F/190C for 30 minutes, turning the patties after the first 15 minutes.

Broccoli Bites2
Serve it hot with accompaniment of your choice. They taste great with soup, salad or as is with tomato ketchup! 😉

P.S. You can also serve these with the homemade low-fat Ranch dressing from this recipe: http://cookbybook.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/veggie-shooters/

Share this recipe: