Fancy Toast Snacks

Not going to lie – I love John Cooks May, but it has me in cooking withdrawal. I can tell because my snacks, the only meal John doesn’t prepare, are getting more and more creative and elaborate.

This week’s theme: fancy toasts. Yesterday, I spread cream cheese over a slice of whole wheat bread, and topped with sliced strawberries and a pinch of sugar.

Today, I spread half a long dinner roll with butter, and alternated slices of hardboiled egg with radishes. Finish with salt.

Plus, my beloved avocado bread has made an appearance.

If you just have a slice, all of these snacks are relatively low calorie, satisfying and good for using up random fridge ingredients.

Gravlax (Graflax)

This was one of my contributions for ladiez brunch and I was really happy with it. It’s easy, but time consuming. I used a recipe that I got from our Eater in the Embassy series (from an Icelandic diplomat) with a bit of adaptation – I halved the recipe, as I didn’t have the money for 4 pounds of salmon. I also added sugar, because although he defined “graflax” as involving a cure of both salt and sugar, the recipe he sent only had salt. The results had great texture and were a big hit.

Cucumber Hummus Bites

Not even a recipe. Hollow out a cuke, add hummus, crumble some feta on top. An easy, healthy snack when you’re entertaining.

Recipe Variation: Seared Scallops with Bacon Appetizer

This was our appetizer for Scotch Night. I basically took this recipe (which I’d already adapted once for rockfish instead of scallops), halved the amount of scallops, and served one scallop per person. Basically you cook a few pieces of bacon, crumble, and set aside. Sear scallops (in two batches), after dusting them with sifted flour, briefly on each side. Serve on a bed of spinach, shallots and garlic, with a lemon on the side for squeezing on top. The picture was taken when mine were half eaten, but hey.

Swedish Meatballs

Easy crock-pot friendly recipe. I made in the oven and transferred to the crock pot to keep warm but I bet you could do them in the crockpot completely instead of baking.

 

Crab Rangoon Wontons

Addictive and a little trashy. From my Sriracha cookbook.

 

Corn and Wild Mushroom Salad

I made this for a party, but the recipe didn’t make a ton, so I decided to present it more like a dip. It didn’t stay on the crostini that well but tasted really good with the bread. Adapted from NYT.

Tomatillo Guac

This was so good, and really just a matter of adding salsa verde to avocado. But it really created a nice complexity – guac with a kick!

Battered, Stuffed Squash Blossoms

This is my first time successfully making squash blossoms and I’m pretty excited about it! I’ve bought these twice before from the market, but they don’t keep well and wilted before I could use them. I finally bit the bullet this time and made these as appetizers for a day with friends. They were a big hit! Recipe found online. I might add a bit of salt next time and pre-cook the mushrooms, but they are also fine as-is.

Becky’s Quick Pickled Vegetables

I had these veggies over at Becky’s for a cookout and I knew I had to make them myself. And not just because I had radishes and carrots languishing at home. They’re so bright, tasty and easy. She got the recipe from this site. I made some minor adaptations.