Greek Nachos

I found this recipe a few months ago and thought it sounded so interesting and unique. Since making it for the first time, Callie and I have made it on a regular basis and it has quickly become one of our family's favorite meals. These nachos are actually really filling so they can be eaten as a meal. They could also be made as a heartier appetizer (We made them as one of the appetizers at our Superbowl party). For our family, we doubled the recipe and it made enough for dinner for everyone plus a little left over. Here you go English family, enjoy!! :)

Ingredients:

1 package pita chips (approximately 10 oz)

1/4 cup olive oil + 2 tablespoons

salt

4 ounces feta cheese

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (**we didn't use the mint in ours and the flavor was great)

1 lemon

freshly ground black pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 pound ground lamb (**we used ground turkey instead)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 or 3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium cucumber, chopped

1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted and halved (optional) (** we didn't use these either and it was still plenty flavorful)

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, combine feta, yogurt, 1/4 cup olive oil, mint, and zest and juice of lemon; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Blend or process until smooth. (You can also mash mixture by hand, with a fork, which is what we did. That way the feta stays a little bit chunky)

Put two tablespoons of olive in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add lamb and cumin and sprinkle with salt and pepper; continue cooking until meat is cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes more. Put chips on a serving plate and top with lamb, sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives it you're using them.

Shrimp Tostada Bites

We got the idea for this recipe from an appetizer we really like at Z Tejas. This recipe is one we sort of made up as we went, so the measurements aren't really exact.

Ingredients:

1 two-pound bag frozen shrimp, thawed and tails removed
5-6 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro Pesto
4-5 large flour tortillas (burrito size)
cooking spray
4 avocados
1 roma tomato, chopped
3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
fresh lime juice
salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Chop thawed shrimp into small pieces (about the size of your thumbnail). Place in mixing bowl and stir in 3-4 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro pesto. Cover and marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With a 2-inch biscuit or round cookie cutter, cut tortillas into mini circles. Place on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the tortilla rounds. Bake in oven for about 6 minutes. Watch closely and if any begin to puff up, flatten them with a fork. Broil them until they are lightly browned. When they're done they will be hard and flaky, almost like a cracker.

For guacamole, mash avocados in a bowl. Add chopped tomato and onion. Stir together and add fresh lime juice and salt, to taste.

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium to medium-low heat and add marinated shrimp. As shrimp cooks, stir in another 1-2 Tbsp. pesto. Cook until shrimp is light pink.

To assemble, top tortilla round with a small scoop of guacamole and 2-3 shrimp pieces. Arrange on serving platter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Ginger Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For this appetizer, I took this recipe I found for some wraps and decided to just take the recipe for the filling and turn it into lettuce wraps instead. They were SO good! They had so much flavor and tasted really fresh. I will definitely be making these again. They are also nice because you can make the filling way ahead of time and just let it chill in the fridge. So easy!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil
6 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves, cooked (we just baked them with a little salt and pepper on them)
1 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I just used 3/4 tsp. ground ginger instead)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Lettuce leaves (I used iceburg because I like the crunch:)

Directions:

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Place chicken, cucumber, and bell pepper in a large bowl; set aside.

Whisk together sugar and the next 6 ingredients (sugar through garlic) until smooth. Add peanut butter and water; whisk until smooth, scraping sides. Add peanut butter mixture to chicken mixture; stir well. Add cilantro, and toss well. Serve with lettuce leaves.

Pecorino Romano with Apples and Fig Jam

We also made these for New Year's Eve. We actually made them for the first time about 3 years ago, when we really started getting into cooking. They are so good. I love the combination of the salty cheese, sour apple, and sweet fig jam on the crunchy bread. Definitely one of my favorites! Oh and we ommitted the brandy and it didn't really seem to mess up the consistency or anything.

Ingredients:

6 dried figs, halved
1/2 cup simple syrup, (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
24 baguette slices
Olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 large apple (Granny Smith or Braeburn), thinly sliced into 24 slices
1/4 pound chunk Pecorino Romano, for shaving 24 pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs, simple syrup, and brandy. Bring the mixture up to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Place the fig mixture and the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend, pulsing a few times, until pureed. Set aside.

Place the baguette slices on a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon grated Pecorino Romano. Bake until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted and golden, about 7 minutes.

Top each slice of toast with 2 teaspoons of fig jam, a slice of apple and a piece of shaved Pecorino Romano. Transfer the toasts to a serving platter and serve.

Simple syrup:

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar

In a saucepan combine water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Take pan off heat and cool the syrup. Any extra cooled syrup can be saved in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Triple Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

We also made these for one of our New Year's Eve appetizers. So good and super easy!

Ingredients:

48 medium (2-pounds) white mushrooms
1 package (10-ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
Salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Using damp paper towels, wipe mushroom caps clean; remove and discard stems, or save for another use. In colander, squeeze liquid out of spinach until dry.

In large bowl, mix spinach, feta, cream cheese, green onions, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until well combined. Fill each mushroom with heaping teaspoon spinach mixture; top with Parmesan.

Line baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Transfer mushrooms to baking sheet; bake 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is golden brown.