House Warming Party Appetizers

So we threw our house warming party this past Saturday and it was a huge success.  Thanks to those that came and also to those that brought the sweets.  Below you will find pictures of and recipes for each of the appetizers I made in case you'd like to try them yourselves.  YUM!

Meatballs

Ingredients
- 1 can jellied cranberry sauce
- 1 bottle chili sauce (For the record, I would have liked to use the "Homemade Chili Sauce" that they sell in the short, fat bottles at some stores, but the two that I went to did not carry it, so I had to settle for the Heinz variety)
- 1 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Tabasco, to taste
- Meatballs (I used the ones from Costco)
Directions
- Cook meatballs as insturcted on packaging.
- Combine all other ingredients in a slow cooker on medium.
- Add meatballs to sauce and stir.

Homemade Onion Dip

Ingredients

- 2 large yellow onions

- 4 tbs unsalted butter

- 1/4 cup vegetable oil

- 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

- 2 tsp brown sugar

- 1 tsp kosher salt

- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

- 1/2 cup sour cream

- 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

- Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds.

- Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.

- Add the onions, cayenne, brown sugar, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes.

- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes (or more) until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

- While onions are cooking, place the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise in a bowl and beat until smooth.

- Add the onions and mix well.

- Flavors mix best if you allow the dip to chill overnight... But good luck waiting that long :-) 

- Serve at room temperature!

Chipotle Chicken Mini Tostadas

Ingredients

- 2 boneless/skinless chicken boobs

- 1 chipotle pepper, left whole

- 1 tbs +/- adobo sauce from the can of chipotles

- 1 cup taco sauce (I used Herdez green sauce)

- 3/4 cup chopped onion

- 3 minced cloves garlic

- A couple of shakes taco seasoning

- Juice of 1 lime

- Salt and pepper

- Guacamole (store-bought or homemade... I made mine: avocados, onion, roma tomatoes, lime juice, S&P, cumin)

- Large, sturdy tortilla chips

- Jalapeno pesto (optional, but quite spicy and delicious) (2-3 jalapenos [charred over open flame], 1 bunch cilantro, lime juice, bottled/pickled jalapeno slices [6-8 slices and tbs juices +/-], 2/3 cup parmesean cheese, 1/2 cup cashews +/-, 1/2 cup olive oil +/-.  Combine everything in food processor.)

Directions:

- Combine chicken, chipotle, adobo, taco sauce, onion, garlic, taco seasoning, lime, and S&P in large Ziplock bag and allow to marinate overnight.

- Dump the contents of the bag into slow cooker.

- Cook until done-- 3-4 hours on high.

- Discard chipotle pepper, if desired.

- Shred chicken and mix with sauce.

- Top each chip with a scoop of guacamole, the chipotle chicken, and serve with jalapeno pesto on the side.

Spinach Ricotta Cups

Ingredients:

- Cooking spray
- 24 square wonton wrappers
- 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 10-ounce frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbs cream
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- Dash cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

- Lightly spray the cups of a 12-muffin pan with the cooking spray. 

- Gently press one wrapper into reach cup. 

- Bake for 6 minutes. 

- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  Repeat with remaining wrappers.

- In a small bowl combine the ricotta, spinach, eggs, cream, garlic, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, and Parmesan. 

- Replace 12 of the baked cups into the muffin pan.  Fill each with one tablespoon of filling mixture. 

- Lay a piece of aluminum foil lightly over the pan and return to the oven.

- Bake for 17 minutes (still at 350 degrees). 

- Remove to wire rack to cool.  Repeat with remaining cups and filling.

7-Layer Greek Dip

YUUUMMM!!!

My dish looked like this within minutes... down to one corner

Ingredients:

- 1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

- 1 tsp. Greek seasoning

- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cup hummus
- 1 1/2 cup seeded, diced cucumbers
- 1 cup seeded, diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions

- 1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese
- 1/8-1/4 c. minced fresh parsley

Directions:

- With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, seasoning, garlic, and lemon juice until light and fluffy.

- Spread in the bottom of a pie plate or a small, shallow baking dish.

- Spread a layer of hummus.

- In order, create layers by sprinkling the cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, onions, Feta cheese, and parsley.

- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

- Serve with pita chips

**Note, this is the original recipe.  I used a roasted garlic hummus, so I left out the garlic from the cream cheese mixture and let the hummus carry the garlic taste for the dip.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

- Pizza Crust (I use Boboli, but certainly a good homemade thin crust would be great)

- Pesto, mine uses:

-- Fresh Basil (handful)

-- Thawed frozen peas (handful)

-- Cashews (you guessed it... a handful)

-- Parmesan cheese

-- 3 cloves garlic

-- Dash hot sauce

-- Olive Oil

-- Salt and Pepper

- Grated pepper jack cheese

- Cooked Chicken pieces

- Chopped marinated artichoke hearts

- Chopped Cashews

Directions:

Come on, people.  This isn't rocket science.  Just make the pizza using the pesto as the sauce instead of a red sauce.

Yum, Yum, Yum.