Happy Blogiversary to Me! Top 10 Appetizers/Snacks

It's finally here! One year ago today I began my blog, with some trepidation, a little anxiousness, and a lot of excitement! Since then I have posted over 250 entries, learned a teeny bit more about photographing food, and made a lot of great (and not-so-great) dishes. I know Chuck has appreciated it (he gets new food to try all the time) and my family and friends enjoy having my recipes all in one convenient place.

To commemorate my blogiversary, I have decided to do a weekend extravaganza of Top 10's from the past year. I based these mainly on the dishes I make again and again and which ones received the best reviews from the people who were eating them! Today we have top appetizers and snacks (which is why the pizza is included here), tomorrow will bring top entrees and side dishes, and we will end on Sunday with top desserts and baked goods!

Which were your favorite appetizers or snacks of the past year from Cooking This and That?

Click on the title to link to the recipe!

Caramelized Onion Dip

Pizza Pockets

Baked Sante Fe Dip

Garlic, Cheese, and Sausage Bites

Chicken Poppers

Cheddar Ale Spread

Ricotta. Fig, and Prosciutto Bruschetta

Shoepeg Salsa

Olive, Rosemary, and Onion Focaccia

Chicken Parmesan Pizza

Garlic-Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes and Asparagus

When I asked Chuck to look through my Everyday Food cookbook and pick something for dinner he selected this. Upon first glance it looked a little boring to me - I mean, essentially it's just grilled chicken and vegetables, something I make all the time. But each component has a little twist to it that makes the whole meal delicious.

You will notice that the recipe calls for a tablespoon of homemade vinaigrette to spoon over the asparagus. I was not about to make an entire recipe of it to use one tablespoon so I just used our current favorite storebought dressing, Ken's Creamy Balsamic, and it was delicious.

I used about 2/3 of each ingredient amount, since it was just the two of us; and didn't buy the new potatoes because they are expensive. Using regular red potatoes and cutting them into chunks works just fine. And since I didn't make any other changes I will just link you to the original recipe here:

Garlic-Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes and Asparagus

Tip: Have everything prepped before you start cooking!

Sesame Spinach Salad

This is a salad that everyone makes their own version of - I got this one from my friend, Joanna. I had been wary of making this because I wasn't sure how the hard Ramen noodles would really taste in the salad, but it turned out delicious. Something about the flavorful mix of the noodles and the sesame vinaigrette with the spinach and cole slaw really works.

And I am always a proponent of making things in advance if you can, but you really can't add the dressing to this salad more than about a half hour before you want to eat it. If you are pressed for time, assemble all the dry ingredients and make the dressing, then toss the salad right before serving. Enjoy!

Sesame Spinach Salad

from Joanna

Makes enough for a crowd

10 ounces baby spinach

1 bag cole slaw mix

8 scallions, chopped

2 packages Ramen noodles (crush noodles and discard flavor packets)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Dressing:

2 tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pepper

6 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

Lightly saute the almonds and sesame seeds in a small amount of vegetable oil. Add all other ingredients (except dressing) together and toss.

Whisk together all dressing ingredients and reserve. Toss all together about 10 minutes before serving.

Taco Casserole

Whenever I see a casserole with Mexican flavors I get excited because A. casseroles are so easy to make in advance and for other people and B. Chuck and I love these flavors. This one caught my eye because it calls for biscuits rather than the traditional corn or flour tortillas.

I made three batches of this at once, using approximately 2 1/2 times all the ingredient amounts; one batch for us and one batch each for two of my friends who recently had babies. Personally, I felt like it did not have enough sauce on it, but that could be beacuse I messed up on the amounts (I am really bad at this and famous for asking Chuck things such as "what is one-and-one-third times three-quarters of a cup?"). Regardless, next time I will try to add some salsa to the ground beef mixture.

As with most casseroles, individual servings do not photograph well so here is the final dish!

Since that was the only adjustment I would make, I will just link you directly to the original recipe at Taste and Tell:

Taco Casserole

First layer going into the oven:

and out:

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

I made this early last year for the first time and loved it so much I have made it several times since. Both without the chicken as a side dish and also with the chicken for a hearty family meal. When I made it for the beach, I almost quadrupled the recipe (mixing all the ingredients together in two large bowls was rather hilarious); but when I make it for Chuck and myself I make the original recipe and then have plenty of leftovers. (And ignore the link's claim that this makes 8 servings - not if you like to eat!)

The idea of cottage cheese used for part of the sauce is not a new one, but one that I had not used before making this. Processing the cheese until smooth makes it into a thick, yet healthy, alternative to the rich cream sauces you may find on pasta bakes like this one. This dish has a lot of veggies in it, some of which you may not like, but I recommend trying them all at first - the combination of all of them together in addtion to the three cheeses is really delicious!

And again, I apologize for the blue-tinted pictures, this is the last of them!

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

slightly adpated from Cooking Light

Makes 4-6 large servings

8 ounces penne pasta (or any tube-shaped pasta)

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
7 ounces roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided (white is better for blending in)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup skim or 2% reduced-fat milk
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray and set aside.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cooke penne according to directions to al dente, drain and set aside. (You can put a little bit of olive oil on the cooked penne to keep it from sticking together while you cook the vegetables.)

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion, saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add roasted red peppers, spinach, oregano, and black pepper, saute 3 minutes or until heated through.

Process cottage cheese in a food processor until very smooth. In a large bowl, combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk and soup. Mix thoroughly.

Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar and Parmesan cheeses. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Amazing Crumb Cake

We started calling this the "three-stick crumb cake" down the shore since that is how much butter is in the topping! This is totally worth the treat though, so if you can spare the calories, definitely make this! It's especially easy to make as well, since you use a cake mix for the base, and just have to mix a few ingredients together for the topping.

This recipe comes from my good friend Rita, who has provided me with several other yummy dishes. Enjoy a piece of this today!

(I apologize for the blue tint to the pictures. For some reason this is how my white balance set itself at the beach house!)

Amazing Crumb Cake

from Rita

Makes many servings (since you can't eat too much at once!)

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 envelope Dream Whip (found in the baking aisle)

1 cup cold water

Topping:

3 sticks butter, melted

1 1 /3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 11 x 17" jelly roll pan.

Mix all cake ingredients well, pour into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, mix together all topping ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over the partially baked cake. Bake another 10-15 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cake in for 15 more minutes.

Cool cake and sift powdered sugar over the top.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Hello everyone! I am back from the beach and ready to start cooking and blogging again!

I love cakes and breads with sour cream in them - it just makes the baked good so moist and delicious. I made this loaf cake last summer (pre-blog, which is why I don't have any citation, if this is yours, let me know!) and LOVED it. So when I was deciding on breakfast/snacks to make for the beach, this came to mind.

You may want to double the recipe for two loaves and stick one in the freezer for later - it's that good!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

from unknown source

Makes one loaf

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about one lemon)

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a loaf pan, dust with flour.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt until blended. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, and poppy seeds until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until just blended. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over the egg mixture and stir until both are just incorporated. Stir in the sour cream, then sprinkle with the remaining flour and stir until evenly distributed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 65-70 minutes. Keep an eye on the cake near the end of baking and cover loosely with foil if necessary to prevent over-browning. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes.

Run a knife around the inside of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack and lift off the pan. Continue cooling – serve warm or at room temperature.