Tag Archives: cheese

Watermelon Bites with Fresh Basil and Halloumi Cheese

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These are ridiculously easy to make and a delightful combination!

Watermelon, grilled or fried Halloumi (Greek cheese) and fresh basil on a skewer makes for a lovely appetizer.

watermelon halloumi basil skewers blog (2)

watermelon halloumi basil skewers blog (3)

watermelon halloumi basil skewers blog (1)

Ingredients

  • Watermelon
  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Halloumi (Greek cheese)

Directions

  • Fry or grill the Halloumi for a minute or two, then slice it into small <1″ cubes
  • Slice watermelon in cubes
  • Layer watermelon, Halloumi and basil on skewers
  • Serve and enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

Baked Goat Cheese with Honey, Pine Nuts and Rosemary

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This is a super easy, super elegant and delicious appetizer! Bake a patty of goat cheese, topped with Pine Nuts, Rosemary and drizzled with honey.

baked goat cheese pinenuts honey rosemary blog (2)baked goat cheese pinenuts honey rosemary blog (1)

Ingredients

  • Goat cheese
  • Pine nuts
  • Honey
  • Fresh or dried rosemary

Directions

  • Heat oven to 400
  • Put cheese in oven proof dish and top with pine nuts, and optionally dried or fresh rosemary and drizzle with honey (you can also use fresh rosemary as garnish after this is baked, as shown in the photo)
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are brown
  • Let cool for a bit and serve! Enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

Savory Cheddar Herb Waffles

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This is a delicious cheesy version of classic waffles! Totally delicious served simply with fried eggs and some chopped fresh herbs!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups gluten free baking flour or almond flour (I used ~2 cups almond flour + 1 Tbsp coconut flour)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 eggs plus more for frying (see directions below)
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (warm, not hot)
  • 1/2 tsp honey
  • 3 Tbsp oil or butter
  • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs (such as thyme, chives, basil), plus more chives for garnish
  • bunch of pea shoots, trimmed, for garnish (optional)

Directions

  • Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine (flour through yeast)
  • Make a well in the middle, add 2 eggs, milk, water, honey and oil
  • Whisk until smooth
  • Stir in cheddar and herbs
  • Set aside until batter is doubled in volume and bubbly, about 10 minutes
  • Spoon into waffle iron according to waffle iron instructions
  • In lightly greased skillet over medium heat, cook remaining eggs until set, about 2 minutes
  • Serve fried egg over hot waffle, garnished with fresh herbs

dit-elle-Esther

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Cheese

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Root veggies are in season with an abundance to select from already. You can use sweet potatoes, yams or garnet yams for this recipe. You are dairy free? No problem. Bake them the same way as described below and omit cheese. They are super delicious either way! 🙂

yams with broiled cheese blog

Ingredients

  • 4 small sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 3 oz Fontina cheese, grated (3/4 cup) – I could not find this in my local grocery store and used Comte cheese instead.. you can’t really go wrong with any cheese though, so use your favorite cheese or just Parmesan works great!
  • 1 1/2 oz. Parmesan, grated (1/3 cup)

Directions

  • Heat oven to 425*
  • Rub potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper
  • Bake, cut side down, on a baking sheet or glass pan until golden brown and tender, ~20 minutes (fork inserts very easily)
  • Turn over to broil
  • Combine cheeses and sprinkle on potatoes cut-side up
  • Broil until cheese is melted and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes
  • Serve warm

dit-elle-Esther

Creamy Feta Dip and Veggies

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The thing that makes this Feta Dip unique is the cumin spice. It is creamy and fresh and delicious and wonderful paired with fresh veggies!

Mom tip of the day: I left some stems and leaves on the carrots and asked my kids if they wanted “bunny carrots”? They were so intrigued they ate the carrots up (don’t eat the leaves or stems!). Funny how something slightly out of the ordinary is so interesting! 🙂

feta buttermilk and veggies dip blog (2) feta buttermilk and veggies dip blog (1)
Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup buttermilk or Greek Yogurt
  • 6 oz Feta, crumbled (about 1 1/4 cup)
  • 3/4 tsp cumin (optionally for richer flavor – heated in a small skillet until just fragrant)
  • 2 tsps. fresh lime juice
  • Pepper, to taste
  • Olive oil
  • Radicchio leaves, carrots, cucumber or other favorite veggies

Directions

  • Combine buttermilk, 1/2 cup of the Feta, cumin and pepper in a food processor and process until smooth
  • Add remaining feta and pule a few times to combine
  • Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days
  • Before serving, stir in lime juice and serve the dip drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of black pepper
  • Serve with fresh cut veggies

dit-elle-Esther

Jalapeno Poppers

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These are delicious! I mean how could they not be? Cheese filled jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon and baked to crispy perfection! These must be a total crowd pleaser – an awesome app for any season! Enjoy. 🙂

Blog jalapeno popper

Ingredients

  • 12 jalapeno peppers, halved and seeds removed (keep a few seeds if you like spicy – as the seeds hold the heat!). And a note of caution – don’t touch your eyes while chopping. The oil from the seeds is very hot!
  • 1 8oz block of cream cheese
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
  • 6 strips of bacon, halved

Directions

  • Mix cream and cheddar cheeses
  • Fill jalapeno pepper half with cheese mixture and put on the other half
  • Wrap in bacon
  • Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy (use broiler for a few minutes at end for extra crispiness if needed!)

dit-elle-Esther

Spinach, Bacon and Artichoke Dip

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It feels like I’ve been on this Artichoke Dip frenzy now that I look back at our recipes, but then I guess we’ve also been doing this blog for a while! 🙂 Over the holidays I discovered Hot Artichoke and Crab Dip, then I was looking for a very simple baked dip and discovered the awesome Warm Artichoke Dip with only FOUR ingredients, then finally with some tweaking and consulting of multiple recipes, discovered this excellent Spinach, Bacon and Artichoke Dip that I’m posting today.

This recipe is very similar to my Spinach Artichoke Dip with Bacon, with one key difference being that this one calls for sour cream and the other one calls for mayo, and this one uses a mix of cheeses. This recipe has more veggies and less dairy that many similar dip recipes that you’ll find out there, but that’s the way I like it. And you know, with ingredients like cheese, artichoke, spinach, and BACON.. well.. you can’t really go wrong! Enjoy whatever variation you decide on or come up with. 🙂

Blog spinach bacon dip

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese + more for topping
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese + more for topping
  • 5 bacon strips, cooked and chopped (an easy way to cook bacon is to microwave between paper towels until crispy)
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1 (8oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
  • Serve with fresh cut veggies or tortilla chips

Directions

  • Heat oven to 350*
  • Combine mozzarella, sour cream, Parmesan and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl and stir until well blended
  • Spoon mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese
  • Bake at 350* for ~30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown
  • Serve warm

Super Mom Tip: this freezes well! Put in individual containers and let thaw in fridge a day ahead of use. 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Warm Artichoke Dip

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This is a staple – super easy to make – artichoke dip. Four ingredients, mix well and pop in the oven. Voila! Serve hot with fresh cut vegetables or crackers!

Blog basic artichoke dip-2 Blog basic artichoke dip-1

Ingredients

  • 1 can (~14oz) artichoke hearts, quartered
  • 1 can (4oz) chopped green chilis (you can find them with varying degrees of heat, so check the can – mild, medium or hot – whatever your preference)
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup mayonnaise

Directions

  • Combine all ingredients
  • Turn into 8 inch round baking dish
  • Bake 350* for 25 minutes or until it starts to turn golden around the edges and bubble
  • Serve warm as a dip with fresh cut veggies, crackers or chips

dit-elle-Esther

Papusas

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My sister was in Peru recently and brought back this fabulous recipe – Salvadoran Papusas. So easy, so fun! Basically mix finely ground corn meal (called masa harina or masa de maiz) with water, add whatever toppings/stuffings you want (like cheese, herbs, cooked meat, veggies) and fry in a dry pan (no oil). I topped with Cilantro Lime Crema and these were delicious!

Blog papusas (2) Blog papusas (1)

Ingredients

  • Finely ground corn meal
  • Water
  • Toppings/stuffings: cheese, spices, veggies, cooked meat. I did these simply with some cheddar jalapeno cheese.

Directions

  • Put corn meal in a bowl and add water stirring until a soft dough forms
  • Shape and stuff with toppings
  • Fry 1-2 minutes per side or until golden

More info on these delightful papusas or ‘stuffed pockets’ http://www.whats4eats.com/breads/pupusas-recipe or on Wikipedia.

Super Mom Tip: fun recipe for kids to help make. Have them do the stirring and shaping and you do the cooking! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther