I assumed other stops might serve cheese, charcuterie or chocolate to go with their wine so I thought, "Why not serve some more non-traditional, veggie-centric appetizers?" It's so easy to fill a table of apps with the things I listed above (I do when I have people over, cheese is awesome!) but sometimes veggies get left out or treated like second-rate citizens of Appetizerlandia.
Thanks to everyone who asked for the recipes, I am posting two here! (Two more will come next week!) Enjoy!
CHILLED CARROT SOUP SHOOTER
Ingredients:
2 tbsp unfiltered coconut oil
4 spring onions, white and light green parts, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger (more if you LOVE ginger)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
4 lbs carrots, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp fresh grated turmeric root
Enough water to just cover the ingredients in the pot (about 6-8 cups)
Cilantro to garnish
Directions:
- Melt the oil over medium-low heat.
- Add the spring onions, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Sauté them for 2 minutes or so, do not let the spring onions brown at all.
- Add in the carrots, salt, cinnamon and turmeric, and heat for a few more minutes, stirring to coat the carrots in the mixture.
- Add water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes.
- Puree the soup in a blender, Vitamix or immersion blender.
- Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.
The most awesome thing about this soup is that it's amazing as a warm soup in the fall/winter and as a chilled soup in the summer! Don't be afraid to make "too much". It will be eaten :)
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER HUMMUS
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
1 head of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil to coat cauliflower for roasting, 2 tbsp for hummus-making
1/2 tsp coconut oil to roast garlic
1/3 cup tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Directions:
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Chop up cauliflower into small florets; toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and a little bit of salt and place on a foil or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or roasting pan.
- Slice off the tips of the head of garlic; place your 1/2 tsp of coconut oil on the sliced portion and then wrap in foil.
- Roast the cauliflower for about 30 minutes (turning once half-way through cooking) while you roast the garlic for an hour.
- Once cooked, place cauliflower, 4-5 cloves from the roasted garlic, the rest of the olive oil, tahini and lemon juice in a blender. Blend well until creamy and no large chunks of cauliflower are present.
- Serve with sliced veggies/pita chips/anything you want!