Family Cocktail Party

This meal is a fun collection of what would most likely be party food, but served instead as dinner. I often serve meals like this when I have lots of goodies around and want to eat it all, so I do, just in small servings. Don't be daunted by the number of dishes, this is a very quick meal to prepare.

Meat Pate

Buy some prepared pate; chicken liver, goose, pork, whatever you like. Read the label carefully to make sure there's no flour, modified food starch, or corn starch. I've found some great Starch-free, nitrate-free pates at a store called Trader Joes.

You can use the pate straight from the container or mix it with up to an equal amount of cream cheese or mashed tofu. I'm not a big meat eater so I prefer adding the filler, kids usually like it better that way also. Other things you can mix into the pate to up your veggie intake are:

capers
olives
red bell peppers, raw or roasted
green bell peppers, raw
fresh celery leaves and inner stalks
green onions
mushrooms, cooked
onions, cooked
spinach, cooked

If your kids like pate and you want to up their veggie intake add some cooked and finely diced cauliflower and/or onion. The theory being that white veggies are easier to hide.

Feta Egg "Pate"

In the morning or early afternoon place in a small sauce pan filled halfway with filtered water and just covering the eggs

6 raw eggs in their shells
a pinch of salt(this makes the eggs easier to peel)

Cover and bring to a boil. When water is at a rolling boil remove pan from heat and let sit covered for at least 20 minutes. Refrigerate eggs. When ready to serve peel off and discard shells. Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks to small bowl and mash with fork until smooth. Mix in

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup feta cheese, lowfat if you can find it
1/4 cup red bell pepper, raw or roasted, diced
1/4 cup olives, diced
1/4 cup green onions, diced
(1 cup softened cream cheese)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic, dried & minced (not powder)
if you used roasted pepper,(1 clove raw garlic,
minced if you used raw bell pepper)
1/4 teaspoon basil, dried if you used roasted pepper,
(1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced if you used raw bell pepper)

Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld and herbs to soak up extra liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Place egg white halves on a platter or in a shallow bowl. You can then fill them with the meat or egg pate.

Crudite Plate

cucumber rounds
celery sticks
red bell pepper sticks
jicima, peeled and cut into sticks or sliced &
cut into shapes such as triangles or diamonds
radish slices

Spinach Rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute in 1 tablespoon olive oil until onion is translucent

1 cup onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced

Add and continue sauteeing until onion is tender

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and well squeezed to remove excess water

Stir in and continue sauteeing until onion is soft

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1 teaspoon sea salt

Remove from heat and stir in

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded or 1 cup ground meat added to pan when adding spinach w/ a pinch each of
sea salt and black pepper

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Bottled grape leaves: Middle Eastern markets carry bottled leaves with no preservatives. These taste better and are better digestively than the supermarket ones with the acid preservative. Gently remove from jar, rinse and drain in a colander. Lay on towels to absorb excess water.

Fresh grape leaves: Steam in salted lemon water with a clove of garlic for 3-5 minutes, until they're tender. Lay on towels to absorb excess water.

Lay grape leaves out on your work surface.

Cut and discard any long stems. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each leaf. Fold bottom and top of leaf over filling. Fold left leaf over filling and roll. Arrange in single layer rows in baking dish, seam side down.

Pour over rolls

1 cup veggie, mock chicken, or beef broth

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. These taste much better when you place them in the fridge for 1-4 days. Serve cold or at room temperature.

To Serve Put:

veggies on a platter
pates in individual bowls with spoons
Spinach Rolls on a platter

Ham Poundcake

If you have shaped bread tins use them for this bread. You'll need two tins.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly oil loaf pan.

Boil in small amount of salted water 2 - 3 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Set aside.

1/4 cup finely diced broccoli
1/4 cup finely diced onion

In large bowl beat butter at medium speed until smooth

1 cup butter, softened

Add eggs one at a time, beating each time until mixture is almost smooth

6 eggs, room temperature

In medium bowl combine

1-1/4 cups soy flour
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
l/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Add gradually to egg mixture. Stir in vegetables and

1/4 cup finely diced, cooked ham

Spoon batter into loaf pan. Smooth top of batter.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until tester inserted in center comes out clean. If using bread tins cook 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. Insert tester and continue cooking if necessary.Remove from pan. Cool before slicing. Arrange slices on plate or tray.

If you haven't found the recipe you're looking for use this search engine to find the recipe you're looking for on the Internet.

TIP: type the word "recipe" after your search criteria, i.e. "chicken recipe" instead of just "chicken".

I love this search engine so much that I've almost abandoned my cookbooks. It's so much easier to just type in what I want and be given a page full of links to new recipes than to have to search through several cookbooks.

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