Herb and Cheese Sweet Peppers

Here's something that won't take too long, but it'll be gone rather quickly.  It's a new item for our traditional crudite platters that start to bore me after a while...

You'll need a bag of 30 (or so) mini sweet peppers.  These are easily found at Costco for $3.99, or you can grab a bag at most grocery stores.

You'll also need 18 oz. of semi-soft chevre (goat cheese), 1/4 C snipped chives, freshly ground black pepper, and some basil to garnish.

And then, the easy part?  Mix up the cheese, chives, and pepper to taste.  Clean and cut the peppers in half, lengthwise, and stuff the cheese mixture inside.  Garnish and serve.

So simple, but at least it changes up the look of your platter, and they taste great, even for those less than fans of goat cheese!

See?  They're in the middle back of my platter!  You have to hide them otherwise they're gone ASAP!

Two Easy Apps

Here are two quick appetizer ideas that I worked with for our last party...

1. Hummus served on bell peppers.

I used both plain and sun dried tomato hummus, and piped them onto chopped pepper pieces.

Great for presentation and made my buffet line move quickly since people could just grab and go.

2. Beeting Heart Skewers

This was nice because it was easy to make and I love using beets for the color they give.

Ingredients:
8 oz fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
8 oz baby beets, peeled and steamed, divided into 36 pieces
14 oz whole hearts of palm
36, 4" skewers

Directions:
1. Mix together the cheese, rosemary, and pepper.  Roll into 36 balls, approximately 3/4" big
2. Place goat cheese, beet piece, and heart of palm on each skewer
3. Arrange/serve as desired.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

 Here's another quick, yet tasty appetizer that doesn't take long, but looks and tastes amazing when you serve it.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tarts.

I found the original recipe here, however I didn't want to work so hard as to make my own tart and everything.

Also, I wanted only "mini" appetizers, so I bought the pre-made mini phyllo shells to use as the tart base.

Goat Cheese Filling 

5 ounces goat cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese, sour cream, egg, and honey until absolutely smooth. Pour mixture into large tart shell or divide evenly between individual tart shells. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden. Allow tarts to cool completely.

Topping
12 ounces fresh blackberries
2-3 tablespoons honey, warmed
Fresh basil leaves, shredded

Once tarts are cooled, top with blackberries and drizzle with warm honey. Garnish with shredded basil leaves, if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

So quick and simple, there's really no reason not to try them.  As an added bonus, the sour cream helps alleviate the "goat" flavor that some don't like.