Two Super Simple Appetizers

I’m in Colorado with my family for the week. Whenever we come to Colorado, I’m always trying to achieve the perfect balance of grocery buying and restaurant eating. (See this recipe, which I posted when we were here last Februrary.) I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it yet, but I’m getting better and better.

My brother-in-law Tim and his family often come with us, and one of my favorite things to do (well, among about 946 other favorite things here in beautiful Colorado) is to have a glass of wine with Missy in the evening, along with some kind of munchie or two. Tim and Missy aren’t with us this week, so in honor of my favorite sister-in-law, here are two super simple appetizers along the lines of what we love to enjoy together. They are vacation-friendly, in that they require very few ingredients and very little prep. In fact, it’s hard to call them recipes at all…and that’s exactly what makes them perfect for a vacation!

 

I went to Safeway when we arrived on Saturday and bought a very small arsenal of groceries, including two baguettes.

 

 

 

One was multi-grain…

 

 

 

One was sourdough.

I sliced half of each baguette, then saved the rest to use for little rounds of cinnamon toast for the kids. Yum!

 

 

 

I also bought a little block of blue cheese and cut it into small pieces.

 

 

 

And this stuff! It’s basically fig preserves, even though it’s called fig spread, and I’ve used it for years for everything I can think of to use it for.

(Pssst. See this Fig-Prosciutto Pizza. Amen.)

 

 

 

Whenever I make any kind of crostini or bruschetta, I always want to crisp up the bread a little bit. So I melted some butter (I bought a two-stick box—the smallest they sold at Safeway!) in a nonstick skillet and toasted up the baguette slices until they were golden and irresistible.

 

 

 

I let them cool completely, then spread a little of the fig jam on top…

 

 

 

Then topped them with a nice chunk of blue cheese. Now, blue cheese is definitely strong, so you could just add a few crumbles if you prefer more of a subtle bite of the stuff. Or you could do crumbled feta or even chunks of Parmigiano-Regianno!

Okay, set those aside for a second. We’ll finish them in a bit.

 

 

 

For the second appetizer, I bought a bag of mini sweet peppers. I love these little things. I halved ‘em, then hollowed ‘em out with a small spoon…

 

 

 

Then I cracked open two tubs of spreadable cream cheese: This one was a Boursin and the other one was Rondelle. A great vacation shortcut ingerdient fer sher.

 

 

 

Then I smeared the two different kinds in the different colors of pepper halves.

 

 

 

As I said: Hardly a recipe at all! But delicious nonetheless, especially if you use taste cream cheese spreads.

 

 

 

I bought two small packages of fresh herbs at the store: chives and basil. I sliced the basil and sprinkled it over the blue cheese appetizer; then I chopped the chives and sprinkled them over the peppers.

With the leftover basil: I’ll make a tomato salad with the pint of grape tomatoes I bought.

With the leftover chives: I’ll make tasty scrambled eggs.

 

 

 

Mmmm. Pretty on their own.

 

 

 

But even prettier with Colorado in the background!

Thanks for letting me share. I know these are beyond simple, but sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Here’s the handy dandy printable.

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Recipe
Two Easy Appetizers

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time:
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8



Print Recipe

Ingredients
1 whole Baguette, Sliced4 Tablespoons Butter2 Tablespoons Fig Spread Or Fig Preserves (or You Can Use Plum, Apricot, Etc) Blue Cheese, Cut Into Chunks Torn Basil, For Garnish Mini Peppers, Halved And Seeded Softened Cream Cheese Dip (such As Rondelle, Alouette, Or Boursin) Chopped Chives, For Garnish Preparation Instructions

APPETIZER #1: Heat the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast the baguette slices until golden and crisp. Allow to cool, then spread with a little fig spread/preserves. Top with blue cheese chunks. Sprinkle on basil.

APPETIZER #2: Smear the cream cheese spread inside the hollowed out halves of sweet peppers. Sprinkle on chopped chives.

Serve with a cold glass of wine!

Posted by Ree | The Pioneer Woman on