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It’s summer. It’s hot. Too hot – I think the heat is to blame for my missing culinary mojo. There’s just something about 95 degree temperatures that makes turning on my oven a little less appealing than normal.
With all the heat, blue skies, and an 85 acre pond in our backyard, we’re kind of used to last minute entertaining. So we keep the fridge stocked with simple, fresh ingredients that can be transformed into delicious eats without too much cooking involved.
For our recent Fourth of July festivities, I decided to keep things pretty effortless and portable, so people wouldn’t have to be tied to the table while enjoying the food. One of the most well received items on the menu were these easy Greek Salad Skewers. With only 6 ingredients and minimal prep time, these Greek Salad Skewers couldn’t be easier – or cuter!
Now, here’s where things get a little fun! I want you to share YOUR favorite appetizer recipe that uses 6 ingredients or less (see below for specifics) for the chance to win a $600 gift card. I’ve teamed up with American Express and their Dinner @ 6 promotion to create simple appetizer recipes that use 6 ingredients or less.
Are you seeing a theme here with the number 6? Let me explain. American Express recently launched two cash back credit cards – Blue Cash Preferred and Blue Cash Everyday.
One of the most exciting benefits of the Blue Cash Preferred card is that Cardmembers receive 6% cash back for purchases at the supermarket – the highest cash back rate available for grocery purchases! With these new Blue Cash® Cards, there are no spend minimums, cash back caps, ongoing enrollments or rotating categories of cash back benefits. Which is a pretty sweet deal when used responsibly.
Greek Salad Skewers
Ingredients:
12 grape tomatoes
4 ounces feta cheese, cut into 12 (1/2-inch) cubes
1 mini cucumber sliced into 12 pieces
12 pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons Za’atar*.
12 (4-6 inch) bamboo or wood skewers
Directions:
1. Thread the skewers starting with a tomato, then a piece of feta cheese, a cucumber and an olive. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
2. Just before serving, arrange skewers on a platter, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Za’atar.
Notes:
- I highly recommend finding Za’atar. It’s such a great spice (a blend of sumac, sesame seeds and herbs) to have on hand. I love the brand Urban Accents because it’s flavorful and readily available at my local market.
Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
Requirements for Participation
One winner will receive a $600 Gift Card from American Express:
1. Submit your favorite APPETIZER recipe that features 6 ingredients or less. You MUST cut and paste the entire recipe into the comment form. If you have a blog, please also provide a link to the post.
2. You may submit 2 recipes – leave each recipe in a separate comment.
Seasonings, spices and herbs, garlic, vinegars and oils DO NOT count as one of the 6 ingredients.
3.. Contest ends July 23, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Entries that do not follow the directions above will be deleted without notification.
4. Winner will be posted in a follow up post by July 29, 2011.
5. Contest open to US residents only.
6. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 3 days to respond or a new winner will be selected.
Additional Entries
If you also have a MAIN COURSE recipe that uses 6 ingredients or less, be sure to head over to goodLife {eats} and enter on Katie’s blog as well. Good luck!
Disclosure
This post and the giveaway are sponsored by American Express. The views and opinions expressed within this post are my own.
Southwestern Egg Rolls (Baked)
adapted from Taste of Home Magazine
1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, drained or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican style cheese
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 (1lb) package egg roll wrappers
In a large bowl, mix everything together except for the egg roll wrappers. Lay an egg roll wrapper on a work surface so that one of the corners is facing you. Place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center. Now fold the tip closest to you up over the filling. Now fold the points pointing outward in towards the center to resemble an envelope. Now continue to fold over until a small part of the remaining tip is showing. Moisten the edges with water and finish rolling to press the seal closed. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Place them on a greased baking sheet seam side down. Spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with a light sprinkling of salt.
Bake in a preheated 425 F oven for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Make sure to turn halfway through baking to brown evenly. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.
Makes about 18-20
http://wonintheoven.blogspot.com/2011/04/southwestern-egg-rolls-baked.html
Tomato Brie Tarts
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 wedge of brie cheese
Puff Pastry Tarts
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Garlic
Place the tarts on a baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a pinch of minced garlic to each cup. Place a small cube of brie cheese in each cup, with a small wedge of a tomato slice! Bake at 350 degrees ten minutes, or until golden.
Delish!
Two-Way Chicken Nachos Family Circle
6 ounces tortilla chips homemade or store bought
2 cups cooked shredded or diced chicken
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup Salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (I just used cheddar)
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Heat your oven to 350 F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking dish with tortilla chips. Scatter chicken, beans, and salsa over chips.
Sprinkle your cheese over the top and then the scallions. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
http://wonintheoven.blogspot.com/2011/02/two-way-nachos.html
Beer Battered Onion Rings
For frying: 4 cups canola or peanut oil
1 t salt
1 t cracked black pepper
1 t garlic powder
2 sweet yellow onions (Vidalia or Texas)
2 C buttermilk
2 C all-purpose flour
12 oz beer (1 bottle), medium or dark body
In a fryer or Dutch oven, heat oil to 350*F.
Cut off top and bottom of onions, remove outer layer, and cut into 1/2-inch thick rings. Separate and soak in buttermilk for an hour.
Combine 1 cup of flour with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder and mix thoroughly.
In a medium bowl combine beer with remaining 1 cup of flour and mix thoroughly.
To fry the onion rings: Remove onion ring from buttermilk, shake off excess. Dredge in flour, shake off excess. Dip in beer batter, then drop into the oil. Repeat process. Allow some time in between dropping in onion rings so they don’t stick together. When golden brown, remove the onion rings to drain on paper towels.
Serve with your condiment of choice.
This is also a fantastic recipe!
Ingredients
6 eggs
1/2 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
salt to taste
1 dash hot pepper sauce
paprika, for garnish
Directions
Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.
Cut eggs in half. Remove yolks and place in a medium bowl. Mash together with celery, onion, mayonnaise, salt and hot pepper sauce.
Stuff the egg white halves with the egg yolk mixture. Sprinkle eggs with paprika. Chill covered in the refrigerator until serving.
I haven’t posted it on the blog yet, but I got it from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dis-delicious-deluxe-deviled-eggs/detail.aspx
I usually just “wing it” when I make this, and I know there are about a million recipes like it, but it’s still the most-requested item at my parties and goes F-A-S-T.
Apricot Glazed Baked Brie
1 brie round, rind removed
1 pkg. (1 sheet) puff pastry, thawed
apricot preserves
brown sugar
balsamic vinegar
dried apricots, chopped
Preheat oven to 375.
In small saucepan, combine preserves, brown sugar & vinegar. Stir and simmer on low until thickened. Stir in dried apricots.
Roll out puff pastry onto buttered (nonstick spray) cookie sheet. Place brie wheel in center of dough. Pour apricot mixture on top, being careful not to drip down sides. Bring edges of puff pastry up around and over top of brie. Puff pastry can be brushed with melted butter or egg wash if desired.
Bake until golden brown. Serve warm.
love this giveaway! and i love not turning on the oven during the summer! it’s unbearably, insufferably hot, especially here in Florida! as little cooking as possible right now is exactly what i’m all about!
my favorite simple six-ingredient appetizer is my prosciutto, mascarpone & honeyed arugula bruschetta. the only cooking involved is toasting the bread!
here’s the link: http://foodpluswords.com/2011/06/prosciutto-mascarpone-honeyed-arugula-bruschetta/
seriously, this bruschetta is simple, summery perfection!
Cucumber Salsa
2 medium cucumbers, diced
3 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 of a purple onion, diced
1/4-1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar (enough to barely cover vegetables)
1/2 packet of ranch seasoning
fresh cilantro (as much or little as you like)
Combine vegetables and cover with vinegar. Sprinkle with ranch dressing mix and stir. Add fresh cilantro and store in the fridge. Serve with tortilla chips.
Simple, yummy, and refreshing! And no baking required!
Smokey Roasted Chickpeas
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
Dry the rinsed chickpeas on paper towels–you want to remove as much excess moisture as possible to get them crispy. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I have a convection oven, so I went with 350 degrees. Toss the dried chickpeas with the olive oil and spread them out on a cookie sheet with a raised edge, or in a baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until they start to sound like marbles when they roll around the pan (they should be smaller in size and darker in color).
Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the seasonings evenly over the top. I stir all of the seasoning together first and then sprinkle. Toss the hot chickpeas around until they are coated in the spice mixture. Cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then chomp away.
Here is the link:
http://foodieroadshow.blogspot.com/2011/04/smokey-roasted-chickpeas.html
Grilled Caprese Tomatos
12 Roma tomatoes, one side removed and seeds scooped out and discarded
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese
12 fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chop the tomato sides into pieces, cube the cheese, and chop the basil. Mix all ingredients well and stuff the tomato “boats” with the filling. Grill over medium-high heat until the tomatoes soften the cheese bubbles. Serve with grilled garlic bread.
Here’s the link: http://foodieroadshow.blogspot.com/2011/07/vegetarian-grilling-series-grilled.html