Destination Anywhere

My goal for Small Bites is to find recipes that are low fat, fairly healthy, and still nice enough to serve guests. I don't know about you, but I get awfully tired of crudites at parties as I'm eying all the delicious saturated fat and bad carbs being passed around. With so many people needing to watch what they eat to maintain their health, I'd like to offer guests some tasty options. Crab is such a low calorie ingredient, but the trick was to find an appetizer recipe that wasn't fried or be loaded up with high fat ingredients.

I selected sun dried tomatoes for my week of Sunday Slow Bites. I first experimented with drying my own with a dehydrator, which worked beautifully. They turned out sweet as could be.

For my recipe, I again looked for one low in fat and on the healthy side. After some looking around, I found a stuffed mushroom recipe that I adapted to use more of the tomatoes for a decided tomato punch. Unlike many stuffed mushroom recipes which get most of the taste and texture from cheese and breading, this one is all about the tomato/shallot/mushroom mixture. If you want to make these richer, I could see adding some goat cheese or mozzarella.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Adapted this recipe--http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/grievances-aired-caps-stuffed/

18-20 white mushrooms
1/2 cup shallots (5-6)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup sundried tomatoes, not packed in oil (you could also use the oil-packed ones of course)
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, washed well
a few fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup fine dry (I used whole wheat)bread crumbs
¼ cup white wine
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 400°F.

1. Clean the mushrooms, pull off the stems. Trim the stems, and put into the bowl of a food processor with the chopping blade.
2. Add the shallots and garlic to the processor bowl. Pulse to chop, just until mixture is coarsely chopped. Don’t overdo—you want some texture.
3. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Add the mushroom mixture, and cook until the mixture just begins to brown. Turn out into a bowl.
4. Put the dried tomatoes into a small bowl, cover with hot water and soak for 10 minutes. When softened, squeeze out the water, and put into the food processor to chop as you did the mushrooms. For the last few pulses, add the parsley and basil so it gets minced. Add this to the mushroom mixture.
5. Put the stemmed mushrooms face down on a sheet of parchment-lined baking sheet (or spray it with cooking oil), and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Take the mushrooms from the oven, and carefully pour the resulting liquid into the mushroom mixture in the bowl. Turn the mushrooms over so they are ready to fill.
7. Add the egg, wine, cheese, bread crumbs, salt and pepper to the mushroom filling. Spoon some into each mushroom cap.
8. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

I was thinking about how to make a low fat appetizer using avocado. Now, avocado is chock full of good fats, but still, I didn't want an appetizer portion to come in at much over 100 calories. So, the trick would be to use avocado as a main component of the dish, but have the amount be supplemented by lower fat ingredients. I also started thinking about good flavor matches for avocado. It's used in Mexican and Latin American cooking with cilantro, garlic and tomato; in Japanese with sushi; I've had wonderful avocado, crab and grapefruit salads in France.

My local Vietnamese restaurant makes a vegan version of their delicate Shrimp Fresh Rolls, using avocado instead of shrimp. Since seafood plays so well with avocado, I thought I'd bring the two together in a fresh roll, punctuated by the traditional Vietnamese use of fresh herbs and lettuces. It was a done deal when I discovered that Vietnamese rice paper wrappers are only 20 calories! Make sure you get Vietnamese spring roll wrappers, which are hard and brittle until briefly soaked in warm water, and eaten uncooked.

These can be made ahead and served as finger food; but I think it'd be great fun to prepare bowls and plates of all the ingredients, and let guests prepare their own at the table for a first course. I'm not giving precise amounts here, since the amounts will depend on how many you are making. It's easy to soak more noodles or chop more lettuce as you go if needed.

A classic pairing for goat cheese is tomato or olives. I experimented a bit and came up with this lowfat layered terrine, which can be served with crostini or vegetable dippers. I make the tomato jam after fresh tomatoes have gone from the garden, and freeze in small containers for future use.

Chevre, Roasted Tomato Jam, and Eggplant Tapenade Terrine

4 oz fresh goat cheese
a few spoonfuls milk
a few sprigs fresh thyme, a few fresh basil leaves
roasted tomato jam (see below)
olive-eggplant tapenade (See below)

For the tomato Jam: open, drain and coarsely chop three large cans Italian plum tomatoes. Put the tomatoes in an oiled foil baking pan, and pour off most of the juice. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic and 2 Tbs. olive oil. Put into a 325 oven for one to 1 1/2 hours. Stir every now and then. Turn the oven to 375 for another 1/2 hour or so, till the edges have caramelized. You may want to return it to the oven for more caramelization. Stir in 1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar. You could also toss in some capers, roasted peppers, or mashed anchovy. Taste for salt and pepper, add if needed. If you're not watching calories, add some more olive oil. Let cool, and spoon into small containers. This freezes well. It's nice to add some chopped basil or parsley before using.

For the olive-eggplant tapenade: Mix together 1/2 cup baba ganoush (purchased or homemade) and 1/4 cup olive tapenade (I used Trader Joe's). chill for 1/2 hour to let flavors blend.

For the terrine:

Put the goat cheese, herbs, and a spoonful of the milk into a food processor. Blend, adding just enough milk so you get a smooth, easily spreadable consistency. Using a small clear glass bowl, spoon in layers of the tomato jam, cheese mixture, and tapenade. This can be made several hours before serving, just coer and refrigerate. Garnish with more herbs, if desired. Serve with crackers or crostini, and vegetable dippers like red peppers, carrots, fennel, etc.

Here's my dirty little secret. In spite of my cultural heritage, I am indifferent to most smoked salmon. From hand-sliced nova to hot-smoked flaky Alaska salmon, I just much prefer the fresh to the smoked. And since I've been avoiding as much sodium as possible for the past few months, my tastes have changed so that even a tiny piece just screams "SALT!" to my taste buds. I looked around for a recipe where the salmon would be used for the salty counterpoint to the rest of the ingredients, and by chance, stumbled across this recipe for little appetizer cups of a cucumber-apple-radish salad topped with smoked salmon, here: http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2009/08/19/verrine-cucumber-yogurt-smoked-salmon/

As I followed the recipe, I thought the radishes would overpower the delicacy of the cucumber and apple so ended up leaving them out. I also made the slaw more about apple than cucumber. What resulted was a light little slaw-type thing, topped with tangy yogurt and lime and the salty salmon. I loved the contrast between the apple and the salmon, and think that's the strength of the dish.

Apple, Cucumber and Smoked Salmon Salad

Makes four appetizer portions

* 2 small cucumbers, peeled and seeded
* Salt
* 1 lime
* 1 sweet red apple, not peeled
* 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
* 1 tablespoon chopped dill
* 4 slices of smoked salmon, diced

Steps:

* Grate the cucumber (I used a food processor) and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and let rest for 30 minutes.Use your hands to squeeze out the excess water.
* Grate apple, and drizzle with lime juice from half the lime to prevent oxidation. Transfer to a bowl. Combine with the squeezed cucumber.
* Add the fresh herbs (reserve a bit of dill for garnish) , and 3-4 tablespoons yogurt. No need to add more salt as the cucumber is already seasoned. Taste and adjust for balance as needed--a bit more apple for sweetness, some pepper, maybe more lime juice?
* Divide between four glasses.
* Top with another spoon of yogurt in each glass and finish with the diced smoked salmon.
* Sprinkle with a bit more dill. Serve with more lime juice to taste.

This is a variation of an old favorite recipe of my mothers. She got it from Gourmet magazine in 1995. I used pecans instead of the original walnuts, added pear to the mixture to stretch out the cheese calories, eliminated the olive oil, and cut down on the cheese. It turned out very well, with the sweetness of the pear adding a lot of nice contrast to the nuttiness of pecans and cheese and the slightly bitter endive. I calculated these to be about 30 calories per leaf.

-Parmesean, Pecan and Pear Salad in Endive

2-3 Belgian endives, trimmed, and leaves separated

1 small garlic clove, minced and mashed
1 Tbs. low fat mayonnaise
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded or coarsely chopped Parmesan cheese (not finely grated--you want texture)
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely diced ripe pear
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped fine, plus 2 Tbs. for garnish
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh parsley
a few grinds black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients but endive. Dip the wide end of each endive leaf into the salad, scooping 1 Tbs. or so of salad onto the leaf. Lightly press onto the leaf, and arrange on a platter or plates. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped pecans to garnish. The mixture can be made the day before, and the leaves filled an hour before being served. Makes 20-25 or so, and is easily doubled.

Let me tell you my sad, sad story.

I immediately knew what I wanted to try making for this week's ingredient, pumpkin. Many years ago there was a Lebanese restaurant nearby that made a pumpkin kibbeh that I loved. Kibbeh (or kibbe, kibbee, you see it spelled different ways) is a Middle-Eastern appetizer made from bulgar wheat that is pressed around a filling, formed into an oval, and fried. There are also versions where the bulgar is pressed into a pan, the filling spread on top, the rest of the bulgar forms the top crust, and the dish is baked then cut into small triangles or squares.

I found a recipe in Paula Wolfert's "The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean" for a pumpkin kibbeh filled with spinach, chick peas and walnuts, but it was the fried variety. I adapted the recipe for a baked version, added some seasonings I found in an online version, but did not use the huge amounts of oil called for in the baked kibbeh recipes in Wolfert's book.

The results were disappointingly dry, to say the least. Sawdust around a tasty spinach and chickpea filling. (the recipe for the filling is in my previous entry) But isn't it pretty? Even my husband, notoriously cheerful about all my cooking, even the low-fat efforts, pushed it around his plate before asking "is it supposed to be like this?"

Let's face it, there are reasons why so many recipes call for frying; why oil, butter, all those lovely things were used by the gallon in the days when people physically toiled 18 hour days to put a dish on the table every night. It makes the food taste better, especially the humblest foods. They needed the calories. I do not. This, children, was not one of the dishes where the fat calories could be taken out and the eater wouldn't notice.

OK, on to pumpkin number two. Simpler, and this one was a keeper. The roasted pumpkin was a really nice addition to peppery greens. Great Fall salad!

Pumpkin, Pomegranate, and Pine Nut Salad
serves four, increase as needed

1/2 small sugar pumpkin (or butternut squash)
spray cooking oil
salt and pepper

fresh spinach and arugula (I used a mixture) or mesclun
1 pomegranate, seeds removed--use 1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds (TJ's often has containers of the seeds)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (or use pepitas, toasted hulled pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese

Dressing:
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. dark nut oil--pumpkin seed, toasted hazelnut, or pistachio
2 Tbs. vegetable or chicken broth

1. Get out your machete. Or your sharpest knife. Cut, peel, and dice the pumpkin. Spray a cookie sheet with oil, toss the pumpkin cubes on, spray with more oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 450 oven for 20-25 minutes, until browned and soft.

2. Combine dressing ingredients, mix well.

3. Put salad greens in a bowl, and toss with most of the dressing, reserving some. Put some of the dressed greens onto serving plates.

4. Top each pile of greens with some of the roasted pumpkin, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and chevre. Drizzle on just a bit more dressing, and serve.

I love olives. I eat them as is, and in all sorts of dishes. They're high in fat, but it's the good kind; the sodium isn't too horrible if you don't go overboard; and a little goes a long way in adding flavor.

I made two olive mixtures using mostly green olives, a traditional Moroccan salad using black olives, and took advantage of the season to buy a few pounds of green olives to try curing.

Cracked Green Olive, Walnut, and Pomegranate Salad

This recipe comes from Paula Wolfert's the Cooking of The Eastern Mediterranean. She calls it an olive salad that in Turkey is used to accompany grilled meat or slices of ripe melon. I fiddled just a bit to make it slightly lower fat. I tried it with melon, on an arugula-orange salad, and on its own with pita. I think I liked it best just with pita for scooping, so it doesn't compete with any more things. I'm looking forward to trying it with simple grilled chicken or beef. This is another mixture that needs to sit so the flavors can develop, and she recommends it be made the day before serving. I thought this was a very neat combination, with salty, sweet, and tart flavors hitting the tongue at once. This is one for adventuresome eaters.

1/2 pound cracked green olives, drained
1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup shelled walnuts, finely chopped
2 scallions, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/4 tsp. Aleppo pepper or other mild chile powder
2 tsp. pomegranate molasses (available in Middle Eastern stores)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
cracked black pepper

1. Make the salad at least one day before serving. Pit the olives, and roughly chop.

2. Mix the olives with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 hours, more is better.

3. Bring to room temperature and serve.

This week's SSB ingredient was mushrooms. I use a lot of mushrooms in my cooking these days, so I was looking around for something new to do with them for an appetizer besides stuffed, grilled or sauteed. I'd had vegetarian dumplings in Chinese and Japanese restaurants and dim sum parlors that were mostly mushroom, so started looking for recipes. I wanted the emphasis to be on mushroom, and also wanted to use shiitakes, since they're my favorite and they're used in dried form in the Chinese recipes I found. Here's what I came up with, adding a bit of shredded carrot and chopped cilantro to brighten up the earthiness of the mushroom filling. You'll need something to steam the dumplings in, either a steaming insert or just a skillet with tight lid and an inch of water. Serve with a dipping sauce of soy, chili, sesame oil, ginger, etc.

These were delicious! The goyza wrappers I used were 120 calories for 8, and the mushroom filling is extremely low cal.This recipe made upwards of 60 dumplings, but the recipe is easy to cut in half.

These spicy little meatballs turned out very tasty! I used ground white meat turkey, but of course you can use anything you want. I loved the ginger, mint and curry seasoning, and they were perfect with Trader Joe's Mango-Ginger Chutney as a dipping sauce. The meatballs can be prebaked, and reheated in oven or microwave before serving.

Ginger and Mint Mini Meatballs

Makes around 40 mini meatballs. Can be frozen.

1 pound ground turkey
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon or to taste Salt
1 Tablespoon minced Ginger
1 seeded, finely chopped jalapeno chili, seeds removed
2 finely chopped Scallions with green tops
1/2 cup finely chopped (save 1 tbsp. for garnish) Mint leaves (fresh)
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Lemon juice (fresh)
1 egg, beaten
Cooking oil spray

• In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except spray oil. Mix very well.
• Wet your hands so the meat won’t stick. The mixture will be quite soft. Form into very small meatballs.
• Spray a baking sheet with oil. Place the meatballs on the sheet so they don’t touch each other.
• Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, or until browned. Turn meatballs over, and bake another 5 minutes so the other side browns.
• Serve on a plate with toothpicks, with Trader Joe's Mango-Ginger chutney for dipping, if you wish.

(approx. 20 calories per meatball if using ground white meat turkey)