Appetizer Archives • Color Your Recipes

Air Fried Sweet Mini Peppers with Onion and Zucchini
Air Fried Sweet Mini Peppers with Onion and Zucchini

Air Fried Sweet Mini Peppers with Onion and Zucchini

Juliana2018-07-20T16:44:25+00:00Air-Fryer, Appetizer, Vegetarian|

This is one of my favorite method to “roast” sweet mini peppers. It is super easy and fast…it’s lightly caramelized and perfect on bread, crackers or salad. I love the colors of the sweet pepper, so summery and refreshing. Many times we just eat them raw…crunchy and sweet, but sometimes I like to enhance the sweetness of the peppers by roasting… I used to roast mini peppers in the oven…but since I got the air-fryer, this is my preferred way to “roast” almost anything…I love how even and caramelized the sweet peppers turned out in the air-fryer. All the excess liquid, either from the washing or the pepper itself just drains out of the basket. This recipe is very [...]

Persian Eggplant Dip
Persian Eggplant Dip

Persian Eggplant Dip

Juliana2018-07-11T17:10:10+00:00Appetizer, Vegetarian|

This is a very healthy and tasty dip made with roasted eggplants. The recipe is simple and the trick to its delightful taste is the caramelized onion and golden garlic together with a hint mint…all together in a smoky, creamy and silky eggplant. Since I had the eggplant dip (Kashke Badmjan) at a local Persian restaurant I wanted so bad to make it at home…when I noticed these huge, really huge eggplants at Trader Joe’s I saw the opportunity to try and I end up bringing home two of this gigantic eggplants. Eggplants are healthy in spite of a large amount of water. Eggplants contain dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. After searching the internet for inspiration, I end up [...]

Jalapeno Artichoke and Crab Dip
Jalapeno Artichoke and Crab Dip

Jalapeno Artichoke and Crab Dip

Juliana2018-06-18T10:52:02+00:00Appetizer, Fish and Seafood|

Just by mixing two ready available products and you will have this creamy, rich, hearty crab dip… I learned this recipe while visiting a friend in Palm Desert and no need to mention that I liked so much that I made when we had a small family get together. When my friend told me that she was planning to serve Jalapeno Artichoke and Crab dip I didn’t think much about it until I tried it. I was a bit puzzle, as I had tried “Jalapeno Artichoke Dip”, from Costco, but never saw it with crab…and when she told me that she just added crab, I was like…”no wonder I have never seen it…this is really good!”. I dressed it up [...]

Baked Zucchini Blossoms
Baked Zucchini Blossoms

Baked Zucchini Blossoms

Juliana2018-06-18T11:12:38+00:00Appetizer, Vegetarian|

This is a fun, delicate and exotic appetizer made with zucchini blossoms filled with creamy ricotta and baked to perfection. I got these zucchini blossoms when visiting the local farmer’s market…they were so beautiful therefore could not resist them…isn’t this an awesome way to celebrate the first day of summer? One thing I knew…I did not want to fry them, and searched for a baked recipe…came across this recipe which I pretty much followed it with some changes. These are so easy and very attractive little bites. By stuffing the flowers with ricotta, every bite is a combination of creamy ricotta with the crunchy panko…heavenly delicious! So if you come across zucchini blossoms, do not hesitate in getting them and try this [...]

Charred Shishito Peppers
Charred Shishito Peppers

Charred Shishito Peppers

Juliana2018-06-18T11:20:10+00:00Appetizer, Vegetarian|

Have you ever try shishito peppers? They are a lot of sun as you never know what you are going to get...mild or hot. This recipe call for simply roasting in a cast iron pan until blistered. When I saw these finger long peppers at Trader Joe’s I had to get them regardless of how they taste…by the way, this is one of my “normal” behavior when shopping…by husband will ask me if I know or have ever eaten something new and I would answer…I don’t know, but I will find out. Well, after searching in the internet “how to cook Shishito peppers”, it was to my surprised that it could not be easier and simpler than this…and yes, they [...]

Simply Hummus
Simply Hummus

Simply Hummus

Juliana2018-06-18T11:23:45+00:00Appetizer, Vegetarian|

This recipe is very simple recipe for hummus. You can use store bought can chickpeas or be more daring and make all from scratch. The hummus is creamy and so smooth, great with vegetables, crackers or even chips. This is my first time making hummus, and I am so proud to say that I really made it from scratch…It all started when I got the dry garbanzo beans or chickpeas. The great thing about making your own hummus is that you can make it thinner, thicker, spicy, lemony…in another words, dress as your palate desire. This simple hummus is great on crackers, as vegetable dip, on top of salad, sandwich spread…there is no end to where you can add some [...]

Chunky Crab Cakes
Chunky Crab Cakes

Chunky Crab Cakes

Juliana2018-06-18T11:28:06+00:00Appetizer, Fish and Seafood|

If you love crab, you definitely should try this recipe. The crab cakes are loaded with chunky pieces of crab meat...yes mainly just crab meat. Leftover crab meat? Yes, it sounds kind of unheard, but every time we eat at this particular restaurant, Captain Jack’s, we end up bringing home lots of Alaskan King crab. I usually remove all the meat from the shell and use in salad dishes. Well, this time I decided to make crab cakes…crab cakes with lots of crab meat…big lumps…nothing that will overpower the crab meat…so simple and yet delicious…as a matter of fact I just serve with lemon, nothing else… I love crab cakes, every time I see crab cakes in the menu I [...]

Figs with Blue Cheese
Figs with Blue Cheese

Figs with Blue Cheese

Juliana2018-06-18T11:34:03+00:00Appetizer|

With only two ingredients you can create this simple recipe for an appetizer. The combination of the salty blue cheese with the sweetness of fresh fig is just amazing. I am back from a week vacation…I really needed a break from work…the last few months I have been overwhelmed with the new clinical trial that we just launched…now that the study started I think I will have more time… Going back to the “vacation”, we took a cruise to Alaska…it was phenomenal! Although I am not into cruises, we just thought that this would be an easier way to see Alaska. I have some pictures at the end of the post…now back to today’s recipe, if you can call this [...]

Chicken Potato Egg Salad Cups
Chicken Potato Egg Salad Cups

Chicken Potato Egg Salad Cups

Juliana2018-06-18T12:02:00+00:00Appetizer, Poultry|

This is a fun and easy way to serve a creamy salad in wonton cup. The recipe calls for a potato salad with chicken and egg, great when entertaining. I hope you all had a great weekend…and for the ones that celebrated Easter I am sure that you have lots and lots of eggs. Here is very simple recipe to use up the hard boiled or cooked eggs that you might have. There is no secret in this recipe, it is pretty much your classic recipe for potato salad, I added some shredded chicken, hard cooked eggs and served in a wonton cup. Again, you can color this recipe, I mean flavor it as your palate desire by adding or [...]

Bacon Chive Cheese Balls
Bacon Chive Cheese Balls

Bacon Chive Cheese Balls

Juliana2018-06-18T12:04:47+00:00Appetizer, Asian Inspired Recipe, Bread, Gluten Free|

This is another version of the Brazilian cheese balls or “pão de queijo”, and of course has an Asian twist since glutinous flour is added to the tapioca flour in order to give a softer and slightly chewy texture. Since the combination of green onion or chives and bacon is so good in biscuits, I thought why not adding these into the original cheese balls…so this new version of pão de queijo was born. These little treats are great because they can be made in advance and kept frozen until you are ready to serve. Just pop these at a preheated oven and they are ready in no time. I have these (all kind of versions) in my freezer year [...]