The sun. The warm air. The sounds of laughter and roar of the lawn mower. The scent of freshly cut grass. When I sat down earlier to write this blog post, all of these things beckoned me outside. I tried to soldier on but all I found was a sputtering of ho-hum sentences curving around the photos I had so carefully edited earlier. Finally, I conceded defeat, snapping my laptop shut and heading outside to trim our bushes, play an impromptu game of soccer and grill burgers for dinner.

In the end, I was smiling, no longer held hostage by words that wouldn’t come or feeling of being torn between what I needed to do and what I wanted to. It just goes to show that sometimes the best thing we can do is to walk away and let life happen.

This salad is a let life happen sort of thing too. It’s so simple that it can practically be made with zero planning. Red pepper, avocado, corn, black beans … these are things we practically always have on hand here at this time of year. Avocados are in season and affordable at about $1 each. We easily eat three each week. Lime juice? It’s my citrus of choice, so it’s almost always in the fridge in some form or another. All together, it’s a magical combination that makes a perfect side dish for lunch or dinner. Or you could totally snack on the leftovers. Don’t worry — I won’t tell.

What this salad isn’t is terribly unique. Yes, I actually said that. This is my version that I whip up but there are dozens of other similar ways to make it. Mine was inspired by a salad my cousin shared with me at the beach recently. Hers had lemon juice as the citrus and a few more ingredients (tomatoes and some sort of onion, if I remember correctly). Meanwhile, I made this for a family party on Saturday and arrived to discover that another very similar salad was also on the table. That cool, tangy version used a lot more lime juice and had green onions and tomatoes in it but no avocado. It was so refreshing. That’s three versions … all from within our one family. Do you have one too? Spill in the comments!

The avocado lends a smooth creaminess to this salad, enveloping the red peppers, black beans and corn. It has enough cilantro to give the salad that earthy freshness without allowing the pungent herb to overtake the other flavors. It’s a perfect balance, even if you aren’t usually a big cilantro fan. But cilantro fans might want to double the amount. But for me, it’s just right.

This salad? It’s just lovely for spring.

Creamy Black Bean, Red Pepper and Corn Salad with Avocado and Cilantro
serves 8 as a side dish

2 ears fresh corn, peeled, boiled for 10 minutes and kernels removed
1 large red pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I use organic)
1 Hass avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
1 lime, juiced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Stir together the corn kernels (break apart any large clumps, but small ones are okay), red pepper, cilantro, black beans and avocado. Drizzle with lime juice and olive oil. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper to desired flavor.

Chill until ready to serve.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.

Poor ricotta cheese. It’s usually made with the leftover whey from making other cheeses but is rarely a destination food unto itself. Really, ricotta cheese is highly underrated and underutilized. Generally left to tango with marinara in baked ziti or spread on lasagna noodles all whipped up with egg and Parmesan or sweetened and piped into a cannoli, it’s rarely left to its own devices to please. While people happily cut slices of fresh mozzarella (which shares some of the same flavor profile) and spread cream cheese on bagels, ricotta is under-appreciated and forgotten. But ricotta is something amazing on its own. It’s rich, with a hint of sweetness and a fine but every-so-grainy texture. I prefer the cow’s milk version, but you can find ricotta made with goat’s milk or sheep’s milk or buffalo milk as well.

And if you are feeling very adventurous, you can try making your own homemade ricotta.

Lately, I’ve had ricotta on the brain, wanting to give it an opportunity to shine. So when I was working on a pasta recipe last week where the roasted garlic tomatoes rocked and the pasta dish itself didn’t, it immediately occurred to me that I could salvage my efforts by plucking the best part of the recipe out and using it elsewhere — as part of a crostini topping.

Crostini is a fun little class of appetizers built on crunchy slices of bread. They are eaten in just a couple bites, letting you get the full effect of a dish without a lot of effort. This one starts with unadulterated ricotta cheese spread on toasted slices of French bread. Use as much as you please — we like a good smear of it. Then a garlicky roasted tomato is placed on top.

Though my kids can be funny about bread, not always enjoying it — especially when it’s crunchy — they inhaled the flavors and textures in this dish. Paige‘s favorite part? The ricotta. Perhaps it won’t be so under-appreciated in this household anymore.

What do you think? Should ricotta be a little more used and appreciated, beyond the confines of the usual suspect dishes?

Garlic Tomato Crostini with Ricotta
serves 4

1 pint grape tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-5 sprigs thyme
ricotta cheese
1/2 loaf French bread cut into 1/4 inch slices (approximately)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse the tomatoes in cool water, drain and add to an oval baking dish. Sprinkle with minced garlic and salt and drizzle with olive oil. Toss the sprigs of thyme into the dish and give it a good shake to distribute the seasonings.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes burst when touched with a spoon. With a firm hand, crush all the tomatoes.

Meanwhile, spread ricotta cheese, to taste, onto each of the French bread slices (you will need as many slices as tomatoes — roughly 30-35). Then spoon a tomato and a little of the juice from the baking dish on top. Arrange on a serving plate.

Enjoy.

This soup is five years in the making. No, really. I created and tested the initial recipe five years ago, and then it wasn’t published. It needed something to polish it off — something to take it from good to great. That yogurt drizzle?  Totally did it.

Let me back up a little bit.

Five years ago this week, I was thisclose to having a cookbook published. There were meetings and brainstorming sessions. A signed contract. Then there was a deadline met. A manuscript produced. In the end, for complicated reasons that included a mega economic downturn, it didn’t work out and the book was never published. At my request, I was released from my contract. I was sad and attempted to find another publisher, but that didn’t pan out. Finally, I tucked the manuscript away to think about another time.

Because I had written the book, I had all of these new, unpublished recipes that were just languishing. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Then my food writing career started to take off, and those recipes were perfect for supplementing new ones I was creating. A few were published here. Most were sold. There’s just a handful left that needed more testing before seeing the light of day. It was only recently that I dug into the old manuscript and discovered how much of it I’d actually used already. That made me happy. Writing the book wasn’t in vain.

When one of my General Mills contacts recently put out a call for recipes using Yoplait’s new Lactose Free Yogurt, this recipe jumped to mind. It’s one of the remaining unused ones from the book that needed a little more work … it was perfect for this assignment. So I pitched the idea, adding the lovely green swirl of basil yogurt and she loved it. With a little more testing, I finally finished it … five years later. It’s a good feeling.

This isn’t your basic tomato soup. In fact, it’s nothing like traditional tomato soup — other than the fact that it has tomatoes. Instead, it’s a punched up version with a great Indian flavor to it. The sweet, bright basil drizzle really adds dimension to the bolder dish. Shawn, who isn’t a fan of Indian flavors, enjoyed this — though he prefers it in small portions (which would mean this recipe for 8 would serve about 24 as a small starter portion).

Whichever way you have it — as a starter or a meal — it’s fabulous with a little naan. Try it.

A final note on the book: Yes, I could have held off, edited the book more and pitched and pitched and pitched. Yes, I could have self-published. But in the end, I am happy with my decision to take apart the book and use the pieces for other projects. Families Eat Together (that was the working title) was my best work at the time. The recipes were the best part, and I am happy to have people reading about them and trying them — even if they didn’t come in a bound volume. Someday I will write a killer cookbook with prose worthy of the recipes inside. This one just wasn’t it.

Indian-Spiced Tomato Lentil Soup with Basil Yogurt Drizzle
serves 8

Soup:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 tablespoon grated ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (about 14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups vegetable broth

Drizzle:
1 6-oz cup Yoplait Lactose-Free French Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 cup packed fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

Finishing salt (such as black sea salt), to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat in a pot. Stir in onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 7-10 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the garam masala and cumin. Cook for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, lentils, salt and vegetable broth to the pot. Stir well to combine.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 35-40 minutes, until the lentils are soft.

Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Set aside.

Combine the yogurt, basil, salt and olive oil in a food processor (a mini one works great for this). Puree until smooth.

To serve: Dish up the soup and then drizzle each with the yogurt mixture. Sprinkle with finishing salt.

Notes:
You can use a blender to puree the soup as well. However, be careful while it’s still hot – small batches are best.

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to five days (yogurt and soup separate).

Every so often, we’ll be eating dinner at our kitchen table and Will will look up and say “Mommy, you’re a good cooker.” It warms my heart. Most of the time, he loves what I make (of course, there will always be a few duds … and we usually agree on those).

A lot of things that come out of my kitchen are made with the kids in mind. Two Cheese Meatball Grilled Cheese, Sausage Bolognese, Blueberry White Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes and Cocoa Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies are prime examples. We eat a lot of pasta and broccoli and yogurt because they love these things. And eggs, Paige is crazy for all kinds of eggs.

But as a mom, I think it’s important to do things for yourself sometimes too. A woman I met online a few years ago used to always sign notes “Take care of you.” At the time, Will was in preschool and Paige was still a toddler. The sentiment was lost on me, probably because I was so busy taking care of them. But now, I totally get it. You can’t get lost in the shuffle. And sometimes all it takes is whipping up a simple hummus to do something nice for yourself, especially if you are a mega-fan of hummus like me.

Yes, Will and Paige would love the sweet roasted garlic, tart lemon and meaty walnuts in this tahini-free hummus. It has a terrific citrus quality that’s complemented by the garlic and walnuts. Such great flavors together. Will and Paige would happily reach for the sweetest of the veggies on the plate and scoop up big globs of hummus. But this one is for me … just for me. I like to load up a plate with bell pepper strips, sugar snap peas and carrots for dipping with a good hummus like this. It’s a perfect lunch. Or snack.

Maybe I’ll share another day. But today, this is mine.

What have you done for yourself lately?

Now … onto Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. Over the weekend, I wrote a scathing note to myself that I thought I might run as a confessional ELB post today. It was brutally honest and raw, as I took a microscope to my own habits and behaviors. It was one of those times where I just had to lay bare the truth and digest it so that I could move ahead. You’re probably pretty curious about it now, and I don’t blame you. But I probably won’t share it. At least not now.

The thing about being that honest and that rough with myself? It was more of a private letter to myself — a personal wake-up call that I desperately needed. The gist of what I wrote is that while I have been talking about motivation and making healthier choices since early December, I haven’t been walking the walk. I’ve been failing myself, my family and you. So this week, I aimed to change things around. I’m letting my actions speak, not just my words.

It’s amazing how when you make changes, they can so quickly move you back in the right direction. I’ve fixed my eating habits — eating more fruits, veggies and healthy fats. It’s only been a few days, but I already feel worlds better. And I started to exercise again. My goal for this week is to exercise three times. So far, I have done two workouts — with one more to complete by Friday. The energized feeling that comes with those workouts is irresistible. I am just sad that I neglected it for so long.

But realistically, it’s only been a few days. I have a lot more work before I can declare this a victory. The good news is that I am ready for that work.

Be sure to pop in on Cate, Patsy and Joanne to see what they’re writing about this ELB Wednesday.

Now, are you ready for some hummus?

Roasted Garlic, Lemon and Walnut Hummus
yields about 1 cup

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 lemon, juiced and zested
5 cloves roasted garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until ultra-smooth. Season with salt, to taste. Serve with veggies or crackers for dipping.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Optional: Dress your hummus up with a drizzle of walnut oil and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

This dip, made in a mere 10 minutes or less, made me want to kiss Mark Bittman in gratitude. Not in a creepy way, but more in an oh-wow-you-just-saved-my-day way.

Let me back up.

This morning I roasted a whole cauliflower with garlic and rosemary. It filled the house with this wonderful aroma that left me drooling and contemplating if I really needed to continue with the recipe I was working on. But the roasted cauliflower wasn’t for a side dish — it was for a dip recipe that I am working on. A lovely, creamy, pureed cauliflower dip. Except it was awful – a total epic fail. I couldn’t get it into the garbage fast enough.

Of course, that left me totally bummed. So much for spreading it on bread for a sandwich today or enjoying it with crackers. So much for having a successful and ready to use recipe by the end of the day. It needs a complete revisiting and overhaul.

That’s when Bittman saved the day. (Ha! Sort of.) I started looking around for an easy, fast dip that I could make from what I had in my kitchen already (I am trying hard to break my daily grocery store trip habit). I stumbled onto this amazing white bean dip recipe that Mark Bittman wrote about on Diner’s Journal back in 2008. He said the secret to it is something he learned from Lidia Bastianich: lemon zest. It gives the dip the essence of lemon without the overpowering acidity.

The creamy dip is filled with a wonderful mix of earthy rosemary, pungent garlic (use less if you aren’t a fan) and citrus-y lemon zest. It’s perfect for dipping crackers into, or serving with your favorite chopped veggies. It would make a good sandwich spread too. And since it can be made ahead, it makes a great holiday appetizer too.

Speaking of holiday appetizers, I will be a guest tweeter at the Mediterranean Snacks Twitter Party this Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST. Follow hashtag #holidaysnax to join in the fun as we talk about holiday snacking, shopping and more. Get the full details on the Mediterranean Snacks blog. Scroll all the way down for details on a delicious Mediterranean Snacks giveaway too.

Lemon Rosemary White Bean Dip
serves 8
adapted every so slightly from Mark Bittman’s recipe for Rosemary-Lemon White Bean Dip

1 15.5-oz can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary
1 grated lemon peel (zest only)

Combine the beans, garlic, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped. Add the olive oil and process until smooth. Remove the white bean mixture to a bowl. Stir in the rosemary and lemon zest.

Serve with chopped veggies or crackers.

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Mediterranean Snack Foods Giveaway

Mediterranean Snack Foods has generously offered to give away a big selection of their delicious gluten-free chips and crackers to one Sarah’s Cucina Bella reader. I’ve been enjoying these snacks for weeks now, ever since they sent me some. The Rosemary Herb Crackers are my absolute favorite (this is the 4th box I have bought since trying the samples they sent).

The giveaway is a full size of each Mediterranean Snack Foods chip and cracker flavor – so 6 chips and 3 crackers.

To Enter:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite dip is (if you have a link to it, even better!).

Entries will be accepted beginning at the time this post is published on November 14, 2011 until November 18, 2011 at 9 p.m. A winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator on Random.org on or about November 19, 2011 and notified via email.  A note of the winner will also be left in the comments here on this post. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Bonus Entries:

Leave a separate comment for each bonus entry:

• Like Sarah’s Cucina Bella AND Mediterranean Snacks on Facebook.
• Follow Sarah W. Caron AND MedSnax on Twitter
• Give Sarah’s Cucina Bella a THUMBS UP on Babble’s Top 100 Mom Food Bloggers (currently on page 3 at about 120).

Disclosure: The giveaway is provided by Mediterranean Snacks. They also provided me with cracker and chip samples awhile back. However, I was not compensated for this post and was not obligated to write about the party, chips, crackers or anything else. All opinions are my own.

But our dinners (and appetizers too) aren’t without some degree of restriction. To moderate our fat intake, we aim for more healthful versions of family favorites. So when I was asked to partake in the November 2011 SideCar Series, featuring Bush’s Beans, on Kitchen PLAY, I knew it was a good fit. Beans are good-for-you food.

My contribution is a Hot Spinach Artichoke White Bean Dip. Like many people, my family adores the traditional hot spinach artichoke dip. The cheese! The flavor! The dipping goodness! But it’s such a nutritional splurge that we almost never have it anymore.

Spinach Artichoke White Bean Dip waiting to be baked.

Now we can. I turned that creamy hot dip on its head, making it a way-less-guilt dip by trading cream cheese and other creamy (read: full-fat) ingredients for white cannellini beans pureed with garlic and vegetable stock.

The dip is still fabulously creamy with a mix of Romano and mozzarella cheese, chopped artichoke hearts and spinach. Oh, and the salt and pepper — which is a necessary addition to any savory recipe.

My family shared this dip at a recent family birthday dinner. I have to admit that as everyone went in for the first taste, I held my breath a little bit. Would they like it? Would they miss the decadent ingredients? Considering how fast the dip disappeared, it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Hot and bubbly from the oven ...

Hot Spinach Artichoke White Bean Dip
serves 8

1 15-oz can cannellini beans (recommended: Bush’s Beans)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup vegetable stock
1 9-oz box frozen chopped spinach, prepared according to package directions and strained
1 8.5-oz can artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese mix
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cannellini beans, garlic and vegetable stock. Transfer to a large bowl and stir together with the spinach, artichoke hearts, Romano cheese and mozzarella. Season well with salt and pepper.

Transfer the mixture to an 8×8-inch square baking dish and spread out to form one even layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, until bubbly at the edges.

Serve this dip with fresh cut veggies or crispy, thicker tortilla chips.

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Disclosure: I was compensated by Kitchen PLAY and Bush’s Beans for my time in creating this recipe and post. I was also provided with product to work with. Nonetheless, all opinions expressed are my own.

As a result, I try hard to not have leftovers from dinner. I make just enough. But sometimes leftovers can’t be avoided. For instance, earlier this week I was working on a recipe for Tablespoon that called for using leftover roasted chicken. I ended up buying a whole roasted chicken at the grocery store but only used a portion of it to finish off the recipe. A little of the chicken became Paige’s lunch one day, but there was still a good amount left. I hated seeing it there, knowing that it would go to waste if I didn’t do something.

Of course, I didn’t want to just eat it. With chicken especially, I am much happier when it becomes part of a whole new meal. Putting it on a salad was an option. But I had nachos on the brain and I’ve been on a long quest to make chicken work on nachos. Often, I feel like when you pair chicken with traditional nacho toppings it ends up seeming out of place — like your Thanksgiving dinner got into an argument with fiesta night. The flavors is just so different.

But I had an epiphany recently. If the chicken’s flavor was more Tex-Mex then it would blend in better. It’s a matter of narrowing the gap between the flavors. So I tried it (what good is a theory if you don’t?). It worked. All it takes is shredding the chicken and mixing it with a little salsa to make it a perfect nacho topping. Sweet.

Making these nachos, which make a perfect easy dinner, is simple as can be. Tortilla chips are topped with the chicken mixture, a load of black beans and red peppers. Then it’s all baked with a blanket of cheddar. Serve it with salsa, sour cream, guacamole or whatever you love with your nachos.

Did I mention that it’s ready in a mere 15 minutes, start to finish? Go ahead. Try them tonight. You totally have time.

What do you do with your leftovers?

Shredded Chicken and Black Bean Nachos
serves 4

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (such as from a roasted chicken)
1/2 cup salsa (I use mild for the kids but prefer hot myself)
tortilla chips (roughly 4 cups)
1 15.5-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped fresh red bell pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc as desired

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together the chicken and salsa.

Arrange the tortilla chips in a 9×13 baking dish. Top with the chicken mixture and the black beans. Sprinkle with red peppers. Spread the cheddar all around.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is all melted.

Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.

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More Recipes for Leftover Chicken:

- Chicken, Avocado and Red Pepper Rice Bowl

- Greek Chicken Salad Sandwiches

- Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

Every so often, a new ingredient gains popularity and you wonder why no one was cooking with it sooner. That’s how I feel about pea shoots. They have that fresh, just-picked flavor and pleasant cool crunch — similar to bean sprouts. When I saw a package of them in Trader Joe’s I couldn’t wait to try them out.

I wasn’t disappointed. As a longtime fan of sprouts of all kinds, these are pea shoots are just up my alley. I think they would be awesome in sandwiches too. But, my first experiment with them was to make Grilled Quesadillas with Pea Shoots.

Grilling quesadillas is easy to do. You start with a hot grill. It should be well-preheated (I made mine after grilling chicken, so it had been on and heated for awhile). Then you toss the tortillas on, cover them with cheese and other toppings and close with another tortilla.Then, they just cook on the grill in about 5 minutes or so (yes, you have to flip them once).

It’s super easy, and since there is no butter or oil on the tortillas, they are a little better for you than the traditional pan-made ones.  Serve them as an appetizer or side dish with dinner.

One more really fun idea for this: A grilled quesadilla party. Invite a bunch of friends over and offer a variety of fillings and cheeses. Everyone can design their own and grill it up in a few minutes. It would be a great summer gathering, and you could totally celebrate summer’s freshest bounty by offering a bunch of farmers market veggies to stuff the quesadillas with.

Have you had pea shoots? Did you like them?

Grilled Quesadillas with Pea Shoots
serves 4

4 flour tortillas (medium sized)
Mexican cheese blend (I bought mine at Trader Joe’s)
Pea shoots

Preheat your grill on its medium setting or prepare charcoals for grilling.

Once the grill is hot, lay out two of the tortillas on the grates and cover generously with cheese. Top with a layer of pea shoots (I like to use a lot) and the remaining tortillas.

Close the grill lid and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until lightly browned and slightly puffed. The quesadillas will unpuff as they cool.

Serve with your favorite salsa.

More delicious quesadilla recipes:

• Black Bean, Avocado and Red Pepper Quesadilla
• Bacon and Bell Pepper Breakfast Quesadilla

Grilled slices of Tuscan bread. Thin slices of fresh mozzarella, melted onto it. Garlic scape marinated roasted red peppers.

Hang on, I need to wipe away the drool. This open faced sandwich was so good.

I ate this for lunch last week, whipping it up in  just a few minutes over the grill. It’s a perfect summer dish. Served with a salad and it’s a whole meal — a light dinner even.

Making this is so simple. You brush the bread with olive oil (or spray it) and then grill for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Then you flip the bread and top with the cheese. Grill it for a few more minutes until the mozzarella starts to lose its shape. Then you top it with the marinated red peppers and cook for just a minute or two more. Remove from the heat and enjoy.

As for the peppers, they start with Garlic Scape Vinaigrette (a new recipe I developed for Tablespoon). It’s simple to make and is fabulous over salads or for a marinade like with these peppers. If you aren’t familiar with garlic scapes, they are the curly tops of fresh growing garlic. They are available right now, so if you see them, pick ‘em up (and freeze extras).

Of course, if you can’t get garlic scapes, any vinaigrette will work in this recipe. But I really have to recommend using the garlic scape vinaigrette.

Anyway, you mix up the vinaigrette with roasted red peppers, like the recipe for making roasted red peppers on the grill that I shared last week. Close the jar, chill for a day and then they are all ready to go.

Once that’s done, they can be used on everything from salads and sandwiches to crostini. Look, I wouldn’t normally ask you to make three recipes (roasted peppers, garlic scape vinaigrette and these marinated peppers) to get to the final dish … but this time, it’s totally worth it. Swear.

Have you had garlic scapes?

Garlic Scape Marinated Roasted Red Peppers
serves 8

2 roasted red peppers, peeled and cut into slices
1/2 cup garlic scape vinaigrette

Add the red peppers and garlic scape vinaigrette to a pint canning jar. Cover, seal and shake well to mix.

Cover and chill for at least 24 hours before using.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday, and whether you are a football fan or not, it’s a perfect time to throw a party and invite a few fun friends.

Before I go any further, I have to confess that I feel like the Super Bowl should have been played weeks ago since I have been writing about it for nearly two months — for work.

Back when I wrote for newspapers, everything was done with little lead time. If we were going to write about a Christmas miracle, it would literally be the week of Christmas. If we were going to cover the start of the strawberry season, it would be on opening day at a local strawberry field. Everything happened in real time, and it was grand.

One unexpected consequence of transitioning from newspapers to magazines to the internet has been the gentle change in how coverage is planned. Sometimes, like on this blog, things are pretty immediate. I finish testing a recipe, write about it and post — and you are reading it within minutes. But other times, like with my freelance recipe development work, things have a lead time. It takes some getting used to — especially when it comes to holidays and celebrations.

The good news? I have tons of Super Bowl appetizers to share.

On BettyCrocker.com:

• Sarah’s Gorgonzola Bison Sliders
• Hot Pretzel Bites
• Mediterranean Crostini

On Tablespoon.com:

• Teriyaki Turkey Sliders
• Slow Cooker Teriyaki Wings
• Pretzel-Wrapped Pigs in a Blanket
• Chili Cheese Pizza
• Slow Cooker Turkey Chili (a mild recipe — perfect for young kids)

And then there is one more … this fabulous Chili Cheese Dip. It’s super easy to make — you combine sharp cheddar and chili and heat it until the cheese is all melted and combined with the chili. You can use homemade chili or canned — whatever you prefer. Heck, you could even buy chili from your fav local place and make it with that.

Don’t you love a flexible recipe? I do!

So, what are your Super Bowl plans?

Super Chili Cheese Dip
serves 6

2 cups chili (I used leftover homemade turkey chili)
2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 avocado, diced
tortilla chips

Combine the chili and cheddar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until the cheese is melted and fully combined with the chili.

Pour the dip into a serving bowl. Garnish with diced avocado and serve with tortilla chips.