Guaca-Hummus!

Now that the Southern husband and I are well into our Friday Night Lights experiment, I'm starting to get a little more adventurous with the whole appetizer thing.  And this particular recipe is based on my general theory of if I like one thing, and I like another thing, combining those two might turn into true love.  (Hey, it worked for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and if it's good enough for peanut butter and chocolate, it's good enough for me.)

Anyone, here's the deal on this one.  Either whip up or buy a batch of your favorite hummus.  Either whip up or buy a batch of your favorite guacamole.  (I am in the "whip up" camp on both of these, and if you are looking for the world's fastest and best hummus recipe, look no further and click here.)

Now find a serving bowl and spread the hummus on the bottom.  Scatter some shredded cheddar cheese and chopped scallions on top.  Spread the guac over all this.  More cheddar, more scallions and some chopped tomatoes.  A little chili powder, and you are done!

A few notes about this one:

1. I found the recipe on the Cabot Cheese site and this gives me another chance to say, Cabot Cheese?   You rock!!

2. The original recipe had the guac on the bottom and the hummus on the top, but I am ornery and switched them around.  You do what feels right to you.

3. I used blue corn tortilla chips with this just for the sheer drama of it all, but celery, pita chips, cucumber rounds and your finger will all make lovely scoops for this.

I think that's all there is to say about this one!

Guaca-Hummus, adapted from the Cabot Cheese recipe

2 cups guacamole
8 ounces Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar, divided
4 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
2 cups hummus
1/4 cup diced tomato or red pepper, whichever you prefer
Mild or hot chili powder

1. In medium glass bowl or 7-by-11-inch glass baking dish, spread guacamole in even layer. Scatter with half of grated cheese and half of scallions.
2. Next spread hummus in even layer, followed by remaining cheese and scallions.
3. Sprinkle with tomatoes or red peppers and dust with chili powder. Serve with tortilla chips, veggies, etc.

Print this!

Mexican Layered Salad

We were SUPPOSED to go out to dinner last Saturday night. I was all set to hit my favorite Mexican restaurant, the one were they give you the free quesadillas when you come in, and the free fried banana in a sugared tortilla with whipped cream and honey at the end. But then my teenager appeared in my living room and mentioned that she had asked if she could have several thousand of her friends over, that they were arriving at 6, and remember Mom? You said yes?

I'm sure I did. My short term memory has started blocking out things like giant hordes of teenagers coming over on nights when I am yearning for tacos. But being the responsible parents that we are, we resigned ourselves to staying home. Or I resigned myself, anyway -- my Southern husband practically danced back into the living room to finish watching the Yankees/Red Sox game, which was only half over.

So, what to make for dinner with stuff I had on hand? Something that would address my unrequited Mexican food longings? I realized I had all the fixings for one of my favorite things to bring to potluck parties: Mexican layered salad. It is half taco salad, half dip, and perfect for eating in front of a baseball game. (Which turned into watching the movie version of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED once the game was over, because fair is fair.)

This is exactly as described -- layers of the various things found in tacos, or taco salad or dips, all in one bowl and served with tortilla chips, although I also put out some soft corn tortillas to wrap around spoonfuls of it. You can see most of the layers in the above picture -- a layer of sour cream and cream cheese mixed with taco seasoning, a layer of spiced ground beef on top of that, a layer of guacamole, a layer of shredded cheddar on top of that (I forgot that one in the picture shot but I added it back later!), a layer of tomatoes, finished with a topping of chopped lettuce (see picture below). Set it all out with some tortilla chips and/or soft tortillas, some napkins, and dig in - make sure you dig all the way to the bottom to get the full effect.

Maybe a Saturday night at home isn't so bad after all.

MEXICAN LAYERED SALAD

Serves a crowd. Can be halved or quartered. Or doubled or tripled.

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 16 oz jar taco sauce
• 1 16 ounce container sour cream
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 2 medium avocados
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 16 oz package shredded cheddar
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1 chopped tomato

1. Brown ground beef and drain. Return to skillet and stir in taco sauce.
2. In a large bowl, combine sour cream, cream cheese and taco seasoning. Spread over bottom of large serving dish. Spread ground beef over sour cream layer.
3. Mash avocados with lemon juice. Spread over beef layer.
4. Sprinkle cheese over avocado layer, scatter tomatoes over cheese layer, finish with layer of shredded lettuce
5. Serve with tortilla chips and/or soft corn tacos.

Goat Cheese Quesadillas

One of the best things about this blog has been the many suggestions, ideas, and comments I have gotten from the folks reading it. I love hearing from all of you so much! I have gotten amazing guidance on the photography (thanks, Bob!), with the design of the blog and how to display the pictures (thanks Christopher!), general love and encouragement and patience when I am holding up yet another meal while getting just ONE more shot (love you, Don!) and best of all, so many great ideas and suggestions for new recipes to try. Today's recipe comes to me from my friend Pat, and it arrived at the absolute perfect moment -- one of those days when I actually had some un-spoken-for corn in the fridge, some tortillas, and a lonely avocado. A quick trip to Fairway for some of their AMAZING store-made goat cheese (try it!!) and some salsa verde and I was in business.

These little quesadillas would of course be a great starter for any meal, but we actually had them for lunch. I made my 30 second version of guacamole (mash up an avocado, mix in fresh lime juice, coarse salt, chopped tomatoes - that's it!) and plunked the quesas on a plate with a little mound of the guac and some sour cream. Out we went to the Adirondack chairs in the back yard -- me, my gorgeous Southern husband and my hopeful but out-of-luck-when-it-comes-to-getting-any-of-the-quesadillas dog, and we had a lovely little lunch.

So thanks for the recipe, Pat! And thanks to everyone else who is helping me make my little blog adventure so much fun. Keep those comments coming! Meantime, here is the link to some great quesadillas:

Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Quesadillas