It’s no secret among those who know me that this Badass Foodie has a tendency to show love with food.
I love preparing food for those who are important in my life, and especially love finding out their favorite foods and working them into the mix. Whether it is a batch of fresh-baked cookies, an improvised salad for a party or homemade mac-and-cheese for my 2-year-old niece, I love creating meals for those I care about. In my family, food and mealtimes equated directly with love, bonding and taking care of each other.
So, when it was time to celebrate the one-and-only “Badass CEO’s” birthday, my “food-equals-love” gear went into hyper drive. Without divulging any details to the birthday girl, beyond location and time, I was able to work with our circle of close friends to plan a great “Italian Grille” menu - and it turned into a perfect casual ‘Festa’ to celebrate an amazing Badass.
I wanted to do Italian to celebrate Shannon’s fiery Italian spirit and the delicious Mediterranean flavors of the region – but wanted to stay away from heavy pastas, cream sauces and other “Non Badass” foods. Luckily, true Italian cooking can be healthy, as it focuses on quality ingredients with lots of healthy proteins, vegetables and simple preparation.
While planning the menu, I started thinking about foods that Shannon naturally gravitates to – the foods SHE loves. The more I thought about it, Shannon (and the other 2/3 of the Badass Trio) always love the healthy spreads and dips featured in the appetizer portions of menus. I could remember Shannon often ordering Baba Ghanoush, Hummus or Tapenade, and always really enjoying it! I’m the same way, I love tapas-style eating, with small bites of different options, as you can get the maximum variety and flavor without a huge calorie spend.
For Shannon’s Italian-themed barbeque, I decided to make a variety of Italian-themed spreads, pestos and tapenades for dipping. That way, we could have healthy vegetables such as cucumbers, zucchini, celery and tomatoes as crudités for dipping as well as garlic toast and crackers.
- Roasted Red Pepper Spread
- Artichoke and Caper Tapenade
- Sundried Tomato Tapenade
- Basil Pesto Cream Dip
- Black Olive Tapenade
It was a great success, and the spreads were a perfect “starter” to our evening while the grill heated up and everyone gathered together. Best of all, the birthday girl loved it all! And, if you’re curious, the amazing menu also included wonderful foods such as prosciutto-wrapped melon, chopped Italian salad, a gorgeous antipasti platter, lots of grilled Italian chicken, sausages and vegetables, and pizzelle cookies with Nutella for dessert!
I’ve provided the recipes for the 5 dips I made below. Have no fear - they’re all amazingly simple. Armed with some basic ingredients, a food processor, and a little bit of love, you can whip these up for your favorite badass (or for yourself) in no time.
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
- 4 roasted red peppers, from jar, drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup cannellini (or Great Northern) beans, drained
- 1 – 2 tablespoons of light cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- A few leaves fresh basil
- Salt to taste
- Juice of half of a lemon
Directions: Throw ingredients in processor (or, in my case, your amazing Magic Bullet blender) and blend! Taste, adjust seasoning and mix again until perfect!
Artichoke and Caper Tapenade
- ½ cup pitted black olives
- 1 can artichokes, drained well
- 1 tablespoon capers
- ½ red onion, diced
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used red wine)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Pulse this together lightly to mix in processor – don’t overblend! You want to preserve the texture of the artichokes and olives. You could even mix this together without a processor with some adept dicing! Mix, taste and serve!
Sundried Tomato Tapenade
- 6 large sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
- 1 roasted red pepper (held over from previous recipe, adds good flavor)
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup olive oil
- A few black olives or capers, for salty-savory flavor
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Pulse this together lightly to mix in processor.
Basil Pesto Spread
(A complete improvisation in the kitchen, I was especially pleased with how this turned out – a classic basil pesto, turned into a spread with the addition of Greek yogurt and cream cheese! A real crowd pleaser!)
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons light cream cheese
Directions: First, blend the first 6 ingredients together to form a basic pesto. Be careful not to overprocess – you want it to be a rough chop and maintain its pesto texture. Then blend the yogurt and cream cheese into the pesto and serve!
Mediterranean Olive Tapenade
- 1 cup black olives, pitted
- ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
- 3 anchovy fillets (Whoops! My secret is revealed – I’m pretty sure most party attendees didn’t know they were eating anchovies. I love these things for flavor!)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Fresh thyme and basil, about 1 tablespoon each, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Pulse with blender or processor but don’t overblend. Taste, season and enjoy!
Note: All these dips will refrigerate well for 2 -3 days in a covered container. I recommend allowing the Greek yogurt/cream cheese spreads to chill for at least a few hours before serving as well.
Coming Friday: Instead of this, try that -- inspired by someone determined to "try things I've never tried before."
