I wanted to share this awesome turkey veggie platter I found on Pinterest last year and brought to our Thanksgiving feast. It was loved (and welcomed) by all and really helped in the snacking department while we waited for everything to come together. There’s not much to putting it together – check out this link here for the “recipe” and pick up some dip at the store or even better, make your own (for the record, I love Heluva Good Bodacious Onion or French Onion when I’m not in the dip making mood).

I’m all about kicking off a Thanksgiving feast with some heathy snacking…a little less guilt and the cute little turkey veggie platter is always a hit with the kids – and adults.

Here are a few simple dips from friends that would pair up with fresh veggies very well:

Swiss Cheese Onion Dip

Avocado Ranch Dip

Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip

Ranch Style Veggie Dip

Creamy White Bean Dip with Parmesan and Sage

Cucumber and Feta Greek Yogurt Dip

Svelte Green Goddess Dip

Gobble Gobble!

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday and the long weekend! I am so thankful for every single person who reads this blog and even more thankful for the friendships (virtual and in real life) and the opportunities that have been created because of it. You all make me smile 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving to you! xoxo

The post Gobble Gobble…Turkey Veggie Platter, Dips and Happy Thanksgiving! appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Ahhhh, the 7-layer dip. The dip everyone gravitates too at a party, right? I’m a fan that’s for sure.

For some reason though, I have a hard time keeping it at just 7 layers. But this time I did. Only because I didn’t have layers 8 & 9 (which happen to be shredded lettuce and sliced jalapenos usually).

(more…)

The post Easy Entertaining Dish: The 7-Layer Dip appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I can not get enough of this dip lately. It’s been the perfect munchie to make on the weekends, especially with football season in full swing. It’s super simple to make and pretty to look at, don’t ya think? Something about fresh cilantro and sliced jalapenos as garnish just put a smile on my face and instantly makes me hungry.

So go ahead, grab a Corona and dig in.

I’m sharing the recipe for Black Bean Fiesta Dip over at Babble’s Family Kitchen this week…enjoy!

The post Black Bean Fiesta Dip appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

(this giveaway is now closed…thank you to all who entered)

I have been making pesto this past month like it’s nobody’s business. Every time I run out, I make more. I put it on everything…pizza, pasta, soup, bread and even use it as a dip for…pretzels.

I love me some pesto.

I normally make my pesto with pine nuts, but since I have a Costco sized bag of walnuts hanging in the pantry I have been using walnuts instead. And I like it. It gives the pesto and earthier flavor, and if you didn’t know, walnuts kick butt in the nutrition department. So it’s all good.

Now in addition to this pesto recipe, I have another favorite thing to share with you. My new Blendtec blender. Blendtec was nice enough to send me a blender to try out as well as one to give to one of my readers – that’s you.

How cool is that? You will love this blender people, it’s hard core. I have made 20 something smoothies in it already (there is a digital counter on the blender that counts your uses, my kids and I think that is the coolest thing). I’ve even started to make whole juices. I’ve made salsa … and this pesto. I’m having some fun with my new blender. And the winner will too.

Giveaway:

Blendtec Total FourSide Blender (value $484.95) plus an additional WildSide jar.

(Blender is factory reconditioned, as the one I received is)

Starts today, Tuesday August 9 and ends Friday, August 19 at 12 noon (EST) {edited to fix date to Aug 19, not Aug 20}

Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only. Winner will be chosen randomly using Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application {edited to write Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application instead of Random.org}

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what you use your blender for the most.

Additional Entries can be earned by:

(leave a separate comment after you complete each item, each comment will count as an entry)

1.  “Like”  Blendtec on Facebook.

2. “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook. (if you already a fan, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

3. Follow @Blendtec on Twitter

3. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter (if you already follow, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

4.  Share about giveaway on Twitter: “I want to win a Blendtec from @aggieskitchen and @Blendtec! http://bit.ly/nV2cZJ”

5. Share about giveaway on Facebook with link to this post.

6. Subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen RSS feed.

Good Luck!!

Toasted Walnut Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 4 heaping cups of basil leaves
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 1/2 - 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lemon (helps maintain fresh green color!)
• big pinches kosher or sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the pitcher of your blender (or food processor) and blend until smooth.

(Disclosure: This giveaway is being provided by Blendtec. All opinions here, as always, are my own.)

PS…apparently I’m in the giveaway mood. Head over to Family Kitchen to enter to win a new cookbook!

The post Toasted Walnut Basil Pesto appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

(Bush’s Beans Blogger Panel:  Laura, Tina, Cheryl, Kristen, Katie, Amy, Sandy and me)

I got home early Sunday morning (I stayed a couple of extra days with a friend to play and took the red eye to get home in time for Halloween!) and am still getting back to “normal” if you know what I mean.  I will tell you that after my trip, I could NOT wait to get into my kitchen.  I experienced so many new flavors and ideas and learned so many new tips and tricks from all the chefs that I was ready to explode.  I guess that’s how you know you are among people who really love food…our conversations were always buzzing about spices, techniques, foods, products, cooking for your family…so much to talk about, it was so inspiring.  I just loved every minute of it.

Our day of cooking was split into 2 sessions, morning and afternoon.  All 4 of the chefs shared with us a recipe they created for Bush’s and gave us a cooking demonstration.  We then split into groups and cooked up their recipes that we were going to end up eating for lunch.  What a spread.  I loved everything that was on my plate.

Last night I knew I wanted a light dinner…after indulging for four days, salad sounded good to me.  I made this for the family and even served it family style thanks to Kristen’s (one of my tripmates!) last post.  It was the perfect light dinner.  Save yourself some time and prepare some of it ahead….for example, the bean spread and shrimp can be prepared the day or night before and the veggies like jicama and lettuce can be chopped early on too.  I was proud of my kids for trying almost everything.  They deconstructed the salad and tried the shrimp, cannellini beans, jicama and the pita with spread.  Almost all of this was new to them so it was a great experiment.  Serving it family style on the table made it more fun and was a huge time saver.

(don’t look too hard for the jicama in this picture…Larry was bringing it home from the store while I was rushing to take pictures in the last few minutes of natural light of the day…it was added in after)

The salad was bursting with tons of veggies, proteins and flavor.  I loved the little pops of pomegranate seeds.  Jicama is one of my favorite veggies and I was happy to have it reintroduced to me…I don’t cook with it enough.  If you are trying to ease up on “carbs”, jicama rounds are great dippers.  I just enjoyed leftover bean dip with some jicama rounds for lunch!  The bean dip is so creamy and delicious.  I love that Connie sauteed the artichokes with celery and garlic before adding it to the puree.  It added a whole other level of flavor.  And she recommended adding the olive oil and lemon juice at the end…I loved this and so did the family (well, Sammy tried it…which was good…Gina, Larry and I loved!).

(Disclosure:  Bush’s Beans invited me on this trip and covered my costs to attend.)

Enjoy!  I’ll be back soon with more “adventures in Napa”…

BUSH’S Gigi Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
Recipe created for Bush’s Beans by Connie Gutterson, PhD, RD author of “The New Sonoma Diet Cookbook” and “The Sonoma Diet Cookbook”

Serves 4-5

For Citrus Vinaigrette:

1 TB orange zest
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (tip – segment oranges first, then squeeze what’s left for juice)
1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 TB fresh lemon juice
1 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB soy sauce
1 TB agave syrup or honey
1 pinch chile flakes
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk (or in a mason jar and shake). Season with salt and pepper.

For Salad:

2 cups hearts of palms
2 cups orange segments (appx 2 oranges)
1 cup jicama, juilenne
1 lb shrimp, cooked
salt and pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, arials
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup scallions, cut thin on bias
2 cups butter lettuce, cut into strips
1/2 can Bush’s Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed (save 1/2 can for Creamy White Bean and Artichoke Spread)
4 whole wheat pitas, grilled or toasted
2 TB slivered almonds, toasted
salt and pepper to taste

Combine hearts of palm, orange, jicama and cooked shrimp in large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Dress salad with 4 tablespoons of citrus dressing.
Gently mix in pomegranate seeds, avocados, scallions, lettuce and beans. Taste for salt and pepper and additional dressing. Garnish with toasted almonds.

BUSH’S Creamy White Bean and Artichoke Spread on Whole Wheat Pita
Recipe created for Bush’s Beans by Connie Gutterson, PhD, RD author of “The New Sonoma Diet Cookbook” and “The Sonoma Diet Cookbook”

1 TB olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic, chopped (I added a lot more…2 cloves!  I like my garlic!)
4 TB celery, diced
1 cup artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained or frozen and thawed
4 oz low fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 can BUSH’S Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
1 pinch cayenne (optional)
2 TB chives
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling at end)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in small saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and celery and cook until garlic is aromatic, approximately 20 seconds. Add artichokes and saute until artichokes are slightly browned, approximately 5-8 minutes. Set aside and cool in refrigerator.

Combine cream cheese and 1/2 can of beans in food processor. Add cayenne (optional). Process until smooth. Add in cooled artichoke mixture. Puree until slightly chunky. Add chives. Season with lemon juice, additional olive oil and salt and pepper.
Serve with warm pita or flat bread topped with Gigi Salad.

The post Totally inspired… appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Have you ever fallen in love with food?  I fell in love with this dip a few years ago when my foodie sister in law Paula prepared it for us at for my son’s birthday party.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  We served it with pretzel crisps and it was a match made in heaven.

For whatever reason, it has been quite a bit of time since I last made this!  I thought of it the other day when I was trying to put together a third dish to serve on a bruschetta bar that I was bringing to my friend Betsy’s get together at her house.  I used light cream cheese and light mayo for the base, but made sure to use good feta.  Instead of pretzel crisps, this time it was served shmeared on parmesan bread crisps (scored at the Publix bakery – saved me some work!) alone or topped with tomato and basil or roasted peppers.  It was a perfect trio of yummies!

Additional recipes:  Tomato and Basil Brushetta, Roasted Peppers

Garlic Feta Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

• 4 oz crumbled feta (I used block feta and crumbled it myself)
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/3 cup mayo
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp dill weed
• 1/8 tsp dried thyme

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bow and mix well until blended together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Serve with pretzel crisps, assorted crisp breads or veggies.
3. Note: Recipe was doubled for pictures shown.

This dip has always been a hit at parties. I love serving it with pretzel crisps or crunchy veggies. Recipe found on Recipezaar.com

The post Garlic Feta Cheese Dip appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Let’s talk food first.

I kept the food simple I guess you can say…finger food, dips and chips, cheese…all the good stuff you want to eat while drinking wine and socializing.  My friend Colleen (pictured above, far right) came over early to help me get everything started.  Lemony-Garlic Hummus was made earlier that day and served with the most amazing chips I found at Costco called Blue Ginger Mulit-Grain Brown Rice Chips … these chips are seriously my new favorite.  Danger danger…

Lemony-Garlic Hummus

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

(printable recipe)

2 16 oz cans of chickpeas (Bush’s is my canned bean of choice!)
1/2 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
juice and zest from 3 lemons
3 TB tahini
4 cloves garlic, crushed
big pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
5 TB olive oil

Combine first 6 ingredients into bowl of food processor. Blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Slowly stream in olive oil until combined and smooth. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Serve with fresh cut veggies, crackers, chips, pita chips or crostini for a nice appetizer platter.

Note:  this recipe makes a large batch.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week.

Sweet-‘n’-Salty Honey Cheese Spread was also prepped a little earlier and served alongside some crisp crackers…oh this was so good, and probably one of the most easy appetizers you can make!  You literally just roll the goat cheese log in salted and toasted sunflower seeds then drizzle with sweet honey when you are ready to serve.  If you love goat cheese like I do, then you will love this!

I think it’s safe to say that Colleen’s Hot Artichoke Dip was the hit of the party…this bowl cleared out QUICK.  I may or may not have been scraping out the last of it while no one was looking….can you blame me?

Colleen’s Hot and Spicy Artichoke Dip

Recipe from Culinary Journey to the Mediterranean

(printable recipe)

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, chopped, drained
1 cup mayo
1 cup (4oz) grated parmesan cheese
1 can (4oz) chopped green chilis, drained
2-3 cloves of garlic minced

Mix all ingredients in a shallow, ovenproof dish or 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
Top with 2 Tbsp each of chopped tomatoes and olives.

Served this dip with ciabatta crisps.

(the usual suspects…Allison and I partaking in one of our favorite activities…)

These pinwheels were fun to make (once I got the hang of rolling).  I wish I could give you a tutorial with photos, but here’s the jist:  find yourself some large rectangular shaped Lavash bread, I was lucky enough to score some from the Publix deli but you may have to look around for it.  Spread a thin layer of Aloutte cheese on the bread and top with whatever you are in the mood for.  I chose to make two different rollups – an Italian one with ham, salami, provolone, tomatoes, and mixed greens…and a veggie one with provolone, tomato, basil, mixed greens and just the right amount of some marinated portobello mushroom and red pepper mix I found at Costco.  When you are layering the ingredients, spread them out over about 3/4 of the bread…and when you are rolling, roll tightly.  You may need some additional cheese spread to “glue” the end of the wrap into place before you start slicing.  Again, I have to thank Colleen for the hands on help…she’s always fun to cook with!

Additional food not pictured:  frozen and delicious spanikopita and assorted mini quiches from Costco….and these Rolo Turtle Pretzels I discovered on Steamy Kitchen.

Okay…now lets move on to the girlie stuff…

About a month or so ago I became acquainted with an organization on Facebook called Scarlet Threads.  What this group of ladies are doing is absolutely inspiring.  Scarlet Threads was created by a group of talented women in China who are empowering themselves and supporting their families by selling their products in their very own virtual boutique.  Each apron and handbag is handmade by a seamstress living in a rural village and given the opportunity to work in fair trade at their craft.

I am just in love with Scarlet Threads’ products and am so happy to be a part of their story…and this is how I want to share it with you.  I have two beautiful aprons to giveaway…one today and one next week.  Today’s apron is the Lucy…how can you resist this beauty!  It just makes me feel happy looking at its colors!

(photo courtesy of Scarlet Threads…)

Here’s how to enter…Visit the Scarlet Threads Boutique and leave a comment with the name of your favorite apron!  Each comment left on this post will count as an entry.

Earn additional entries by 1 or more of the following (leave a comment after you do so):

1. Share this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter or on your own blog (earn an entry for each!)

2. Become a fan of Aggie’s Kitchen and/or Scarlet Threads on Facebook

3. Express interest in hosting your own apron party (I will email you info)

Giveaway will end at 10pm EST on Friday August 27.

The post Girls Night Out…Purses, Aprons, Wine and Food {and a giveaway!} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Every time I make this guacamole I get asked for the recipe.  It’s a very straight forward recipe that you can’t go wrong with.  I found it in the pink plaid Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I received not long after getting married and if you look at the page it’s on you will see lots of smudges and stains on it, the sign of a good tried and true recipe!

I’m sure there are plenty of ways to make guacamole out there, but for some reason I just haven’t strayed from this one.  If you are intimidated by cutting up an avocado don’t be.  Watch this video and try it out.  Once you do it a couple of times you’ll be a pro.  I always squeeze the lime juice over the avocado immediately after I cut it to avoid it becoming brown.  If you have trouble knowing how to pick out a nicely ripe avocado at the grocery store, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  The produce guy at my Publix knows me by name now, he’s always helping me out when it comes to picking out fruit like avocados (and cantelopes!) since I’m always worried about coming home to an over ripe or under ripe one that I can’t use.

Serve this up at your next get together with a couple of your favorite salsas and some good tortilla chips. My favorite salsas to serve with this are Pace Salsa Verde (has a kick and is soooo good!), Jack’s Fresh Salsa, or mango salsa from Costco.

Aggie’s Kitchen will be closed for vacation till next week…but no worries, we’ve got a couple guests stopping by to share some recipes with you!  I’ll be hanging with the fam in beautiful Marco Island, FL…keep up with us (and what we are eating!) on Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

The BEST Guacamole

• Author: Aggie Goodman
• Category: Appetizer
• Cuisine: Mexican

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Ingredients

• 2 medium very ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and cut up (ripe = soft to touch, if they are hard, let sit out on counter or in open paper bag to ripen)
• 1/2 of a small onion, chopped
• 1/2 of 4 oz can diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1 TB chopped fresh cilantro (or more if you are me!)
• 1 TB lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped and seeded (to seed just halve the tomato and squeeze out juice/seeds), optional

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients into a bowl. Smash avocado with fork, mix to combine.
2. I usually leave mine a little chunky, but mixed well.

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Notes

Recipe from Pink Plaid Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

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Hope you are having a great week!

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