Feta Dip with Fresh Herbs & Lemon

January 9, 2013 by · 14 Comments

Feta Dip with Fresh Herbs and Lemon via The Tasty Fork

It seems like ages ago, but before Christmas, I went to a Holiday Theme Pinterest Party. Being a total pinning addict, this was such a fun party! Everyone made something to share and the recipes had to come from one of your pin boards.

I asked for help from my readers about their favorite party food pins. My friend, Maddie, gave me a great recipe from one of her pin boards. She said it’s always a huge hit anytime she’s made it. It’s super easy, no cooking required and it’s transportable.

I did make a couple changes to the recipe. I used reduced fat feta cheese (you can’t taste the difference!), replaced dried herbs with fresh oregano, parsley & basil and topped the dip with fresh lemon juice.

The dip was a huge hit! It was almost like a Greek style bruschetta since we ate it with bread. It’s definitely something I’ll be making again!!

meghan sig

Feta Dip with Fresh Herbs & Lemon

  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1lb Reduced fat feta cheese (buy it in a block, not crumbles)
  • 3 -4 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • 10 Green onions, chopped
  • 2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Oregano, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Basil, chopped
  • Red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 baguette, sliced

Directions

  1. In a large platter, pour olive oil. (it should cover the bottom of the platter.)
  2. Crumble feta cheese over platter. Add tomatoes, green onions and herbs. Mix everything together.
  3. Taste. Add red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.
  4. Top dip with lemon juice.
  5. Serve with bread. I bought a french bread baguette from the bakery section at my local grocery store and that was perfect with this dip!

Inspired by Clover Lane

Filed Under: Appetizers, Dip, Game Day, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

BBQ Meatball Sliders

December 5, 2012 by · 11 Comments

BBQ Meatball Slider The Tasty Fork

I may have a slight obsession with meatballs…but can you blame me? I have yet to meet a meatball I didn’t like.

Meatballs are easy to make. You can mix & match ingredients and know it’s always gonna taste good. My favorite part about making home-made meatballs — they bake fast and clean up is easy as long as you remember to line your baking sheet with tin foil. (please don’t forget this step!)

BBQ Meatball Sliders @ The Tasty Fork

I made BBQ Meatball Sliders for dinner the other night, but sliders are the perfect party sized snack! All of the prep work can be done before guests arrive and the meatballs go under the broiler for just 12 minutes.. so they’re super quick to pass around when guests are getting hungry. Not to mention, I’m sure you’ll get a lot of enthusiastic “oohs and aahs” when offering this slider to party goers. Let’s give two scenarios – The Everyday Slider vs. BBQ Meatball Slider.

Scenario #1

You – “Hi Uncle Bob. Would you like to try this slider?”

Uncle Bob – “Oh sure. Thanks.”

Scenario #2

You – “Hi Uncle Bob. Would you like to try a BBQ Meatball Slider.”

Uncle Bob – “BBQ Meatball Slider??!! I love meatballs! Ooohh my!”

Obviously, scenario #2 will generate the praise every party host wants and you can be happy you’ve made an amazing party snack people will talk about for years. Ok, “for year”s might be slightly over exaggerated but I’m sure you’ll get requests to make BBQ Meatball Sliders again.

Or you can be like me and eat BBQ Meatball Sliders on a random Monday just because they taste good. :)

BBQ Slider The Tasty Fork

BBQ Meatball Sliders, makes 12 meatballs

For the meatballs:

  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 cup parsley
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • Salt & Pepper

Coleslaw Recipe:

  • 2 cups shredded cabbage mix
  • 4 scallions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 tsp celery seed
  • Salt & Pepper

Additional Ingredients:

  • Cooking Spray
  • You favorite BBQ Sauce
  • 12 dinner rolls or slider buns (I used Hawaiian Bread Dinner Rolls. Perfect size for a slider!)

Directions:

For the Meatballs: 

  1. Combine the bread, onion, parsley, and garlic in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl, add the milk and Worcestershire, and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the beef, eggs, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and gently combine. Form into 12 meatballs (about 1.5  tablespoons each)
  3. To cook immediately: Place the meatballs on foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Broil for 10-12 minutes, or until no longer pink.

For the Coleslaw:

  1. Toss the cabbage and scallions with the mayonnaise, cider vinegar, and celery seed; season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Set aside.

When you’re ready to assemble the slider, place meatball on the slider bun and top with BBQ sauce & coleslaw.

Inspired by Real Simple

Filed Under: Beef, Burger, My Kitchen, Sandwich · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Follow Friday: Kitchen Meets Girl

November 30, 2012 by · 6 Comments

Happy Friday! I’m so glad the weekend is finally here, aren’t you? I mentioned earlier this week  The Tasty Fork will be getting a makeover. I’m undergoing a blog redesign and moving to a self hosted server. I’m so excited! I’m so anxious! I’m really excited about getting a bloggy makeover! Meg from VintPrint Designs has been amazing and she’s so patient with all of my question. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with! I’m so anxious because I heard when you move to a self hosted server, you can lose a lot of your followers. I really really really don’t want that to happen! If you’re subscriber to my blog, you’ll need to re-subscribe once I make my official move. Trust me, you won’t want to lose me! Once I’m up and running, I’m going to have a give away to celebrate my new look. You won’t want to miss out! This would be a great time for you to follow me on Facebook & Twitter so you can stay up to date on my posts.

Ooook, enough about me! #FollowFridays are never about me. This post is all about my blog crush of the week. And this week, I got a good one for you to start following. Have you heard of Kitchen Meets Girl? Ashley is amazing! Her recipes are creative, she takes beautiful photos and she’s very interactive with her followers. She’s doing everything right as a blogger. I hope to be like her when I grow up :)

If you’re new to #FollowFriday, this is how it works. I select a blogger and highlight 5 of my favorite recipe posts. Ashley made this job very hard on me. After 5 minutes of surfing through her blog, I had 15 posts written down to highlight…. and I had barely made a dent into her recipe catalog. The next 20 minutes of my life were very indecisive as I tried to narrow my list. Luckily I picked my 5 but trust me, you’ll want to head over to Kitchen Meets Girl and see for yourself what Ashley can do. Soo, here we go!

1. Maple Bacon Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

maple-bacon-rolls

Oh yes she did. I mean, I think my head almost exploded when I saw this post. She combined my two favorite breakfast items. Bacon & Cinnamon Rolls.

2. Jalepeno Popper Turkey Chili

jalepeno-chili

This is the recipe which got my attention to Kitchen Meets Girl. I made this chili and it was everything she promised. Delicious & Spicy! I was sad when the leftovers were gone.

3. Seven Layer Mexican Dip {Individual Sized}

layer-dip

This would be a great dip and cute presentation for a holiday party. Plus, you can double dip your chip!

4. Two Bite White Chocolate Cheesecake

two-bite-cheesecakes-2

Another great holiday party treat! I love a bite sized desert.

5. Peppermint Malted Hot Chocolate

peppermint-hot-cocoa

Just looking at this picture warms me up inside. I can’t wait to make this when I’m decorating our home for Christmas!

Do you like the 5 recipes I picked? I hope so! Head over to Kitchen Meets Girl and bookmark her page. If you like what you see, here are some more ways you can stay up to date on her latest & greatest.

I hope you liked my #FollowFriday Blogger Feature! How can you be my Featured #FollowFriday Blogger next week? It’s easy! All I have to know is know about you! Make comments on my blog, get active in Link Parties or take drool worthy pictures. (I’m easily distracted by yummy looking food!) If you are featured, all I ask is for you to tell you fans & followers you were featured on The Tasty Fork.

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Filed Under: Follow Friday · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Caprese Polenta Bites

February 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Happy Valentine’s Day!! How is everyone celebrating?? I’m going to see The Vow with @hayesman_. I’m sneaking these tasty treats into the theater. I’m sooooo bad.

I’ll need some food in my belly before heading out to the theater. As much as I love movie theater popcorn, I hate how I feel after eating it. I refuse to eat popcorn for dinner tonight! Take that overpriced Movie Theater. So far, I’m feeling Meghan – 2, Movie Theater – 0.

Caprese Salad (tomato, mozzarella cheese & basil) is something I don’t order that often when I go out to dinner. Mainly because it’s kind of boring but I love all of the elements in the salad. So I’m going to change it up and make an appetizer I’d love to eat.

I came up with Caprese Polenta Bites topped with homemade pesto. I’ve been eyeing the pre-made polenta at Trader Joe’s for the last week. Polenta is made from cornmeal. You can make your own (there are plenty of recipes on the internet) or you can save yourself 20 minutes and buy it pre-made.

This is how the recipe is assembled. Your polenta should be about 1/2 inch thick and it’s the bottom of your bite. Place a thinly sliced tomato piece on top of the polenta. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Meghan, where is the basil??” Well, the bite is going to be topped with homemade pesto. Once the caprese polenta is done cooking, drizzle some pesto on top. You can buy pre-made pesto at the grocery store if you don’t have the time to make your own… but if you have a good blender/food processor, it’s very easy to make your own.

Isn’t this cute??!

I ate a couple of these for dinner, but it would make a great appetizer at the party. They’re just a few bites and you don’t need silverware. Just bite right on in and enjoy the wonderful flavors.

I made a lot of pesto, so you’ll get another pesto recipe this week. I haaaaate to be wasteful. :)

Caprese Polenta Bites (makes 12 bites)

  • Polenta, pre-made
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • Pesto, recipe to follow

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
  2. Slice polenta so it’s 1/2 inch thick. Season polenta with salt & pepper. Top with tomatoes and cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.
  3. Top with pesto and serve.

Pesto Recipe

  • 2 cups basil
  • 1/3 cup almonds, walnuts or pine nuts. (I used almonds since I had them on hand)
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 olive oil
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Combine basil, nuts and garlic cloves in the blender/food processor. Pulse a few times.
  2. Stream in olive oil while the blender/food processor is running. You may need to scrap the sides with a spatula to make sure everything is getting mixed. The consistency should be like a runny paste.
  3. Add lemon juice and cheese; pulse a few more times. Taste pesto and add Salt & Pepper if needed.

Filed Under: Appetizers, My Kitchen, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , , , , , ,