October 1, 2014

Let me start this post by saying I can’t spell hors’ dourves correctly. Time and again, when I try to spell this word, I inevitably leave a letter out, move it or just make a general mess of the word. It’s hard!

Although spelling appetizers in French is hard, making a chic looking appetizer plate is not.Whenever Sean and I entertain at home, we tend to have a go-to appetizer plate of nibblies that looks fantastic, but is actually very easy to put together. The best part is, the hors’ dourves elements can be swapped out to suit everyone’s tastes or dietary restrictions.

When I first started dating him and I’d go over to his house for dinner, he’d put together a pared down version of this for us to snack on, and since we’ve been together, we’ve added on to it and modified it to suit both our tastes.

This past weekend, we had friends over for dinner. While we were chatting and catching up before Sean threw some steaks on the grill and I put together a big salad, we needed some snacks to go with the drinks, hence an appetizer plate was just the ticket to take the edge off.

Fancy-Schmany Hors’ Dourves Plate

Serves: 2 – 4 (can be modified for more easily

Ingredients:

• 3 – 5 oz. hard cheese (I really like Balsamic BellaVitano cheese)
• 1/3 lb. green olives (stuffed with cheese or plain)
• 7 – 10 oz. hummus of choice (Sabra’s Olive Tapenade Hummus is a favorite for this)
• 1 box of crackers of choice (plain or tomato-basil Wheat Thins or Pretzel are a good choice)
• Optional: 1 lb. baby carrots
• Optional: 1 zucchini
• Optional: Fruit paste of choice

Directions:

1. Slice up cheese into bite-sized pieces, and wash and slice veggies into bite-sized pieces as well.
2. Put olives into a small, shallow bowl. Spear some olives with toothpicks and lay more to the side.
3. Open hummus and crackers.
4. Place all these elements on a large plate or cutting board or other decorative tray, placing cheese and olives near each other and veggies and crackers around hummus for easy dipping.
5. Optional: Add a small dish of fruit paste with a butter knife near the crackers and cheese.
6. You’re done! Enjoy the company!

It’s not hard, but it sure looks fancy doesn’t it?