Caprese Skewers…Super Easy and Elegant Appetizer

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My family loves to get together for cocktails, appetizers and desserts.  We enjoy sitting around visiting with each other and having little plates of fabulous finger foods…this always leaves room for a yummy cocktail and a decadent dessert without stuffing ourselves silly with a huge meal in between (we have learned this lesson the hard way)!

This appetizer really doesn’t need much explanation.  It is super easy, requires no cooking and looks absolutely beautiful on a plate.  You can make this recipe as big or as small as you’d like, we generally have 5 or 6 different appetizers so we plan one of these per person, this recipe is for 6 skewers.

Caprese Skewers

6 wooden skewers

18 sweet cherry tomatoes

12 small fresh mozzarella balls

2 Tbsp. pesto

12 basil leaves

In a small bowl, toss fresh mozzarella in the pesto and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Assemble the skewers by alternating the ingredients…start with a tomato, next a pesto marinated mozzarella ball, then a fresh basil leaf.  Repeat, ending with a cherry tomato.  Trim the ends of the skewers if necessary to fit on your serving dish.

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Our latest appetizer get together with the Caprese Skewers as the beautiful centerpiece!

This recipe is shared at:

5 Ingredient Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love, Allergy-Free Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Gluten-Free Fridays, Wednesday Extravaganza

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato Bites…Oh, Yes I Did!

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes…Could there be anything better?

Bacon.

That is all.

Really, does anything more need to be said?  Seems like everything just tastes better wrapped in bacon…dates, jalapenos, asparagus, scallops, filet Mignon…I’ve tried them all, why not sweet potatoes?  This lovely little bit of heaven did not disappoint!  Great as an appetizer, side dish or even a light meal with a salad!

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes

1 Large sweet potato, peeled

4-6 slices sugar-free bacon

olive oil

chili powder

toothpicks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a rimmed baking pan with foil or parchment paper.  Cut the sweet potato into 1″ chunks.  Slice the bacon in half crosswise and then lengthwise to yield 16-24 strips, use enough bacon to have one strip per sweet potato chunk.  Wrap each sweet potato chunk with a strip of bacon and secure with a tooth pick, place on baking pan.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder.

Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and flip over.

Place back in the oven for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and sweet potatoes are browned.

Remove to paper towel lined plate until ready for serving.  These are best served warm with sour cream (if you eat dairy), homemade ranch or guacamole for dipping.

This recipe is shared at:

Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Whole Foods Wednesdays, Beyond the Peel, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Fat Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Bizzy Bakes, Tastetastic Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Fresh Bites Friday