3 Simple Summer Snacks

Having a porch party? Is it girls' night? Need a light lunch, snack or simple summer appetizer? Here are three ideas that have worked well for us recently. Each one is deceptively elegant, utterly easy, relatively inexpensive, and of course, absolutely delicious.

Brie 'n Berry Bites

Ingredients:

1 package phyllo cups

4 ounces brie

1 pint berries

balsamic glaze, or reduced balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Lay phyllo cups on a cookie sheet. Fill each cup with brie, top with a berry and bake for about 10 minutes, until heated through. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve warm. 

Idea plus: Try it with apples or peaches drizzled with honey.

Caesar Salad Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1 head romaine lettuce

1 pint grape tomatoes, diced

1 English cucumber, diced

4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

Caesar salad dressing, to taste

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup croutons

Peel off the outer leaves of the romaine and discard. Wash and allow to dry the remaining leaves of lettuce. Gently mix the diced tomatoes, cucumber, mozzarella cheese and Caesar dressing in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Set the croutons aside for garnish. Place everything on a large platter and allow guests to make their own wraps. 

Idea plus: Add grilled chicken or shrimp to make it a meal.

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 baguette, sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled 

1 pint grape tomatoes, diced

5-6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

olive oil, to taste

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lay out the sliced baguette on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown. Rub each toast slice with raw garlic. In a small bowl, gently mix the diced tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spoon tomato mixture onto the bread and drizzle with additional olive oil. 

Idea plus: Need it quicker? Buy pre-made crostini at your local market.

Cocktail Time! The Berry Patch

School may have started, but it's not the end of summer yet! Labor Day weekend is upon us, and fall does not officially start until the autumnal equinox on September 23rd. In the "spirit" of prolonging every teacher's favorite season, we gathered a few tantalizing summertime ingredients to create a cocktail we're calling "The Berry Patch" (special thanks to D and J for taste-testing and tweaking the name). Light, sweet, herby and slightly bubbly, these go down nice and easy!

The Berry Patch

(makes a small pitcher, about six drinks)

Ingredients:

12-14 fresh strawberries, chopped

6-8 leaves fresh basil, torn

1 cup cranberry juice (100% juice, not cranberry cocktail)

1 cup lemonade (we like Newman's Own Lightly-Sweetened)

1 cup vodka

ice

club soda (optional)

extra berries and/or basil leaves for garnish

In a pitcher, muddle the chopped strawberries with the torn basil leaves.

Add the cranberry juice, lemonade and vodka.

Add ice, stir and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Strain into chilled martini glasses. Add a splash of club soda on top if you like it bubbly, and garnish as desired.

 

Grilled Poundcake with Balsamic Berries

It's finally June, and berries of all kinds are popping up all over these parts. For now, we are relying on the supermarket, but soon enough (this weekend in fact!), our favorite farmer's market opens and then we can start to really enjoy the bounty of summer. We came up with this particular dessert idea after seeing some slices of poundcake strategically placed near the berries in the produce aisle. (Turning the oven on to make a cake this week was not something we wanted to do, especially since we work without air conditioning all day). Slightly grilling the slices of poundcake offered a crunchy char plus that toasty, smoky flavor we love. And balsamic and berries get along famously. We saved a few calories by not adding freshly whipped cream, but that, or a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, might push this summery treat to the brink of amazingness. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 pint blackberries

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced

6 slices store-bought poundcake

6 sprigs fresh mint (optional, for garnish)

Mix the sugar and corn starch in a medium saucepan. Stir in the water then add the balsamic vinegar. Mix well. Put over medium heat and add the blackberries. While continuing to stir, bring the mixture to a boil, then boil for one minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Carefully fold in the raspberries and strawberries and set aside. Spray the grates of a gas grill with cooking spray and turn the grill onto medium-high heat. Lay the slices of pound cake on the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes (or until grill marks appear); flip and do the same on the other side. Spoon the berry mixture over each slice of poundcake, garnish with mint, and enjoy.