2023 is coming to an end and it would not be surprising if on day number 365 of this year you feel much more eager to enjoy and rest than to pour your energy into the stove. That's why we have thought here, at El Comidista, of some snacks and appetizers that are prepared simply and quickly – many of them do not require any type of cooking – to avoid all kinds of complications. You will find them ordered from least to most difficult (the most difficult are in quotes, since they require turning on the oven and very little else).
Gildas and other snacks
Gilda and pseudogildas
We start with the simplest thing in the world: sticking ingredients with a toothpick. The undisputed queen of this discipline is the classic San Sebastian gilda, but there are other possible variations – which we can call “pseudogildas” so that no one gets offended – that you can also prepare at home, always having one or two olives and a piparra as a starting point. game: with dried tomato and quail egg; with a quarter of canned artichoke and a cube of Manchego cheese; with a pickled onion and a piece of piquillo pepper; or with a small piece of canned white asparagus rolled in serrano ham.
Dehydrated fruits, cheese and nuts
You can assemble a cheese board with dehydrated fruits and nuts, or you can make bite-sized snacks with the same ingredients. Buy dried apricots, place on top of each of them a slice of soft goat cheese such as curly cheese, and a couple of toasted and salted almonds. You can do something similar with prunes, putting a cube of blue cheese and a walnut on top; or with dates cut in half, a teaspoon of ricotta or cottage cheese seasoned with salt and pepper and a couple of hazelnuts.
Crudités with easy sauces
Crudités are nothing more than fresh vegetables cut in a certain way – generally sticks – so that they can be eaten with your hands, spreading sauces and creams with them. This implies that they must be vegetables that, firstly, can be eaten raw, and secondly, have a certain structure and hardness so that they can actually be dipped in sauces comfortably. This condition is met by carrots, radishes, celery, cucumber, lettuce heads – very fresh – and peppers, among others. You can accompany them with countless spreads and also with sauces that require nothing more than mixing things in a bowl: cream cheese lightened with cream until it has the desired consistency with fresh chopped herbs such as chives, parsley, oregano and/or basil; plain Greek yogurt with lemon zest and juice, cumin powder, sesame seeds and olive oil; or mayonnaise with chopped pickles and shallots with old-fashioned mustard and a little honey. If you don't like crudités, you can use these same sauces with French fries, toasted pita bread, or your favorite crusts.
toasts
You can do many good things with toasted bread. We must start, however, with good bread: I would opt for a loaf or similar so that the toasts are a good size, and with a somewhat honeycomb interior; not so much that whatever you put on top of it drains, but not like a plain bread, which will make the toasts too compact and heavy. Cut them into slices of approximately one centimeter and toast them in a toaster or in the oven at 180ºC, with a little olive oil or spread lightly with butter, making sure they do not burn and turning them over so that they brown evenly. Once you have this, the possible combinations of ingredients to put on top are endless (here are a few concrete ideas). Important fact: assemble your toasts at the last minute so that they maintain their crunchy character.
fruit and cheese
With fresh or preserved fruit and the countless cheeses that the world has to offer, you can get toasts that are a feast of contrasts and flavor: soft goat cheese and fresh green apple in thin slices or apple and almond compote laminated; a fresh cheese such as mozzarella, burrata or cottage cheese with persimmon wedges, flaked salt, extra virgin olive oil and plenty of freshly ground black pepper; gorgonzola or other soft blue cheese, fresh or roasted pear cut into slices and a light dressing of olive oil, Dijon mustard and finely chopped raisins chopped on top; matured cheddar cut into slices or crushed with a little cream to turn it into a spread and fresh grapes cut into quarters lengthwise or into slices (place them overlapping as a ratatouille and you will get a Michelin star).
With preserves
Preserves are an unparalleled wonder and in Spain we are very lucky that, in general, they are of a very good standard. With them you can prepare different toasts: with a base of piquillo peppers cut into strips, lightly crumbled Northern tuna, piparras and chopped chives; with tomato jam, sardines and lemon zest (if you can find fresh dill, add a little too). Also with herb butter, which you can make by mixing room temperature butter with fresh herbs – basil, oregano and sage are amazing – and anchovies; or with a base of olive oil, burrata, preserved leeks and chopped hazelnuts.
Appetizers without – or with very little – cooking
By using fresh foods and others already cooked – not ultra-processed – we can prepare appetizers with very little effort. The combinations that follow can be served as salads, with the ingredients cut like a tartare and served in bowls to eat with toast, tortilla chips or similar, in tartlets or on appetizer spoons: your house, your decisions. The quantities below are designed for four people.
Prawns, mango, avocado, lime and hot sauce
A fresh combination to give a tropical touch to your Christmas table. Cook twelve prawns, if not buy them already cooked, and cut them into slices. Mix them in a bowl with a mango and an avocado cut into cubes, add the juice and zest of a lime and hot sauce to taste (Tabasco, Valentina, Sriracha…). Prepare it a few hours before eating and keep it in the refrigerator so that it rests and all the flavors integrate. Serve it with some fresh coriander leaves.
Beetroot, orange, onions and smoked salmon
Cut two medium-sized cooked beets – you can find them refrigerated in the supermarket – and one orange into wedges and arrange them interspersed and in the most beautiful way possible on a plate. Add six or eight pickled onions cut in half or, alternatively, a quarter of a red onion cut into julienne strips, pickled with a tablespoon of vinegar, a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar for 15 minutes. Finish the dish with eight or ten slices of salmon – approximately the same size as the orange and beet segments –, a splash of extra virgin olive oil and salt. You can prepare this same dish by cutting everything into small cubes, like a tartare. If you want to give it even more color, you can add grapefruit.
White beans with Creole sauce
Creole sauce is typical in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, similar to Mexican pico de gallo or Chilean pebre, and although it is normal to combine it with different types of meat, this time we will mix it with legumes. You can serve it in small appetizer spoons, in glasses or as a salad, but have some bread nearby because your diners will want to dip the final juice. itches on brunoise –small dice– half an onion, half a green pepper, half a red pepper, half a yellow pepper and a fresh tomato (preferably a pear type). Mix everything in a bowl with 100 milliliters of mild olive oil, 50 milliliters of apple cider vinegar, 200 grams of canned cooked white beans, chopped fresh parsley, ground black pepper, ground chili, cumin powder and salt to taste. Prepare this mixture the day before and keep it in the refrigerator.
With the help of the oven
If you are willing to make a little more effort – although not that much – to prepare your appetizers, the oven can be your ally to make two or three at the same time.
Spiced mushroom tacos
Heat the oven to 200 ºC with heat up and down with the tray you are going to use inside. Clean twenty mushrooms – common, Portobello or a mixture of both – and cut them in half lengthwise, from the trunk to the cap. Mix them in a bowl with olive oil, half a teaspoon of hot Vera paprika, half a teaspoon of garlic powder, freshly ground black pepper and salt. Place them on the hot baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and tender. Serve with eight or ten wheat or corn tortillas heated in a pan for ten seconds on each side, sour cream, sliced or diced avocado, and fresh cilantro (if you don't like that, you can also use chopped chives).
Roasted vegetables with different sauces
This is the winter version of crudités: heat the oven to 200ºC and on the baking tray lined with parchment paper place the florets of broccoli, two carrots cut into quarters lengthwise and three medium potatoes cut into wedges. Add olive oil, salt and pepper – you can add spices and dried herbs too – and bake until each vegetable is golden and cooked. Meanwhile, you can prepare different sauces: those already mentioned in the crudités section, a hot cheddar cheese sauce, a peanut sauce with curry – two parts of unsweetened peanut butter, one of hot water to lighten it and salt and curry. taste–, a false romesco that you can prepare by grinding piquillo peppers with almonds, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and olive oil, sauce for calçots or any of these nine sauces to liven up vegetable dishes.
roasted olives
Something happens with this roasted olive appetizer because it doesn't stop circulating on Instagram (or at least that's what my algorithm makes me believe). Preparing it is very simple: heat the oven to 220 ºC, place a mixture of 200 grams of different pitted green and black olives on a high-sided tray, add 50 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil, six cloves of crushed, unpeeled garlic, a lemon cut into quarters, a few sprigs of thyme and fresh rosemary and some chili flakes, and bake for 20 minutes. You can serve it as is with toasted bread, add burrata or bake the olive mixture with feta cheese (does the viral pasta with feta sound familiar to you? Well, that's it).
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