Appetizer

Tropical Shrimp Bites

18 · Apr 4, 2014 ·

This post brought to you by the folks at Hidden Valley® // With the weather slowly starting to warm up, I’m starting to get the itch to entertain a bit more. One of my favorite things to do when planning for a party or get together is coming up with unique menu items. Tasty dishes that are simple to make, but have a big WOW factor for my guests. Recently, the folks at Hidden Valley challenged me to come up with a new recipe for a appetizer using one of their fabulous Hidden Valley® products. I was super excited when I discovered their new Hidden Valley® Farmhouse Originals Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette and instantly I thought it would pair nicely with some type of shrimp dish. After some playing around, I came up with these super tasty Tropical Shrimp Bites…

The Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette is amazing with the shrimp! I added a little coconut cream and shredded coconut to the shrimp and then quickly baked them in the oven. I topped off the little bites with some grilled mango and pineapple and together the pairing was amazing.

Unfortunately my market didn’t have any fresh mango at the time so I had to used bottled mango, but it worked just fine. Here is how I made my Tropical Shrimp Bites…

Tropical Shrimp Bites Recipe

1 lb raw shrimp

1 bottle Hidden Valley® Farmhouse Originals Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette

1 cup coconut cream

6 oz. sweetened shredded coconut

1 fresh pineapple

1 mango

cooking spray

Directions

Prepare your shrimp by rinsing thoroughly and peeling off the shell if necessary. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut cream and Hidden Valley® Farmhouse Originals Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette. Add shrimp to the coconut and vinaigrette mixture. Let marinade for no more than 15 minutes. Any longer in the marinade and the acid in the dressing will start to cook the shrimp and you don’t want that.

Preheat your oven to 425˚. Remove your shrimp from the marinade and place in batches into a bowl of the shredded coconut. Coat the shrimp and then place on top of a wire rack that has been coated with cooking spray and placed on top of a baking sheet.

Lightly spray the shrimp with cooking spray and place in the preheated oven for five minutes. After five minutes, remove from oven and carefully turn the shrimp, lightly spray the other side with cooking spray and place back into the oven for an additional four to five minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

In the mean time cut your pineapple and mango into bite sized pieces and grill either using a grill pan or directly on a grill. Grill for 1-2 minutes on one side, turn and grill for an additional 1-2 minutes on the other side. Remove from grill and set aside until the shrimp are ready.

Now all you need to do is assemble your tropical shrimp bites… I used a bamboo skewer and added one piece of grilled pineapple, a shrimp and finally a bite of mango. Your perfect tropical bite!

It’s amazing how much flavor the shrimp takes on from the vinaigrette in such a short time. You can really taste the mango with a little hint of the chipotle, it’s tasty!! Your guest are going to love this little bite from the tropics! This recipe will make roughly 40 tropical shrimp bites, perfect for a medium sized gathering. You can adjust accordingly to the size of your gathering. I served my shrimp bites on top of some sugar pea greens that had been lightly dressed with the Hidden Valley@ Farmhouse Originals Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette as well. That made for some added flavor along with a very pretty presentation.

From dressings and dips to sandwich spreads and side dish solutions, the special blend of herbs and spices makes Hidden Valley the perfect addition to any recipe. For more delectable ranch recipes, visit www.hiddenvalley.com.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hidden Valley Ranch. The opinions and text are all mine.

Agave Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 · Feb 11, 2014 · 4 Comments

Agave Chicken Lettuce Wraps // Maybe you have heard of agave syrup, but haven't taken the leap of trying it yet! I am like you, and probably wouldn't have, had I not visited a spa that served lettuce wraps with it as a dressing. After having those tasty lettuce wraps, I had to come home and try to recreate that amazing taste, and I knew the key was the Agave syrup. These healthy wraps are easy to make, only use a few ingredients and are delicious.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

1/2 lemon juiced

2-3 tbs agave syrup

Lettuce (Bib, Boston or Butter lettuces work great)

Cook your chicken breasts your preferred way and let cool. Placing them in a casserole dish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper is the easiest and then either bake in the oven or microwave, depending on what dish you have.

Once cooled and cubed, place your chicken chunks in a bowl. Mix remaining ingredients in and then lastly, add the splash of lemon before refrigerating.

This salad mixture is best served cold, spooned into leaves of your favorite lettuce.

When serving, you can add a drizzle of the agave syrup to the plate for presentation.

Feel free to change ingredients based on your taste!

Also consider adding:

-chopped cucumber

-diced green onion

-pomegranate seeds

-sesame or chia seeds

I'm super excited to welcome the newest member of the WhipperBerry Creative Team, Stephanie from Life Created! She is an incredibly talented food photographer with all kinds of goodies over at her blog. You should take a second to run over and check it out!!

Baked Sriracha Wings

1 · Jan 28, 2014 · 6 Comments

Wings are pretty much one of my favorite foods on the planet, so the Superbowl, which basically screams for wings is prrreetttyy much one of my favorite days of the year. I’m a 49ers girl, born and raised, so this year’s game is a little depressing at our house.

I found this recipe in our local newspaper a couple of years ago with the title “Best Buffalo Wings,” and since they were made with Sriracha (is there anything that Sriracha doesn’t make better?) I decided we’d give it a try. They really are THE BEST wings! We make them any chance we get!

I’m a baked, not fried, gal when it comes to wings. I use (or I should say, my husband uses–he’s the one that always cooks these) Alton Brown’s recipe for Baked Chicken Wings, with a few slight variations. These come out crispy, just like a fried wing, but with less fat (because it drips off) and minus all of that mess from frying. Keep in mind, I’m not calling these low fat, they’re still wings, but it’s less than the fried deal for sure.

You can head over to my blog and find my other favorite wing recipe: Maple Teryaki Wings.

Baked Sriracha Wings

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Prep time

45 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

55 mins

I found this recipe in our local newspaper a couple of years ago with the title "Best Buffalo Wings," and since they were made with Sriracha (is there anything that Sriracha doesn't make better?) I decided we'd give it a try. They really are THE BEST wings! We make them any chance we get!

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: Starters

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken wings & drums thawed
4 TBSP Sriracha
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP finely chopped cilantro + extra for garnish
4 TBSP salt
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce

Instructions

Place a 6 quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 3 inches of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.
Place wings in steamer basket, cover, reduce heat to medium and let steam for about 15 minutes or until wings are completely cooked. (Wings can go in frozen, but will need to steam longer to cook.)
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk in Sriracha, salt, honey, soy sauce and cilantro. Check heat level of the sauce. If it's too spicy, add honey. Keep sauce warm over low heat until ready to pour over wings.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove wings from the basket lay wings out on a greased cooling rack, placed on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to an hour), until wings are cool and dry.
Remove wings from refrigerator and place in the oven (still on cooling rack/cookie sheet) and bake for approximately 10 minutes–until crispy.
Remove wings from the oven, toss in sauce and garnish with cilantro.

Simple Taco Hand Pies Recipe

759 · Dec 23, 2013 ·

Holiday entertaining can be a little overwhelming. Especially when you are hosting family or friends for several days. You can’t have a Turkey with all the fixin’s at every meal. That would be way to much work, not to mention hard on the wallet. You need to have a few simple meal options that are quick and still fun for the whole family. This recipe is one that everyone can chip in and help make PLUS my family LOVES them!

Jump to Recipe

Who doesn’t love tacos? With this fun spin on a simple classic recipe, your gathering is sure to be a hit. You can serve taco hand pies as the main dish or make them a little smaller and use as an appetizer for a cocktail party. They are so versatile. Here is how you make them.

Ohhhh doesn’t that look tasty? Now you can serve with sour cream, salsa and any other taco fixin’s you can think of.

Now, this is the perfect, easy, crowd-pleasing meal to have on hand when you have company in town. The lovely folks at Kraft® are making it even easier on your wallet this holiday season at Target…

From shopping for gifts to planning family dinners, it’s hard to keep up with all your holiday to-dos. This year, Kraft is helping out with great weeknight meals and entertaining ideas to make the season a little bit easier. Plus, Kraft is offering up to $20 in coupons, redeemable exclusively at Target, to make food shopping easier and to help you have a happy holiday season.

Taco Hand Pies

Who doesn’t love tacos? With this fun spin on a simple classic recipe your gathering is sure to be a hit. You can serve taco hand pies as the main dish or make them a little smaller and use as an appetizer for a cocktail party. They are so versatile. Here is how you make them.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 15

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 5 Servings

Ingredients

1 tbsn Olive Oil
1 Sweet Onion
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 packet Taco Seasoning
1 can fat free refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can drained corn
1 pack Kraft Finely Shreeded Cheese
2 cans Pillsbury Corn Buscuits
1 egg beaten

Instructions

First, you will need to cut your onion into strips. I cut my onion in half and then cut into strips. In a large skillet add the olive oil and place over a medium high heat. Once the oil is hot add your onions and sauteé for 3-4 minutes until translucent.
Add your ground beef, season lightly with salt and pepper. Break-up the ground beef into small pieces and brown. Once the meat has browned, remove excess grease with a spoon and discard. Stir in the taco seasoning over medium heat.
Add the refried beans, black beans and corn. Let this mixture come to temperature and the remove from heat.
Lightly flour a clean dry surface and roll out your first corn biscuit. Place about a 1/4 to a 1/3 of a cup of the taco meat mixture in on the rolled out biscuit and top with a generous helping of Kraft® Shredded Cheese.
Then with a pastry brush, brush on a bit of egg wash along the edge of the biscuit dough. Fold over and seal with a fork.
Place on a baking sheet and brush the top of the hand pies with the egg wash. Repeat with remaining biscuits.
Bake in a 350˚ oven for 14-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

Keyword Taco Hand Pies

Appetizer

Tropical Shrimp Bites Recipe

Directions

Taco Hand Pies

Ingredients

Instructions

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