Appetizers

Things like peppers are popular at Italian little plates restaurants. I’m offering you a recipe for mine here. Mine have a bit of an after-burner kick to them.

I ordered this dish at a restaurant in town. It was so good I said, “I have to figure out how to make this myself!” It was that wonderful.

This is a combination of a few recipes I found. Love the fact that these are low carb and tasty!

LOVE these cheesy bits for an appetizer. They go great while you are sipping your wine.

Most folks think of chicken wings as being a guy thing and even a sport fan thing but anyone can love this dip! I served it as a breakfast buffet item and it was hands down the dish that got the most comments and compliments. I think it was because it was so unexpected. The comments came from men and women alike but I must admit the guys were the ones who went gaga over this.

Can’t get any easier than this. Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve with your protein hot off the grill!

Puff Pastry Cocktail Cheese Straws are the perfect party appetizer! One that goes great with strolling drinks. Drink in one hand, cheese straw in the other. 

I found a recipe very similar to this one about 15 years in an old Southern cookbook. I have made a few changes to “Zola-fy” it. This goes over BIG at any party, and it's so simple!

This is what I call cheating when I’m in a hurry. I use my favorite bottled Italian dressing as the marinade and everyone thinks I put so much effort into this really pretty dish.

In addition to being crunchy, satisfying and delicious, pumpkin seeds are a nutritious snack. You can buy shelled pumpkin seeds in the grocery store (also know as pepitas), but when pumpkin season rolls around, you can buy a fresh pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and toast the whole seeds yourself. YUM! 

This is an elegant meal you can serve to company or even just for a romantic meal at home. I served this with haricot vert (roasted French green beans). That kept the meal totally low carb.

This soup is a staple at Chinese restaurants. It is filling, delicate and delicious. Unfortunately, one of the ingredients in most restaurant egg drop soup recipes is MSG. The recipe below is an MSG-free version of the traditional classic, so it won't taste exactly the same, but we think it's just as delicious.

A spicy and refreshing salsa can jazz up any dish. Dieter Lois shared this recipe for her ZReduction-friendly salsa verde. She whipped up a batch to put over her eggs, but this would be good on just about anything.

This recipe was submitted by dieter Dave, who is an avid gardener and serious grill-master. He grows his own peppers and likes this recipe because it is so simple - and always delicious. Even though this recipe calls for Anaheim peppers, you can use any type of pepper that suits your fancy. 

My husband found this recipe and made it for me. It was delicious! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

What will take the longest with this dish is peeling and taking the shells off the shrimp. You want fresh shrimp though and I’ll teach you how to boil down the shells to make it super-tasty. A deeper flavor is the bonus.

A traditional Waldorf salad has grapes or raisins and lots of walnuts -- but it doesn’t have to. This one worked great as a side dish. Be sure to cut your fruit portion for this meal in half.

Okay, don’t freak on me. Grilled romaine is really good and tastes better than it looks. Impress your guests with something they’ve probably never had before.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a new one offered up by Bon Appetit. I must give them some of the credit. I changed it enough to make it my own, but the original is in a cookbook by Molly Baz called Cook this Book.