The Friday afternoon drinks platter
It's Friday again, ladies. And I don't know about you, but last week's Friday looked a lot more cheerful. Sun, nice temperature, fluttering skirts in the office and a cozy terrace in sight. And now? Dull, gray and rain. No skirts, but rain pants. But don't think that we in the office care about that at all. Rain or shine, it's Friday and that means around five o'clock: happy hour. Only this time the board won't be parked on our cozy terrace, but just inside with the heating set to twenty. We can drink like no other, and snack too. Not in the mood to go out tonight? Just run to the Appie, dive into the kitchen and invite a bunch of friends over. Or just snuggle up on the couch with your loved one… Put this on the board and you're guaranteed to score points.
1. Grilled vegetable dip
This week I filled a good baking dish with vegetables. Eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, fennel, onions, garlic… A generous drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and voilà: a perfect base for your dinner. But with the leftovers, you can also make a delicious dip for your toast, piece of bread or raw vegetables.
– handful of grilled vegetables of your choice
– 2 cm of a piece of fresh Parmesan, grated
– 2 tablespoons of good olive oil
– pinch of salt
– freshly ground pepper
Put all the ingredients in the blender and mix until you get a smooth spread.
2. Spicy mackerel salad
This salad is super tasty on the lunch table, but also on your snack board. So make a double portion so you have a nice spread for your sandwich or a good filling for your salad tomorrow.
– half a mackerel
– 1 ripe avocado, diced
– 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (or a spoon of Greek yogurt for the skinny version)
– 2 tsp sambal oelek
– fresh pepper
– handful of parsley
- Clean the mackerel, remove the bones and mash finely.
- Add the avocado cubes to the fish and stir well.
- Add the mayonnaise, sambal and fresh pepper and mix well together.
- Top off with finely chopped parsley.
3. Goat cheese cookies
– 150 grams of grated aged goat cheese
– 150 grams of unsalted soft butter
– 150 grams of spelt flour
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
- Mix the cheese and flour in a bowl and add the soft butter.
- Knead it into a smooth dough and divide it into 16 equal balls.
- Flatten the balls with a fork to make flat cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Leave enough space between the cookies, as they will spread out.
- Bake the cookies for 15 minutes until golden brown.
4. Asian meatballs
– 300 grams of organic ground beef
– 6 water crackers, finely crushed
– 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 egg
– 1 teaspoon ginger powder
– 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 handful of chopped spring onion
– 2 lime leaves, finely crushed/sliced
For the sauce:
– 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
– 3 tablespoons sushi vinegar
– 1 clove of garlic, pressed
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- Mix all the ingredients for the meat in a large bowl.
- Knead well and form small balls.
- Heat a little olive oil in the pan and cook the meatballs until done.
- Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and heat it over low heat.
- Add the warm sauce to the meatballs, let it simmer on low heat for a minute and serve warm.
5. Hummus, but different
This salad has the ingredients of hummus but is the coarse variant with a bite. Serve the salad in boats made of Romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce.
– 1 small red onion, sliced
– red chili pepper, sliced
– 4 ripe tomatoes, diced
– juice of 1 lemon
– splash of olive oil
– 400 grams of chickpeas
– 200 grams of feta, cut into pieces
– handful of mint, finely chopped
– handful of basil, finely chopped
- Mix the onion, chili peppers, and tomatoes with the lemon juice plus a generous drizzle of olive oil.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Heat the chickpeas and add most of them to the tomato mixture.
- Puree the rest of the chickpeas and add them.
- Stir in the mint and basil and crumble the feta over it.
6. Velvety cream cheese with sun-dried tomatoes and ginger
– tub of cream cheese
– handful of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
– 2 cloves of garlic, minced
– handful of spring onion
– splash of ginger syrup
– pinch of salt
– fresh pepper
– handful of basil, finely chopped
- Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
- With this dip, you'll make a lot of friends, except the day after…
- Delicious with some raw vegetables, a piece of crusty baguette or a toast.
