LookBack
Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend in this warm fall weather. Here’s some stuff that happened this week:
First, check out my guest post on Live, Laugh, Eat: 5 Healthy Habits That May Be Sabotaging Your Diet.
Then, some stuff that happened on SoS:
I celebrated 1,000 posts here on SoS and shared some of my favorite posts & recipes.
2 ways to give back this season for less than a dollar.
An easy hearty appetizer: chickpea artichoke crostini.
Why foam rolling may not be the answer to IT band pain.
Stuff that happened on tiny sneakers:
We’re in the home stretch: third trimester time!
The dreaded glucose test.
And I leave you with the cutest picture on the face of the planet:
What are you looking forward to this week?
Recipe
Yesterday I shared a list of the most popular recipes on SoS. One of my favorites that didn’t make it to the list was this goat cheese jalapeno peach crostini.
You really can’t go wrong with goat cheese. Or jalapenos. So put them together and you’re golden.
I have a thing for crostini. Probably because it’s a tomato-less version of bruschetta. {For the record, there’s nothing I can’t stand more than raw tomatoes.}
So whenever I see a good loaf of bread in the bakery section of the grocery store, I grab it for some crostini. It’s easy because it doesn’t have to fit into dinner plans- it’s the perfect easy appetizer for any meal.
As much as a I love the goat cheese peach version, I needed to come up with something a little heartier so I could have it as a snack to tide me over for all the late dinners I’ve been having.
What’s heartier than chickpeas?!
Chicpeas mixed with some of my favorite Italian-inspired flavors: artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Mmm.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 loaf crusty bread
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas
- 4 oz artichoke hearts
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes {I like oil marinated}
- 1 lemon
- a couple basil leaves
- olive oil
- s & p
Slice bread on the bias into 1/4 inch thick slices.
Bake bread at 450 for 10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.
Remove bread and brush lightly with olive oil. Season with salt & pepper.
While bread is toasting, combine chickpeas, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and basil in a food processor.
Add in a 1-2 Tbsp of oil from the sundried tomatoes, or olive oil if you didn’t use oil packed tomatoes.
Squeeze the juice from one lemon (~2 Tbsp) into the mixture along with some lemon zest.
Process until well mixed, but still chunky- not hummus texture {yet!}
Heat mixture in microwave and divide evenly on to bread slices, or put mixture on bread and pop it back in the oven until warm.
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The best part of this recipe? I can easily double it and keep half of it in the food processor a little longer for the perfect snack later –> hummus!
I love having a double-duty easy appetizer recipe in my back pocket. 
What’s your favorite crostini topping?
PS: I’ve officially made it to 3rd trimester territory.
Recipe
While I could eat the grilled jalapeno-peach crostini for a meal by itself, I went the mature route and made a salad to go with them.
A giant, grilled fruit, coconut shrimp salad. And don’t worry, there’s a vegan version too.
First up, the coconut shrimp.
Grilled Coconut Shrimp
1/2 lb shrimp
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cayenne
dash of cumin
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Set up three small bowls with the following: cornstarch, cayenne, & cumin in one; orange juice; coconut flakes.
Dip de-shelled shrimp into the cornstarch mixture. Wipe off extra cornstarch so there’s just a light coating. Dip into orange juice, then coconut flakes.
Place shrimp on hot grill. Cook a few minutes on each side, until shrimp just turns pink. Alternatively you can bake them in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Now time for the salad. Grilled fruit is 10x better than sliced bread. I haven’t met a fruit I don’t like better grilled…this was just my excuse to eat a lot of it.
Grilled Fruit Salad
1 head romaine
1/2 pineapple
1 mango
1 orange bell pepper
Slice fruit and pepper into long strips.
Heat on grill.
Chop lettuce and top with grilled fruit.
And of course you can’t have salad without salad dressing. {Well you can, but it’s way better if you do.}
This dressing is probably best made a day ahead so the flavors can meld together, but if you have to, you can make it last minute. {Just make extra so it’s really good the next time. 
}
Citrus Witbier Salad Dressing
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp diced shallot
1/2 garlic clove, diced
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp wit bier {like New Belgium’s Mothership Wit}
splash of honey
If you can’t make the dressing the day before, you might want to pop the shallot and the garlic on the grill for a few minutes before dicing- it’ll mellow the sharp flavors of the fresh shallot and garlic so they don’t overwhelm your dressing. Otherwise, just leave them raw.
Place ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Couldn’t be easier.
To put it all together: top romaine with fruit and coconut shrimp, then drizzle dressing on top.
Goes great with jalapeno-peach goat cheese crostini. The shrimp taste great dipped into the jalapeno-peach jelly mixture too.
Don’t eat shrimp? Make grilled coconut tempeh!
How’s that for beer pairing?
Recipe
When Foodbuzz asked several featured publishers to come up with a meal that paired well with any of the New Belgium brews, I knew exactly what to make:
A grilled-fruit salad with coconut shrimp and wit bier dressing.
It made perfect sense: wheat beers and citrus go together like peanut butter and jelly. {Think orange slices in pints…} Fruit plus tangy dressing- I was set.
But I need a little more than salad to satisfy me, so I started thinking outside the box.
See, wine and food pairing has been an art for ages. Luckily for those of us that like beer, beer and food pairing is becoming just as popular.
Just like wine pairings, there are a few basic guidelines to get you started. Like red wines with meat and white wines with chicken or fish, the same goes for beer: dark lagers with meat and light ales with chicken or fish. The same way each type of wine has a distinct flavor composition that’s brought out even more by certain foods, the same goes for beer. And of course for both wine and beer, the rules are meant to broken: drink what you like!
Back to the menu plan:
The New Belgium {most famous for their Fat Tire} beer I chose was the Mothership Wit, an organic wheat beer brewed with barley malt, coriander, and orange peel.
I asked a beer-brewing-connoisseur friend what went well with orange and coriander spiced beers besides, well, orange. As soon as he said goat cheese, my ears perked up. But just adding goat cheese to the salad would be boring and overdone…
Wit bier, a Belgian style brew, traditionally pairs well with spicy foods– the cool, lightly citrus flavored beverage refreshingly washes away the burn on your tongue.
So citrus, spicy, & goat cheese? Forget the salad. I had a better idea.
Grilled Jalapeno-Peach Spiced Goat Cheese Crostini
4 Tablespoons peach preserves
~ 20 slices pickled jalapeno
red pepper flakes
splash of lime juice
2 oz spreadable goat cheese {not pre-crumbled}
1 loaf crusty bread {such as French or ciabatta}
Cut bread into 1/4 inch slices.
Place on grill {or in the oven} just until the bread starts to toast- keep it crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. {I used a white wheat bread, feel free to choose whatever kind you like, as long as it’ll support the toppings.}
Dice jalapeno into small pieces.
Stir into peach preserves along with red pepper flakes and lime juice. Use more or less jalapeno & red pepper flakes depending on your spice preference. The sweet preserves do a good job at toning down the spice or the jalapenos, so if you’re not a spice fan, don’t be nervous; if you are a spice fan, ramp up those ‘penos!
Spread goat cheese onto grilled bread slices.
Top with peach-jalapeno jelly.
Eat while still warm, or enjoy cooled.
Enjoy with a nice, cold, Mothership Wit.
After sitting down with our drinks, we realized the bottle came with drinking instructions.
So we followed them:
Pour.
Swirl.
Finish.
Now drink.
Oh, and you might want to make extra jalapeno crostini. I’ve already made them twice and devoured them all. I need another loaf of bread…
Check back tomorrow for the grilled-fruit coconut shrimp salad with citrus-wit bier dressing tomorrow- the perfect accompaniment to the jalapeno crostini.
This meal was made fiscally possible by the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. Consider this my FTC statement.
