Port wine cheese spread

Cheese and crackers go retro with this super easy port wine cheese spread; all the addictive flavor, none of the garish colors.

Summer is just the best time for parties and entertaining, isn't it? Who doesn't love celebrating al fresco with friends at a garden party, backyard cookout or cocktail party on the deck?

It's no wonder so many people choose to get married in the summer, too -- talk about an opportunity for a grand outdoor party!

To celebrate summer and special occasions like weddings and anniversaries, I've teamed up with the folks at Uncommon Goods to introduce you to some of the amazing items they have available in their unique catalog that are perfect for gift-giving or entertaining -- and to give you a chance to win a prize package of their wares.

Case in point: the cheese-and-cracker serving board and butter and cheese knife you see in these photos. In particular, the gorgeous, made-in-Vermont cheeseboard is featured in the Uncommon Collection, an exclusive assortment of products that meet their highest standards for uncommon design, sustainability and doing good. I love the kitschiness of the ampersand -- because we all know you've gotta have crackers AND cheese!

Best BBQ sides

Wow the crowd at your next BBQ or cookout with these easy and delicious sides: choose from salads, appetizers and salsas.

With Independence Day just around the corner, I've been fixated lately on the summer BBQ.

Or cookout. Is this a regional thing? Growing up in New England, we called them cookouts. I had to learn to refer to them as "barbecues" when I moved down south.

Whatever the nomenclature, I love those parties held outside that involve grilled meat.

But, more than the meaty main course, I'm all about the sides: salads, dips, appetizers, chips. Those little unsung heroes are often what makes the meal. And while anyone can bring some ice cream or cookies or a flag cake made with berries and Cool Whip, I highly prefer the guest who brings an amazing side.

So here's a roundup of some of my favorite BBQ (or cookout) side dish recipes, all of which are easy to make, easy to transport and guaranteed to wow the crowd.

Easy holiday cocktail party recipes

You'll love all these quick-and-easy yet impressive recipes for cocktails, snacks and appetizers for your next holiday cocktail party.

If you want to spend more time enjoying your holiday party and less time preparing and fussing over the food and drink recipes, you'll love all my ideas for quick-and-easy yet impressive cocktails, snacks and appetizers.

Happiest holiday party wishes from The Ninj!

DIY smoked trout

Learn how to smoke trout, salmon, veggies, salt or just about anything else quickly, easily and with no mess on the grill or even on the stovetop.

Let's talk about smoked trout. Or smoked salmon. Or any kind of smoked fish. Do you love it? I do. Whether I enjoy it as part of a charcuterie board or a cheese plate at a cocktail party or added to a pasta dish or salad (like my bagels and lox pasta salad!), I'm a smoked fish junkie.

So the "I can do that!" DIY side of my brain kicked into high gear when I discovered an affordable little stove-top smoker a few years ago.

Yes, a few years ago. Believe it or not, I got this stovetop smoker, made by Camerons Products, for Christmas more than two years ago and just never got around to using it.

(To be fair, we wound up beginning a big cross-country move just after Christmas that year, so smoking fish for fun wasn't really my top priority.)

But I dusted off the box earlier this year and smoked some fish. And then some more fish. And then some salt. And now, since it's so easy, there's pretty much no stopping the smoking train around Casa de Ninj.

If you do nothing else this year that I've told you to do, do this: buy this stovetop smoker -- or give one to someone as a gift. It's the coolest thing ever, I swear. Not to mention that it's crazy easy to use and you can smoke all sorts of stuff with zero mess.

Here's exactly how it works:

Strawberry avocado salsa

Fresh, fast and summery, scoop up this strawberry avocado salsa with crunchy tortilla chips or serve it alongside grilled chicken or pork.

Fresh summer fruits and vegetables -- there really is nothing better in my book. They just make you feel like you're eating healthier (because you are!) while also totally winning because of all the amazing, practically-warm-from-the-sun flavor.

Seriously. I go crazy over summer fruit: strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, nectarines. Gaaaaaaaaaaah!! I'm already freaking out just thinking of all the ways I can eat them. And preserve them for the fruitless (literally), tasteless winter months.

One awesome way to eat some of your pick-your-own strawberry haul is this strawberry avocado salsa. I'm torn about how to recommend it to you: while we eat it as a condiment alongside grilled chicken, it's really just as good as an appetizer or snack, scooped up with crunchy tortilla chips.

So, as you can see from the-cheese-stands-alone photos, I'm not going to influence you. I'm letting you decide how you want to eat it. Or just serve a bowl at your next BBQ and let your guests decide.

But you are going to want to eat it, trust me. Especially since it's so simple -- only five ingredients and about five minutes to prepare.

Pimento cheese hummus

All the creamy, spicy flavor of pimento cheese in a better-for-you hummus: great as a dip or spread it on sandwiches and pizza.

You've tried my roasted red pepper cheese spread (aka pimento cheese), right? So you know how good it is -- albeit slightly decadent. It falls into the category I call H-and-H -- limited to holidays and houseguests.

Well, you're in luck. Now you don't have to be a houseguest or be celebrating a holiday: The Ninj has managed to turn all that awesome pimento cheese flavor into a better-for-you hummus.

Yes, it's hummus with cheese. Sounds a little quirky, I know, but you know I wouldn't steer you wrong.

This pimento cheese hummus is a real treat. In addition to using it like traditional hummus as a dip for pita wedges or veggies, I've also been spreading it on sandwiches and -- perhaps the best of all -- as the base layer on pizza.

Any way you like to eat hummus.

Baked poutine spring rolls

While I have been compensated for this poutine spring roll recipe by #CollectiveBias and its advertisers, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me!  #SpringIntoFlavor

Baked poutine spring rolls, filled with sweet potato fries, grilled chicken and cheddar cheese, with mushroom gravy dipping sauce. Comfort food done light.

Regular readers know I'm a huge fan of poutine, that Quebecois comfort-food favorite of crispy french fries smothered with rich beef gravy and melty cheese curds. Talk about comfort!

But, in the same breath, I have talk about how not-so-healthy poutine can be -- which is why we don't eat it very often.

Leave it to The Ninj to figure out a way to get all the comfort-food flavor of poutine in a lighter, fresher package: poutine spring rolls, filled with sweet potato fries, grilled chicken and sharp cheddar cheese and served with a mushroom gravy dipping sauce.

While these poutine spring rolls may look complicated and decadent, I swear they're neither. For one, they're baked, not fried, which makes them that much healthier -- as well as easy to make. Plus, I've swapped the heavy cheese curds for just a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and the thick gravy for a much lighter mushroom dipping sauce. They're comfort food done light.

Baked ranch tofu 'chicken' nuggets

Healthy baked ranch tofu nuggets have all the meatiness and flavor of a traditional chicken nugget. A meatless entree or appetizer that even the pickiest eater will love!

So, if you knew me 20 years ago, you're probably laughing hysterically at the fact that I'm posting about tofu. Suffice it to say, I have not always been a healthy eater (I lived on Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies and Cool Ranch Doritos in college). In fact, I was pretty reliant on processed and packaged foods until I started reading more about where my food came from and making the effort to read and decode food package ingredient labels.

Even as a healthy eater, espousing The Way of Better Eating, I'm pretty new to tofu, not being vegetarian or vegan (remember -- I have been known to call myself The Meatasaurus). But I've been giving tofu more of a chance lately as a way to enjoy meatless meals during the week.

If you've seen but never tried a tofu nugget recipe before, you're not alone. I was super skeptical, especially of the ones that claimed to have a meaty texture. How the freak could jiggly tofu ever seem meaty? But Cheryl of 40 Aprons did a pretty good job of convincing me, once she revealed the secret: Freeze the tofu.

Yes! It's totally freakish but it works! Something all science-y about the freezing and thawing process changes the tofu's texture so that it's meaty. Seriously: meaty. I kid you not. Even Mr. Ninj, who gave me his you-haven't-hidden-some-nasty-pureed-vegetables-in-this-have-you sideways-stink-eye, gobbled them up and praised the meaty, genuinely nugget-ish texture.

Bourbon brie flatbread with fig jam and prosciutto

Keep your holiday entertaining simple with this sweet-and-savory appetizer: smoky bourbon brie flatbread with fig jam and crispy prosciutto. 

Regular readers know that The Ninj is all about quick-and-easy real-food recipes, especially for weeknight dinners. But that holds true for all my recipes -- even for holiday entertaining.

I don't know about you, but whether I'm hosting or simply attending a holiday party, I like to focus on the company, the conversation and the cocktails (not necessarily in that order, heh heh), rather than fret over the appetizer prep. That's why I often turn to flatbreads for parties; it's easy to use a variety of spreads and toppings to turn a simple flatbread into a great appetizer pizza.

Clearly the good folks at Alouette Cheese think the same way I do, since they have teamed up with Stonefire Flatbreads to share some "flavorology" this holiday season. Simply put, it's their term for the art of creating unique, simple and delicious flavor combinations using flatbreads and soft cheese spreads. What could be easier (or yummier)?

Stonefire and Alouette invited me to come up with my own favorite flatbread flavorology combination: with cheese flavors like wasabi cheddar, smoky jalapeño and roasted red pepper, it was hard to choose. But of course I was pulled like a moth to a flame to the Smoky Bourbon Creme de Brie -- you know, because nothing says "holiday" to The Ninj like bourbon. Except bourbon and cheese.

Pumpkin hummus

It only takes five minutes to make this healthy pumpkin hummus: enjoy it as a dip for fresh veggies and crackers or spread it on sandwiches for added fall flavor. 

Ah, what's a food blogger to do as October comes to end? No more pumpkin! We've probably given you more than your fill of pumpkin-themed muffins, cupcakes, lattes, smoothies, pies, cookies, donuts, whoopie pies, breads, waffles and sauces.

But I had to slip in just one more pumpkin recipe before Halloween.

One thing you'll notice about my pumpkin recipe list is that pretty much all the options are sweet. And I do not have that big a sweet tooth -- more of a savory tooth, to be honest. Which is why I love this pumpkin hummus. A bit hard to describe, it's not quite savory and not quite sweet. It's got a je ne c'est quoi that makes it a favorite for both kids and adults -- and, let's face it, how often does that ever happen with something that's not a baked good or smothered in chocolate?

Kati flatbread salad

Kati rolls, the popular Indian street food, deconstructed into a hearty meal salad that can also double as a unique appetizer pizza.

I know you're all like, "Kati? What the heck is kati, Ninj?"

Don't worry, I didn't know either until I stumbled across an article in Good Housekeeping this month about new food trends. Apparently, we're all supposed to be going completely cray cray for Indian street food. And apparently, kati rolls are uber-popular Indian street food.

Kati rolls, based on what I've read, sound a bit like gyros: a warm, meat-based filling wrapped in flatbread (although the fillings can vary widely). OK, I'm in -- sounds awesome.

However, I'm not a big fan of sandwiches for dinner. To me, they're fine for lunch, but for dinner they seem a bit like a cop-out (and no, burgers don't count as sandwiches -- they're in a category all their own). It's silly and arbitrary, but it's my thing. 

Being all ninja-like, I just took the kati roll concept and deconstructed it into a flatbread salad. Because I'm OK with salads for dinner or lunch.

Salted dates

Warm salted dates: serve atop crackers or toast rounds spread with creamy goat cheese for a quick and easy, sweet and savory appetizer.

I'm a huge fan of simple but delicious food, particularly when it comes to entertaining. I prefer to be part of the party, enjoying the food and sipping a cocktail, rather than stuck in the kitchen heating up trays of appetizers or tending the sterno.

(Does anyone even use sterno anymore? And what the hell is that goey crap anyway?)

So if, as I am, you are a fan of Molly Wizenberg, she of Orangette and A Homemade Life fame, you'll know that I expected simple but delicious food when I started reading her latest book, Delancey, for the FSC Book Club.

And I was not disappointed.

Molly's recipe for sauteed dates with olive oil and sea salt jumped out at me for two main reasons:

1. I'm a new convert to the awesomeness of dates, naturally sweet and just a little chewy -- and way more ass-kicking than a freakin' raisin
2. The name of the recipe is also the ingredient list -- nothing could be simpler than that.

Artichoke hummus (and a book review)

I came upon this recipe for artichoke hummus in an unusual way. Knowing that The Ninj enjoys cooking and living in a generally healthy way, a college friend of mine asked me if I'd like to review a lifestyle book to which she had contributed. Since she herself is an awesome writer, of course I agreed to check it out.

So what does this have to do with hummus, you may be asking? Don't worry, I'll get there.

The book turned out to be Vibrant Living by Molly Shattuck, a health and fitness advocate and philanthropist from Baltimore who has designed a program to help people embrace a healthier lifestyle in 21 days.

Now, bear with me – I, too, was skeptical. I'm not an advocate of fad diets or “fix your life in 3 easy steps” kind of crap. You know me by now. My motto is everything in moderation: I think we often sabotage our efforts to be healthier and fitter by shunning every single “bad” food or by only eating restrictive, special diets that are too difficult to maintain, as well as setting unrealistic fitness goals.

I'm happy to report that Molly's ideals are quite similar (good thing, or it would have made for some awkward email exchanges with my college pal). She, too, embraces the idea that being fitter and eating better involves a fundamental lifestyle change but that need not be difficult or require you to subscribe to a packaged meal plan or to eat crazy-ass food. Her program emphasizes taking 21 days to establish a new routine of daily exercise (she includes easy-to-follow workout plans that don't require more than a pair of sneakers) and, my favorite part, eating “real”, unprocessed food.

Hellz yeah, Molly! High five from The Ninj.

Which brings us, at long last, to the artichoke hummus (See? I told you I would get here).

Roasted grape crostini

Enjoy this recipe for roasted grape crostini, an elegant but easy party appetizer.

I have never been a big New Year's Eve kind of person. Oh sure, I used to try to force myself to stay awake and watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve until the ball dropped, but I've even given up that pretense: without Dick, it's not really all that rockin'.

But these roasted grape crostini appetizers might make me change my mind this year. Paired with a lovely glass of champagne, I can think of no better way to ring in 2014.

(I seriously cannot believe that 2013 is nearly over -- can you? Where the heck did this year go?)

And, as is the case with most of The Ninj's favorite recipes, these roasted grape crostini are quick and easy to prepare.

Smoked sausage pizza with arugula and caramelized onion and goat cheese sauce

This smoked sausage pizza is topped with fresh arugula and a creamy caramelized onion-goat cheese sauce.

I've got good news and bad news. Well, not bad -- more like disappointing. Let's start with that.

I entered this smoked sausage pizza in a contest recently. I didn't win. Now, I believe it was due in part to some seemingly suspicious last-minute rule-changing, but we won't go there. Because ninjas are gracious non-winners.

Now for the good news: Not winning the contest means I'm free to share all the how-to details of this pizza recipe with you!

So I may not have won but you certainly did.

Every Friday night is pizza night at Casa de Ninj. I know this is not very original but I can say that we have observed this tradition every Friday that we have been home for over 12 years.

Part of the fun of pizza night for me is that I don't plan it in advance, as I do with all our other weeknight meals. I simply make up the topping combination each week, based on what I have on hand. It's an end-of-the-week creative challenge I give to myself. One of my favorite tricks is taking some leftovers from the week and turning them into a pizza. Yep, almost anything you ate earlier in the week can be turned into a pizza (including salad!).

If you're skeptical about my leftovers, don't worry -- they aren't included in this smoked sausage pizza with caramelized onion sauce (although there is practically a salad sitting on top, with all the arugula that I add).

Orange-cumin chutney and chutney cheese spread

I'm doing a lot more canning this summer than in past years. Partly because the wee orchard has finally started bearing fruit (thank you, fertilizer) and partly because I'm cooking along with Sherri Brooks Vinton's Put 'Em Up Fruit as part of the From Scratch Club's virtual book club.

Our latest assignment topic was blackberries, raspberries and oranges. Now, you know The Ninj tries to cook and eat locally as much as possible but, given that I'm certain I'll never find an orange grown in Vermont, I decided to stray and buy some oranges to make one of Sherri's chutneys. (I also made a great mixed berry jam, but that's a discussion for another post.)

I'm glad I did because the chutney inspired perhaps one of the most hilarious conversations ever. Let me set the scene for you:

I'm jammin' up some chutney in the kitchen and Mr. Ninj comes into the house from the garage.

Mr. Ninj: "Wow, it smells good in here. Whatcha making?"
Me: "Orange cumin chutney."
Mr. Ninj: "ORANGE HUMAN CHUTNEY?????????????!!!!!!!" (yes, shrieking)
Me: "Yes. Orange human chutney. It's like Soilant Green but much tastier."

Dudes, I am never that quick with a witty comeback! 

So of course we now refer to it only as Orange-Human Chutney. (Sorry, Sherri.) I usually make jar labels for my canned goods: I can't wait to make that one.

Cheddar snack crackers

Cheddar snack crackers: grown-up goldfish

I saw a meme recently that said, "There should be a 'DID THIS' button on Pinterest, complete with loud applause when you click it."

Cue the applause.

If you're on Pinterest at all, I'm sure you've seen this one floating around. The pin promised a copycat goldfish cracker recipe.

Fail.

But fail in a good way (unless you're 5 years old), because these crackers are so much better: I'd go so far as to cal them grown-up goldfish, much more appropriate with a glass of wine than a glass of milk.

How are they different? They are much, much cheesier and, while terribly addictive, rich enough that you won't be able to eat handful after handful. Which is probably a good thing because, frankly, these aren't lowfat.

However, made with just five ingredients -- cheese, butter, flour, salt and water -- this is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever pull together. Just pulse everything in the food processor, chill the dough, roll it out, cut out shapes and bake.

Done.

Roasted red pepper cheese spread

Roasted red pepper cheese spread: it's the hipper cousin of pimento cheese.

Regular readers know that while I was raised a New Englander, I lived away from my homeland for nearly 20 years. And I did most of that living away in the South: Louisiana, Alabama and both the Carolinas, to be exact.

(Not to mention a stint in the surrealistic world of Southern California, but that's a story for another day.)

There are uniquely southern things -- practices, expressions, foods -- that, over those 20 years, I adopted or that managed to weasel their way into my largely Yankee life and traditions: I say "y'all" rather than "you guys", make a mean shrimp and grits and have a dog named for four Confederate generals.

But then there are some Southern things that I just never understood -- like all-day church services and pimento cheese.

To be honest, I never even tried pimento cheese, because it just looked too scary. Given its neon orange hue, I was convinced pimento cheese was probably made up of a whole lotta mayonnaise, some nasty Velveeta and little else. I avoided it like the plague -- or like crispy fried catfish with a side of stewed okra, which is a close rival to the plague in my book.

Duck prosciutto

Duck prosciutto

Cook It! 2012: We've had a year of monthly challenges (well, we took November off, understandably, because Caroline's grandmother passed) to make a pantry staple and showcase the final product in a recipe:

• Pasta
• Bread
• Butter
• Cheese
• Lactofermented veg
• Jam 
• Canned fruit 
• Pickling
• Dried fruit 

But now it's time for the final installment (I think) and we're going out with a bang. This month's challenge? Do something cool with meat.

Awwwwwwwwwww yeah.

Regular readers will realized just how excited I was to see this topic, as I have a tendency to add a little bacon or sausage to most dishes (even cookies and ice cream), thus dubbing myself the Meatasaurus.

I'm also obsessed with charcuterie. While you may think of mini quiches or spinach dip when
someone says "party appetizer", I think meat: proscuitto, salami, pate.

I think I might take my own life if Mr. Ninj suddenly decided to become a vegetarian. Or even said, "Let's cut back on our meat intake a little."

Good thing there's not a chance in hell this would ever happen.

So, realizing that the latest Cook It challenge would give me an opportunity to offer some homemade charcuterie at Thanksgiving, I dove right in and purchased the DIY Meatasaurus Bible, otherwise known as Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Poleyn.

Nicoise toasts: a recipe

Nicoise toasts

I'm excited to be sharing this recipe with you ... finally.

You see, I thought I had lost my entire photo library two weeks ago.

For the average citizen, this would be tragic -- losing all those captured memories, once-in-lifetime shots, images of loved ones.

But for a food blogger? Ay yi yi!

As I have mentioned before, what you see here is what we eat. I don't create advanced posts and save them up and I certainly don't make special recipes only for the blog. Simply, I take photos of the food we eat about two seconds before we eat it. And, given how many awesome things there are to create and eat in the world, I find myself heeding Amanda Hesser's recent advice and rarely making the same dish twice.

(Except for salted oatmeal cookies. I'll continue to beat that dead horse over and over and over.)

So, if I lost the photos of what we've eaten, I'd have to try to recreate not only the recipes but also all the photos. You probably would have noticed a few week hiatus on the blog and heard me wailing all the way from wherever it is you live.

Luckily, data recovery software works and we're back in business here in Ninjaville.

Which leads us back to these nicoise toasts.