prosciutto

Melted Mozzarella Caprese Crostini Toasts

Whether you take the fancier route and name them crostini, or keep it real and call them toasts, these Italian crostini caprese appetizer bites with roasted tomatoes, prosciutto, and melted mozzarella cheese on sliced baguette are so easy to whip up everyone will be calling for more.

This recipe is brought to you by Cache Valley Cheese

Today I’m taking two favorite recipes (caprese and grilled cheese) and combining them for a simple finger food twist for the old appetizer plate.

This bite-sized appetizer is one of those that you’re going to come back to making time and time again. And here’s why:continue to the recipe… about Melted Mozzarella Caprese Crostini Toasts

Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Egg Casserole

This hearty, filling slow cooker egg casserole recipe with Mediterranean flavors, goat cheese, and prosciutto is simple to put together and can be assembled the night before so it’ll cook while you sleep!

This post is in partnership with KraftRecipes.com. As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.

We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief because the finish line is close. The end of 2016 is drawing near and holiday reverie is slowly slipping from our candy cane-grubbed-grasp.

There’s just one downside to the holidays. Okay, make that two.

The first one is that the holidays eventually come to an end. I’m a Christmas girl so holiday time for me is honestly the most wonderful time of the year.

The second—and the one we need to watch out for the most—is the supreme pressure we put on ourselves to make the holiday perfect. We overcommit, over-extend and over-do. This year I say we cut ourselves a little slack and take an easier way out—especially when it comes to cooking. How? By taking a few shortcuts to create a homemade holiday from the heart.continue to the recipe… about Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Egg Casserole

Prosciutto Wrapped Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Grilled shrimp get an extra boost of flavor from a super simple garlic marinade and a wrap of Italian prosciutto for a light and easy appetizer or main.

During the week, when I find myself running out of steam in the cooking arena, I’m always on the lookout for quick meals that lean toward the healthier side. Heck, I think that’s the way I want to cook 97.7% of the time. Meals that don’t take a ton of time to prepare, let alone cook.

And if I can use the leftovers in something delicious later on in the week, I’ve just made myself more than a meal.

Or, two meals perhaps?

This is one of those recipes that is great for those who meal prep or who are looking for super simple weekend eats. Simply marinade and skewer on Saturday or Sunday, refrigerate and then toss on the grill for dinner on Monday. Or grill on the weekend, add to some pasta or top on a salad and make all your co-workers jealous at lunch come Monday.

It’s the little victories that make Monday bearable.

continue to the recipe… about Prosciutto Wrapped Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Macaroni Salad with Smoked Mozzarella and Proscuitto

This easy, tangy pasta salad mixes traditional macaroni salad with Mediterranean flavors to create a new family favorite potluck salad.

Common etiquette rules that if you’re invited to a friendly BBQ, you offer to bring something to add to the pot.

So when I ask the big question, I often hear, “Sure that would be great. How about a side dish?”

Many hosts think they’re doing you a favor by offering the wide berth of side dish options. But this simple phrase can throw some self-respecting cooks into a triple gainer upside down axel with a spin.

Bringing a “little something” to a barbecue or potluck shouldn’t be that hard, but the vast spectrum of “side dish” gets some of us sideways.

But it doesn’t have to be like that at all…continue to the recipe… about Macaroni Salad with Smoked Mozzarella and Proscuitto

Cantaloupe and Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Sweet balls of cantaloupe sub for tomatoes and pair nicely with salty shaved prosciutto in this simple twist on the classic caprese salad.

How ’bout them melons? And what about these balls?

Wink-wink and tongue in cheek, get your head out of the gutter people, we’re not talking body parts, instead it’s all about this fresh, bootylicious salad.

With my garden tomatoes still clawing their way toward sweet fruit-ition, I’m patiently awaiting to harvest my ‘mates to make my favorite caprese salad with my very own, homegrown tomatoes.

Who am I kidding. I’m not patient at all.

That’s why I’m jumping the line and moving forward anyway by subbing tomatoes with local, sweet cantaloupe. Don’t worry tomatoes, I’ll be back. But until then, this salad is totally turning my head and making me stare with each and every bite.

continue to the recipe… about Cantaloupe and Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Grilled Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

I like to think I have an adventuresome palate. Not that you’ll find me eating deep-fried crickets anytime soon—or should I say again—like that time I did in Thailand. But that is another story for another day.

Boring salads are my nemesis. I’m more into loading it on with a fresh and vibrant variety of flavors when it comes to dressing up the greens. Just one reason why I’m happy to share this salad recipe as part of my partnership with DeLallo Foods and their new line of SaladSavors®.

I’ve been on a grilling charge this month and could see no reason to stop at lettuce. Crunchy romaine hearts are sturdy enough to embrace a charcoal sear so that’s whey they were my top choice as the base of this hearty salad.

Next up, protein. If I’m making a salad for a main meal I need to add a dose of protein to get me through to my next mealtime. Shrimp is one of my favorite salad pairings, and since I was already heating up the grill, a wrap of salty proscuitto around my soon to be crusty crustaceans thanks to the char of the embers was exactly what was in order.

Then it was time for my favorite part, the colorful accoutrements. That’s fancy speak for tasty toppings.

continue to the recipe… about Grilled Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

Berry With Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza

This light and easy-to-make pizza is topped with salty prosciutto, juicy strawberries, and raspberries, creamy ricotta, and fresh arugula, and is perfect for warm spring or summer brunches or dinners!

Pizza. It’s what’s for dinner. Although in this case, it could be mistaken for breakfast. And definitely lunch. Ah heck, let’s not let any of our favorite feasts feel left out. Brunch, you’re invited too.

A doughy base. That’s always a good start. I like this recipe from Ina. But I’m not ashamed to buy it from the store either. Whole Foods and Trader Joes are great places to start. In fact, after hitting the grocery store for the goods for this pizza I nearly stayed on the freeway and skipped my exit so I could detour to the closest Whole Foods for store bought dough-soon-to-be-crust instead of making my own.

But I told myself to buck up and just go home and get cooking.

So I did. And then came the case of the missing dough hook.

continue to the recipe… about Berry With Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza

Arugula and Prosciutto Egg Benedict with Blender Hollandaise Sauce

Why is it there are some recipes that are justifiably deemed for brunch? Take for example the egg benedict, or more specifically my Arugula and Prosciutto Egg Benedict.

This isn’t a dish one would much consider ginning up on a Wednesday morning when the alarm didn’t go off (why does it always seem like it happens on a Wednesday?) and you’re prying the covers off of your sleeping daughter who pulls the perfect caterpillar move to create the tightest of duvet cocoons all the while racing the clock to not miss the first school bell because why didn’t anyone make her lunch the night before??

No, that’s the day for a microwave egg and veggie bagel sandwich.

Which is why I suppose those restful weekend lallygag brunches are indeed all of what they’re cracked up to be.

A few weekends ago I upped the ante on the traditional egg bene because the simple ham just wasn’t putting the lock in my blocks. Maybe that’s why I make this salmon and bagel egg benedict so often.

But with a blender just begging to be used for something other than the weekend’s margaritas, we put the breakfast making skills to work by adding a few Italian flavors to the traditional benedict.continue to the recipe… about Arugula and Prosciutto Egg Benedict with Blender Hollandaise Sauce

Goat Cheese Stuffed Fig, Melon and Prosciutto Salad

The journey that led me to this simple Goat Cheese Stuffed Fig, Melon and Prosciutto Salad was just the ticket to a little mental time out.

Yesterday morning I drove up the canyon toward my photo shoot destination. The radio signal weaved in and out as it typically does, making the radio music that served as unacknowledged background filler a total distraction to the much louder brain noise churning through my head as I catalogued my mind’s daily to-do list.

I realized I hadn’t been hearing the tunes at all when the crackle was nearly as annoying as the same 23 songs I hear whenever Smudge and I are in the car together.

Our musical conversations tend to go something like this, “Mom, can you put it on 6?” and we listen to Taylor Swift belt out the blues about some bad-boy boyfriend she can’t seem to hold onto. “Mom, can you change it to 5?” and we hear Bruno Mars in his big-brimmed hat cry about being locked out of the pearly gates.

Heaven forbid One Direction or the Cups song comes on for the 9,374th time this month. Total freak-out ensues. And I must admit, I totally egg it on.

But yesterday I needed a break. A break from the chatter, a break from the radio and a break from the noise that was inside my head. So I turned off the tunes, or lack thereof, and practiced a little car meditation. As my engine wound up as it climbed the hill to the summit, I worked on my mind winding down.

continue to the recipe… about Goat Cheese Stuffed Fig, Melon and Prosciutto Salad

Friday Faves plus Truffled Mushroom with Prosciutto and Tallegio Grilled Cheese

It’s almost over. My weekly ode to the grilled cheese will soon be on hiatus until next April.

If you missed my Sweet Pear and Rosemary Honey with Havarti Grilled Cheese, Honey Smoked Ham with Fig Spread Grilled Cheese or Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese you can still add them to your weekend honey-do list.

But until we make the move into margaritas and Mother’s Day brunches, I have two more sandwiches to squeeze in.

This week’s grilled cheese is all about the aroma. As in the stink. Tallegio is a creamy Italian cows milk cheese that at first waft might send a 411 alert to your tastebuds to brace themselves for an alarmingly strong bite. But contrary to its aroma, Tallegio’s flavor is more mild, even more so than the far more popular blues or gorgonzola. Its more like a brie, with a bit of a fruity nutty flavor to top it off.

And creamy? Oh baby. It’s creamy.

Speaking of baby, before we get into the cheese let’s get into this week’s Friday Faves.continue to the recipe… about Friday Faves plus Truffled Mushroom with Prosciutto and Tallegio Grilled Cheese