CHI staff love food almost as much as they love to travel. To welcome the longer days and warmer temperatures they recently enjoyed a fun potluck lunch filled with spring dishes.
Here are some of their favorites:
Spring Easter Egg Pudding Gardens
Ingredients:
- Chocolate pudding cup
- Gummy worms
- Oreo cookie crumbs (remove the whites before crushing)
- Sprigs/leaves of fresh herbs (mint, sage for example)
- Tiny candy eggs (M&M’s, candy-covered almonds, candy covered raisins or peanuts for example)
Directions:
- Open a chocolate pudding cup
- Use a fork to press a gummy worm down Into the pudding
- Cover the pudding with crushed up Oreo cookies. (No white filling)
- Stick tiny sprigs or leaves of herbs out of the top
- Place tiny candy eggs hidden under the herbs
- Serve with a spoon
Cheesy Artichoke Jalapeno Dip
- 1 cup marinated artichokes (drained and chopped)
- Pickled jalapenos to taste
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 can green chiles (mild)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- Sprinkle powdered parmesan on top for taste
- Coat top with breadcrumbs
- Bake 375 for 15 minutes until golden brown on top
Russian Eggplant Caviar
(contains no fish or fish eggs, it’s just a name of this delicious eggplant dish)
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- large red pepper sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds cracked
- 4 medium eggplants cubed
- 125 ml/ 1/2 cup tomato juice
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 10 g/ 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Directions:
- In a large cast iron pot heat olive oil, then add onions and red pepper and cook over low heat for 15 minutes until translucent but not colored. Then add garlic and cracked coriander seeds (use mortar and pestle to crack coriander seeds), stir until the mixture is fragrant for approximately 1 minute.
- Add eggplant, tomato juice and ketchup, stir, cover with a lid and cook on low for 1 1/2 hours until there is very little liquid left and the eggplant is a spreadable consistency. Check on your eggplant caviar every 20 minutes or so and stir to avoid it burning to the bottom.
- When the mixture has reduced considerably salt it to taste, then add chopped fresh cilantro. (If your eggplant still has a spongy texture at the end of cooking time, cook it for 20-30 minutes longer.)
- Serve with bread or crackers.
