Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Video...OPA!

This year my roommates and I have been on a serious hummus craze. Not a week goes by when we don't have at least one container of it in the fridge. It is a great healthy snack, but with some pita chips it is also such a wonderful party appetizer. Although I have sampled many store-bought versions, I have never actually home made hummus.

While browsing on the Internet I found a great video on how to make Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

It was posted by Dani Spies on iFood.TV., which is a food networking site where people can share not only cooking videos, but also recipes, pictures and other content. I thought it was a really cool site considering the reason why I started this blog in the first place was because of a social media class assignment.

OPA!

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp - Only 3 Ingredients

Listen to my friend Jackie's favorite party recipe, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp!

Puppy Chow: UGA Sweet Treat

Nothing is better then a sweet little munchie after you hit up the chips and dips at a party (or station yourself near them...not like I do that or anything, err, umm). One of my favorites is the well-known and loved Puppy Chow. The best part about it is that it is SO easy to make. And here it is:

Ingredients:
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Bag of Chocolate Chips
Tablespoon of Vanilla
1/2 stick of Butter
Bag of Rice Chex
Powdered Sugar
Large Ziplock bag

Instructions:
1. Melt and mix - peanut butter and chocolate chips together with butter and vanilla
2. Pour mixture on rice chex
3. Put in big ziplock bag, add powdered sugar and shake well!
5. Pour puppy chow into a serving bowl and ENJOY!

Careful, this stuff it addicting!

PARTY TIME!!!

It's been a while, I know. In true College Cook fashion I am adding four fabulous recipes tonight (my blog assignment officially ends tomorrow). The theme of my last four blog posts is party food, because let's be honest, college is about the parties too and the end of this semester/college career calls for a party! Lucky for me and my readers my house actually did have a party this weekend which means I have some great visuals. My roommates had their last date night on Saturday and the girls brought over different appetizers. I have selected four of my favorites for this party series.

Even though this assignment officially ends tomorrow, I am hoping to hold a couple more dinner parties in the next couple weeks I have left in Athens. So stay tuned for even more College Cook classics...

Guest Chef makes BBQ Chicken Pizza on Tortillas

My guest chef this week, Ms. Tara Hagen, served up a delicious recipe - BBQ Chicken Pizza on Tortillas - yum! It looks pretty easy with minimal ingredients (which is always a plus). For those of you who don't know, I am a pretty big rotisserie chicken advocate... and there are some of you who are very familiar with this obsession. I think that one might work well for this recipe if you don't have time to actually bake the chicken breast. (I heard that Kroger had them on sale last week for $5) You can also find good rotisserie chickens at Wal-Mart, which is good to know since wherever you are there will always be the neighborhood Super center nearby!

Ingredients:
BBQ sauce
5 flour tortillas
1 cup chopped red onion
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 cup corn (drained)
1 cup black beans (drained)
2-3 cups mexican cheese blend
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast

Directions:
1. Bake chicken breast in oven, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes
2. Combine onion, corn, cilantro, and beans into a medium size bowl while chicken is baking.
3. Place 2 tortillas at a time onto a baking sheet and spread BBQ sauce on top, then sprinkle with cheese.
4. Sprinkle 1/2 cup vegetable mixture per tortilla on top of cheese
5. Chop the cooked chicken breast into small pieces and mix in a bowl with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. Then spread those on top of pizza.
6. Bake pizzas 7-9 minutes at 375.

** I only have a couple of weeks left until I am technically not a "College Cook" any more, sad but true. If you have any great recipes that you would like me to feature on the blog, please e-mail them to me at katie.sciortino@gmail.com. Thanks!**

Bridal Shower Discovery: Oriental Salad

At my soon-to-be sister-in-law's bridal shower over the Easter weekend, Jennifer, another bridesmaid brought a delicious oriental salad. The recipe seems very simple, but note that it requires overnight refrigeration. Below is a single recipe, but for the party Jennifer doubled it. (Sorry, no pictures with this one. I will post them when I test this one out.)

ORIENTAL SALAD:
1 - 16 ounce bag of cole slaw
1 - bunch of green onions chopped fine
1 - cup of slivered almonds
1 - cup of dry roasted sunflower seeds (in jar)
2 - packs of beef Ramen noodles crushed
-Layer above ingredients in exact order, and refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.

Dressing: (which should also be doubled if you double the salad recipe)
1/2 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
-Mix together
-Add the two dry packets of seasoning from the Ramen noodle packs.
-Mix well.
-Pour over salad right before serving.

Summer Pasta: Linguine with Tomatoes & Basil

Even though I took a break from writing on the blog over Spring Break I didn't take a break in testing new recipes. This Spring Break was all about the food and wine at the beach house and I have some tasty new summer recipes to share!

The first recipe (compliments of Ms. Alli Ditzel) is Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil. It was EASY and perfect if you are looking for a lite summer pasta. Alli found the recipe in the cookbook The Silver Palate Cookbook by Rosso and Lukin. Here is their website http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/silver/home.d2w/report

Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients:
4 large ripe tomatoes
1 lb. Brie, torn into irregular pieces
1 c. fresh basil, cut into strips
3 minced garlic cloves
1 c. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lb. fresh linguine
freshly grated parmesan cheese
* Optional - We added some sauteed mushrooms and grilled chicken on top too

1. At least 2 hours before serving, combine the first 6 ingredients in a large serving bowl (As seen in the 1st picture above)
2. Cook the pasta
3. Drain the pasta and immediately toss with the tomato sauce (2nd picture). Serve and add parmesan cheese if you like

*Notes:
1. You dont really need to use a whole pound of brie, I think we used half
2. Chicken, shrimp, scallops are good editions
3. We used the Casa Buitoni Linguine from the refrigerated section (which I see all the time at the grocery but had never tried) and it was a nice change from the regular dried pasta.