Not exciting- but I like to use pesto in lieu of plain basil in either a caprese salad or bruschetta . A sourdough bruschetta would be tasty!

If you have some pine nuts or have time to pick a few up, quickly pan brown them and throw them on top as well.

Oops my comment was in reference to Kitchenwitch suggestion but would work for a bruschetta as well.

Layered Mediterranean Dip

If I don’t have time to make the oven-dried tomatoes, I use marinated sun-dried tomatoes from the olive bar. I also omit the banana peppers. I never use cilantro as the pesto or as the garnish.

Sorry, I should have noted that cheeses are very limited. 3 of us are lactose intolerant -- hard cheese are generally ok, but no brie .. or burrata .. or similar. Mozz is ok though!

Bbstx.. with some slight modifications for my crew, that dip sounds delicious! I have Stacy's naked pita chips ... but would like to mix it up. What do you serve it with? Does it work well with cucumber slices, celery, etc?

Caprese skewers. Pearl mozz or bocconcini cut in half, grape tomatoes, all marinated in frest basil pesto. Skewered onto long toothpicks.

I generally serve the layered dip with pita chips, but I think it would work with anything that you might serve to scoop up hummus. You’ll just need to chop the veggies a little smaller so they don’t fall off the celery stick. Because it has cucumber in it, I’d be hesitant to serve it with cuke slices. Now that I think about it, you could omit the cucumber layer and serve with cucumber slices!

Hmm…wonder if it could be served with the smallest of romaine leaves? You’d need a spreader to get it from the plate to the romaine leaf, but I can see it working.

Can y’all tolerate the feta?

I don’t think I’ve ever served it that I didn’t get a lot of compliments!

White bean pesto dip is good with crudite. Basically whizzed together canned white beans and pesto, add lemon zest if desired. Looks pretty swirled into bowl with straight pesto, think a twist soft serve ice cream.

Bbstx, you read my mind.. i was wondering about small lettuce leaves to scoop with.

I can't/don't eat feta but everyone else loves it. I happen to have some good feta in the fridge .. but I was planning to skip it in the recipe (i don't need cheese) but pick up a feta dip from a local greek restaurant for the others. Same with olives. I don't eat them or anything that has touched them but I was going to get a marinated olive salad from the deli.

I know I am bastardizing your recipe to work for my palate lol.. I am thinking something along the lines of this from smitten kitchen (with either fresh tomatoes or oven dried)

I think I have landed on a plan .. I will do a mezze board

keeping it somewhat limited since there are only 6 of us and 2 won't eat much of it

• hummus topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions in pesto
• lettuce leaves and pita

Plus one or more of the following: let me know if you think they will enhance ...or unnecessary

• garlic & herb steamed shrimp - yum but thinking the protein isn't needed?
• Whipped feta dip - for the feta lovers .. is it redundant with hummus (greek restaurant serves a trio of dips.. which is where i got the idea).
• Olive salad with or without feta, asiago, peppers or salami (there area few salads to choose from)
• Muhammara - a middle eastern red pepper walnut dip; also not needed but sounds delicious. Likely that only two of us will enjoy it.
• Tabbouleh - I love it but everything else is a finger food.. tabbouleh is not.
• Rosemary marcona almonds (i have these)
• Roasted, marinated veggies - I have carrots, cauliflower, asparagus.. could get more

I should add that all the possible additions other than the Muhammara and Roasted Veggies would be store/deli/restaurant bought. I'd just assemble.

Funky, bastardize away! As you can see from my ”recipe,” it is more of a template. If I have it straight, this is just nibbles before a pretty substantial dinner, correct? In that case, I’d go with the marcona almonds and maybe the feta dip along with your version of the Mediterranean Layered Dip.

Have you thought about the tabbouleh as a side dish for supper? I make this Quinoa Tabbouleh and it is delish! If you can’t see the recipe (paywall), let me know. I have it saved on my recipe app.

Yes... nibbles because we're going to be having cocktails. But also open to a side. I just want to bring something (I had the steaks delivered). I think your suggested combo is a good mix. Thank you!

I love the idea of the quinoa tabbouleh -- I will try that for myself/lunches.

I don't think that hummus and feta could ever be redundant.

One of my favorite salads at a local restaurant is sliced tomatoes, pesto, salad shrimp (in layers not tossed) and nothing else but a touch of salt/pepper or parmesan/pepper. I wonder if you couldn't do miniaturized version as appetizers....halve grape tomatoes, little dollop of your pesto, 2-3 salad shrimp and make them truly one-bite sized.

I love that idea, Morz8..

I've nixed the shrimp only because the focus of the day is the steak .. which was a gift.

I have been having steamed shrimp 1-2 times a week.. this is perfect for easy, light lunches/dinners! I will give this a go this week for sure!

You can put a spoonful of pesto in a mushroom cap and warm up in the oven.

Funky, I just noticed that you mentioned ”grilled onions and mushrooms” in the initial comment. We love baked onions. They cook for about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the onion. They are easy to prepare and take no tending to once they go in the oven. Recipe below:

For each serving:

One medium size onion, yellow onion or a sweet onion such as Vidalia or 1014

1 Tbslp butter

1 Tblsp soy sauce (I use low sodium)

1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce

sprinkle of some sort of spicy seasoning like Tony Cachere’s (optional)

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel and trim the onion. Without cutting all the way through, slice it pole to pole in eighths (like a tomato you are going to stuff).

Place the onion in an individual sized casserole dish (like a Corningware Grab-it) or place on a square of aluminum foil of sufficient size to completely enclose it.

Put the pat of butter on top of the onion. Drizzle with soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. If using, sprinkle with seasoning.

Cover tightly with foil if using an individual dish or close up the foil and place the onion packets in a casserole dish. Bake for an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the onion.

NOTE: as the onions bake, they make a lot of juice. If you use the foil packets, you’ll need to serve the onions in a dish that will contain the juice when the foil is opened.

Sounds delicious, Bbstx .. won't suggest it for today as one of the gift recipients had a recent heart attack and has a salt restriction. The onions and mushrooms today will go on the grill.

I like to cook cippollini onions for myself .. so would love the above with vidalias as they start coming in. Thank you!

Note to self .. check to see if the others LIKE hummus before you pester your GW friends, shop and prepare a hummus platter.

It never crossed my mind that they didn't/wouldn't. Luckily I found out before I assembled it all.. I will be eating hummus for the next week (and tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers and pesto).

Dinner was delicious anyhow.. was a wonderful afternoon/evening.

Make Ann_T’s Greek Salad! Cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, red onions (I’ve used scallions), kalamata olives, and feta cheese dressed in olive oil, oregano, S&P. (No amounts given. Just whatever pleases you.) btw, it is good on sandwiches too. And, the other day, I ate all of the cukes out of it, then spread the remainder over fish and baked it. Delicious!

If you asked me if I like hummus, I’d say no. But, I like it in the Mediterranean Layered Dip. Go figure.

Glad the pool party was an otherwise success!

Funky, todays NYT cooking has a recipe that basically uses pesto (chive and parsley) to dress cooked potatoes and either green beans or asparagus as a potato salad. Just boil bite size chunks of potato, adding either green beans or asparagus the last couple of minutes, drain and put back in the warm pot to dry out. Then dress with the pesto while still warm (so the potatoes will soak it up) and serve then or refrigerate, bringing back to room temp before serving. It looks almost like an easy type of salade niçoise and solved the problem of leftover pesto.

Julia Davis of America’s Test Kitchen also has a great use for pesto— meatballs! Pesto contains a lot of the things you’d use for them already. You can google that recipe I believe, or if not and you want it i will take a screenshot for you.

I hear you about hummus. DS2 and I both love it but no one else in our fam does.

Great ideas, Kswl-- thank you! I have had a potato salad with green beans and pesto and it was delicious! I only remembered it though after you shared the ideas above. Meatballs are brilliant too-- I bet they are perfect for either chicken or turkey meatballs. Added flavor AND moisture.