Stuffed Mushrooms!

Appetizers are amazing!  Dress them up, you have cocktail party fare.  Dress them down, you have Superbowl food (truth be told, appetizers may quite possibly qualify as the only thing I enjoy about football).  Make a variety of different appetizers, you can call it a Tapas dinner.

An appetizer's only purpose in life is to be scrumptious.  After all, appetizers are always eaten in small portions, so people are less likely to worry about Weight Watchers points, and more likely to dig in to that fabulous bacon-wrapped date everyone's been talking about.  A great appetizer wakes up your palette and leaves you wanting more.

Another bonus: appetizers smell really yummy.

This past Saturday evening, 4pm struck, and so did a voracious hunger.  But alas, it was too early to make dinner, and too late to think about a late lunch.  After all, I had a delightful dinner planned and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin my appetite.  I opened the fridge and a few key ingredients met my eyes: mushrooms, goat cheese, turkey bacon...EUREKA!  I decided to make stuffed mushrooms!

The great thing about stuffed mushrooms is that you can basically stuff anything into those suckers.  They also end up looking impressive and tasting even better.  Here are the ingredients I used (and some great substitutions you can use too)!:

8-10 Mushrooms (I used "baby bellas," but any large sized, button shaped 'shroom will do)
3 oz goat cheese, crumbled (most cheeses could work here)
1 mozzarella string cheese, grated (told you I literally used up what was in my fridge)
2 strips turkey bacon, chopped (real bacon, ham, or prosciutto would all be scrumptious)   
1/4 cup bread crumbs (Italian or Panko is fine)

Uncapped mushroom with plenty of stuffing room!

2 tbs butter or margarine
2 tbs chopped green onions
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped red onion

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Remove mushroom caps.  Set uncapped mushrooms
aside on a baking sheet and chop stems.

These guys are practically begging for filling!

3. Saute bacon on medium heat until crispy.

4. Add red onions, garlic, mushroom stems, and butter (note: if you use real bacon, you won't need the butter).  Saute on medium-low until tender.
5. Add cheeses, green onions, and bread crumbs and cook on low heat for about 2 minutes or until filling is crispy and cheese has begun to melt.
6. Stuff filling into mushrooms - try to get as much filling in as will fit.  The more, the better!
7. Bake mushrooms for about 10 minutes or until heated through.
8.  Serve and enjoy!

You will look this happy if you try this recipe!

As you may have guessed, I'm a fan of apps (and no, I don't mean for my i-phone).  So I can promise you more appetizer recipes in the near future.  I may even inspire you to host a Superbowl party!

Cheers,
Emily