We love this easy recipe from our friends at Rick’s Picks, makers of some of the best pickled vegetables you can buy. Add Rick’s quality pickled vegetables to a sandwich or salad, as a garnish or the main part of an hors d’oeuvre. With their layers and layers of flavor (from the best spices—no added salt or sugar), and you’re guaranteed to impress.
The recipe uses Phat Beets, Rick’s Picks’ amazing pickled beets. If you pickle your own, great! But don’t use a plain sliced beet from the can without infusing more flavor.
Crostini With Pickled Beets & Goat Cheese
Ingredients
– Log of fresh goat cheese, softened
– Rick’s Picks Phat Beets or other pickled beets
– Crostini or crackers
– Seasonal garnish (for the holidays, use sprigs of fresh dill; for the summer, fresh blueberries; at other times, a halved grape tomato—you can also pickle the tomato)
Preparation
For the holidays, substitute dill sprigs for
the blueberries. Photo courtesy Rick’s Picks.
1. Make crostini by slicing a day-old baguette into 3/4″ rounds. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil and toast in 400°F degree oven for 7-10 minutes until crisp and golden. Cool completely.
2. Cut beets in half, or as needed, to fit atop the crostini rounds.
3. Spread a teaspoon of goat cheese on the crostini or cracker. Place a slice of beet on top.
3. Garnish and serve with a crisp white wine.
Read our review of Rick’s Picks, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week and a gourmet, low-calorie holiday gift.
Lager and ale are just two of some 30 styles of beer. How about those pilsners (also spelled pilsener) you’ve been quaffing? What about porter and stout? Where do IPAs fit in?
Our Beer Section has enlightening articles.
Check out our Glossary of Beer Terms, where you’ll find definitions from A (Ale) to Z (zymurgy, which is the study of fermentation).
Among the seven sweet stocking stuffers (say that three times, fast) on our recommended gifts list are the best biscotti we’ve ever had.
From Way North Foods, they’re available in holiday flavors and everyday favorites, like the Double Dark Chocolate Biscotti in the photo.
Other treats on our list include our favorite gourmet granola bars, eggnog pound cake mix, gingerbread pancake and waffle mix and a couple of bright red luxuries for seasonal or year-round enjoyment.
Who wouldn’t enjoy a box of the original
potato chips? Photo by Hannah Kaminsky |
THE NIBBLE.
There are no peanuts among the eight choices on our savory stocking stuffer list. But we do have the original potato chips, called Saratoga Chips.
The potato chip was invented at a fashionable restaurant in Saratoga, New York on August 24, 1853 (read the story). Recently, local entrepreneurs resurrected the original recipe and packaging—and the chips are delicious.
A large gift box of these choice chips is only $4.99. An adorable, single-serve gift box is $1.49. While the price is small, the satisfaction among recipients will be large.
Take a look at Saratoga Chips and our other savory stocking stuffers, including the best hot sauces we’ve ever had, made by Boston Red Sox’s David “Big Papi” Ortiz.
No single item on the list costs more than $7.95, and there are choices for $4.75.
December 9, 2009 at 8:57 am
· Filed under Giftable
Since most people are scrambling for holiday gifts, instead of highlighting just one item this week, we’re sharing all of our holiday gift lists.
Mindful of the economy, most of our selections are under $25, and quite a few are under $15.
In fact, you can give a food lover something special and delicious for less than $10. It’s not the size of the gift: It’s how yummy and memorable it is.
All the items on are list are foods and beverages that have delighted us, and that we’re personally giving as holiday gifts.
Just click on the links in the article and do enjoy easy armchair shopping.
A great stocking stuffer under $10.
Photo by Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.
