No Cook No Bake Summertime Snacks

Celiac.com 03/25/2022 - We love summer! It awakens us to sunshine, family picnics, pool parties, longer days, beautiful nights— and easier gluten-free dining.

Many people literally move the kitchen outdoors to their grill. Meals are simpler to prepare and can center on small plates and finger foods.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
At The Gluten-Free Cooking School in Phoenix, AZ, we enjoy creating easy and fun snacks to make our lives easier. Last year Whole Foods Market in Arizona welcomed us to give a gluten-free lecture series and food demonstrations in their stores.

The following recipes were created for a summer class. They were so well received; we decided to share some of them with you, our friends. Grab your sunscreen and shades, make a couple of these appetizers and let the pool party begin!

Fruit

Fruit is nutritious, fun to dress up and easy to eat. Some fruits, such as apples and pears are best prepared at the last minute unless they are in a sauce—lime or lemon juice to help prevent them from turning brown.

• Apples: Dip wedges in pure maple syrup or gluten-free Rice Syrup, then dip in a combination of finely chopped nuts and raisins.
• Bananas: Slice a peeled banana lengthwise. Spread Nutella chocolate spread on both cut sides and stuff miniature marshmallow and raisins or nuts between the two slices.
• Mellon Wrapped in Prosciutto or ham: An elegant appetizer or finger food doesn’t get much easier than this. Simply slice any papaya, muskmelon, cantaloupe or mango into thin slices (peel and remove seeds first), then wrap thin strips of Prosciutto around the center of the slice.
• Apricots: Cut a fresh apricot in half, remove the seed and fill it with a gluten-free blue cheese or cottage cheese, then sprinkle with parsley leaves.

Vegetables

Like fruits, vegetables are highly versatile and healthy. Due to their heartiness, many of the vegetable appetizers or finger foods may be prepared ahead and will not suffer from browning or wilting, unless left in the Arizona heat, of course.

Use vegetables as scoopers for any spread or as a ‘carrier’ for decorative and tasty no-cook-no-bake fillings.

Vegetable fillings do not always have to fill up the entire piece of vegetable. Use a high contrast colored filling for extra appeal.

• Endive Leaves with beets are particularly beautiful. Cut endive leaves from their base, rinse and dry. Place a layer of canned or jarred beets toward the base of each endive leaf. Add a green delicate sprout for contrast.
• Pipe Cream Cheese thinned with milk and put into the endive leaves. Add a thin slice of freshly cut apple along the side of the cream cheese. Sprinkle with finely cut chives.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Choose cherry tomatoes that still have a little green stem attached. Cut a ‘hat’ off and scoop out the insides with a small melon ball scooper. Fill the cherry tomato with a spread by scooping the spread into the cherry or piping it in with a decorative tip pastry bag.

Skewers

Purchase mozzarella balls or cut mozzarella into chunks the size of cherry tomatoes. Remove stems from the tomatoes. Make a marinade of two parts extra virgin olive oil and one part red wine vinegar with a dash of lime juice, salt and pepper. Place mozzarella and tomatoes in the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Skewer mozzarella balls and the cherry tomatoes. Arrange on plate and garnish with basil.

Make small melon balls from a firm cantaloupe and put on a skewer. For added zip, marinate melon balls in 1/3 cup Cointreau and 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves prior to skewering.

No Cook No Bake Appetizer: Gluten-Free Cracker Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of finely crushed 
• gluten-free crackers of your choice
• 3 Tablespoons of melted butter or olive oil
• 2 cups of sour cream or tofu
• 1⁄2 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

Mix cracker crumbs with melted butter and press half into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Set remaining crumbs aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together sour cream, olives, celery, green pepper, onion, lemon juice, salt, Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of paprika and dash of Tabasco sauce. Spread sour cream mixture over cracker crumb base; smooth top. Sprinkle remaining half of cracker crumbs evenly over the top. Press in gently. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours for flavors to blend. May be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Before serving, remove sides of spring form pan. Place pie on serving platter and decorate top with alternating strips of pimiento and green pepper. Place slices of green and black olives around top edge. Surround the pie with curly lettuce. Cut into pie-shaped wedges and serve.

Serves 10 - 15 depending on the size of the cut.