Quick and Delicous Snacks and Starters: Popcorn Cookies and Crostinis

I have always liked snacking between meals. These days it is considered healthy to eat snacks in small portions through out the day. So if we eat snack through out the day, we need to make sure we have wholesome and nutritious snacks available. In this hub I will give recipes for some very healthy snacks and starters. They all are easy to make and can be fixed fairly quickly.

The following sweet snack is made of healthy nuts, seeds and raisins. It is so delicious that it is hard to believe it is so very healthy. Flax is one of the well known super foods. The high omega 3 fatty acid content makes an excellent anti oxidant. It also has high fiber, potassium, and magnesium. Pumpkin seeds are very good source of phosphorus and magnesium.

Cashew, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, raisins, coconut clusters

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews

¼ cup each of pumpkin seeds, flax seeds

½ cup raisins

¼ cup coconut pieces

Directions

Soak the cashews overnight

Rinse the cashews and place in a food processor and process.

Add the pumpkin and flax seed and grind and blend together

Add the raisins and process and blend well

Shape into balls and roll the balls on a plate of coconut shavings.

Enjoy this healthy snack

Here is another sweet snack that is delicious as well as healthy.

Ingredients

Popcorn cookies

1 cup freshly popped corn

1 cup chopped nuts ( you choice)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

3 egg whites

Direction

Grind popcorn in a food grinder and combine with chopped nuts.

Beat egg whites until it is frothy and add baking powder and salt.

Beat egg white and mixture until it is stiff.

Add sugar slowly and beat until it has blended well.

Fold the egg white into the popcorn mixture.

Drop teaspoonfuls on a greased baking pan about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

One of my favorite starters are crostinis . Crostinis are just fancy names for toasted French bread with toppings. Here is my most favorite crostini. Another name for crostini is bruschetta.

Crostini with black olive paste and roasted red bell pepper

Ingredients

6 ounce of pitted black olives

2 Tbsp pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

3 Tbsp of olive oil

1 French baguette sliced diagonally.

Mozzarella cheese, slivered

Roasted and sliced bell peppers (You can roast your own or buy one that is ready made)

Directions

In a food processor place the olives, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil and process into a paste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the sliced bread in the oven and toast to a light brown, about 10 minutes.

Spread the olive paste on the toasted bread and top with roasted red bell peppers and sliced mozzarella pieces.

You can create crostinsis by putting whatever topping you like on the toasted bread. Another favorite crostini of mine is the scallion cream cheese and smoked salmon crostini. You simply put cream cheese on the bread and layer it with smoked salmon. Another example is the one you you see the picture of below, Let us call it the tomato, red onion crostini.