ArcaMax

The Art Of The Antipasti Tray

The definition of Antipasti: An appetizer usually consisting of an assortment of foods, such as smoked meats, cheese, fish, and vegetables.

Sounds like a low-carb platter of perfection, doesn’t it?

Plan Z dieter Michael offers these basic but tasty ideas of what you could include in an antipasti tray:

- Google smokehouses or organic meat for lots of cool options like venison or boar (Michael says, “I found a place that makes their own bison salami”)
- Marinate bocconcini in olive oil red pepper and Italian herbs
- Roasted or grilled eggplant either marinated or turned into baba ghanoush
- Strawberries sprinkled with some really good balsamic vinegar
- Roasted peppers
- Tuna seared with black pepper served sashimi style
- Bacon-wrapped scallops or shrimp
- Roasted veggies chunked with any sort of dipping or drizzling sauce

This is my version of a recipe for Antipasti – Zolastyle. I love to build antipasti platters for small gatherings. There’s no perfect combination. My plan here is to give you some options for how you might go about picking antipasti items for your party platter...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Italian Shrimp Cocktail

This is what I call cheating when I’m in a hurry. I use my favorite bottled Italian dressing as the marinade and everyone thinks I put so much effort into this really pretty dish. One of the other secrets to this dish is to serve it in a pretty bowl. Dieter Rachel served hers in a glass trifle bowl so the orange of the shrimp sparkled attractively from across a crowded room. Brilliant idea.

Servings: Serves 12 as part of a large cocktail party or 6 as a single appetizer.

Ingredients:

1½ pounds large cooked shrimp, thawed and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper diced
1 bunch green onions trimmed and diced, include some of the green part
a few slices of red onion (optional)
your favorite Italian dressing
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Pile all of these items in a large zip lock bag. Pour half of the jar of Italian dressing in the bag about 6 hours before the party. Zip the bag tightly so there’s no leaking (if you worry about leaking, put the bag inside a bowl). Now, refrigerate. Whenever you open the refrigerator door to get something out just flip the bag over so all the shrimp get coated.

When party time comes put the shrimp in your display/serving bowl. If you think it needs a little more dressing, drizzle it on. It’s a lot easier to add more than it is to get it back off!

Serve well chilled.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola