Broccoli and Mushroom Roll-ups

Any buttery flaky pastry gets infinitely better with a creamy filling in the center - be it something sweet like nutella, pastry cream; or savory like spinach & ricotta cheese. With pre-made pastry dough, delicious appetizer roll-ups can be whipped up in a snap! This time I used broccoli and mushrooms for the filling, and gave it a creamy component by mixing in some cream cheese. While broccoli and mushrooms are some of my favorite ingredients, you can follow the same steps with any other vegetables of your choice, ensuring that you’ve cooked out most of the moisture so it won’t leave the pastry soggy.

Ingredients: (Makes 8 pieces)

1 cup chopped broccoli florets

4 oz chopped mushrooms (~1.5 cups)

½ small onion - chopped

2 cloves of garlic - minced

1 tsp oil

Salt, black pepper to taste

2 oz cream cheese - can use low fat

1 tube of Crescent rolls (8 pieces) - can use reduced fat

Filling:

Heat oil over medium-high, add onions and garlic and saute for a minute. Add mushrooms and reduce them to about half, stirring occasionally. Add broccoli, season with salt & pepper, and saute for another minute. Turn the heat to low, add cream cheese and mix well. Take the pan off the heat once completely combined.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375 F (or as per package directions for the pastry).

Roll out the Crescent dough and gently tear apart each triangle. Add about a Tbsp of the filling at the wide edge and roll towards the other end. Press down on the seam to seal it.

Place the roll-ups on a greased baking sheet (or lined with parchment paper), and bake in preheated oven for ~12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

~Gayatri

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Cheesecake Bites

A few weeks ago at work, we had a dessert exchange with the theme “bite-sized treats.” My husband’s mom makes a delectable no-bake cheesecake, so I thought I’d try out miniature versions to share. Some minor modifications later, and I had a pretty good bite-sized treat!

 

 

Ingredients:

Crust

8 whole graham cracker sheets, crushed

3 TBSP sugar (or Splenda)

1/3 cup melted butter or canola oil

~2 oz applesauce

Filling

8 oz cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

½ cup + 1 TBSP sugar (or Splenda)

4½ oz cool whip ( I used fat-free)

For the crust: Mix all crust ingredients together. Press into mini-muffin molds. Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes. Let crust cool completely before filling.

NOTE: For the original no-bake version, omit the apple sauce and do not bake the crust. Just press into a pie pan and you can immediately pour in the filling.

For the filling: Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in the cool whip. Store in refrigerator until the crust is cool enough to fill.

Construction: Spoon the filling into the graham cracker crust shells. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Optional: top with your favorite small fruit or candy topping.

~Karla