Healthy Summer Recipes

Summer Tart with Fresh Berries

Summer has officially arrived in Washington DC.  What better than healthy summer recipes that take the heat out of the kitchen?  The Washington Post food section recently suggested a fresh fruit tart using plain yogurt as the base and you would never guess this was the healthy alternative.  Using plain Greek style yogurt instead of cream cheese , strained overnight, it sets up beautifully with the addition of honey and citrus zest.  Being the 4th of July, Teatime caterers added strawberry, raspberry and blueberries for the patriotic touch. For more ideas from the food section check out www.wapo.com
I now had a surplus of berries, and started round #2 of fruit desserts.

Fourth of July Berry Tart

Picked some summer berries and need a healthy summer recipe?

While not quite as low fat as the yogurt tart, the Fourth of July Berry Tart uses a pre baked puff pastry base.  From there we add a layer of barely sweetened low fat cream cheese with the addition of orange zest and orange juice.  Gently spread across the cooled crust, then layers of berries, and a light wash of just melted apple jelly to give it a gloss.  Bring this out at your next social gathering and your guests will be blown away.  Light, refreshing, creamy, crunchy and delicious!  This caterer hits a home run.

Another fun appetizer that is not only crazy healthy, it beats the heat hands down on a hot summer day. Gazpacho shooters.

Gazpacho Shooters

And then there is the perfect chilled option.

Or should I say, TALL Gazpacho Shooters.  Catering By Teatime recently served these appetizer “cocktails” at a catered reception that did not have kitchen access; the menu needed to be chilled or room temperature.  Gazpacho is a chilled vegetable soup that we make with roasted plum tomatoes, garlic, peppers, basil, and cucumbers.  Slightly chunky in texture, sublimely refreshing on a hot summer afternoon.
We also served our famous Chutney Chicken Salad, this time in small phyllo cups,

Chutney Chicken Salad Appetizer

Looking for something cool and “cool”?

Teatime makes their own Peach Chutney from scratch.  Chicken breast is poached in milk and chilled.  It it then mixed with the chutney and mayonnaise with a bit of red grape and slivered almonds.  In the background of the photo we also prepared Caprese skewers:  marinated Mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes skewered with a light basil dressing.  Perfect for a kitchen free appetizer, also a perfect wedding reception appetizer.

Last, but not least is my favorite of the weekend.  I recently blogged about discovering grilled pizza.  I tried it out last week for the first time.  Using a gas grill and a pizza stone,  I can create a very very hot oven – not unlike a pro pizza oven.  Last night as the fireworks were exploding, I was creating Grilled Pizza 2.0  

Grilled Pizza with Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, Harissa, Parmesan

Once the oven reached approx 500 degrees (10 minutes of heating) I place the stretched pizza dough over the hot pizza stone and quickly added Moroccan Harissa (a blend of red chili pepper, garlic, olive oil, spices and pickled lemon), Fresh Garlic, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Farmer’s Market Golden Grape Tomatoes (!!!), Parmesan Cheese, Basil and Fresh Chives.  Closing the grill lid, the pizza was ready to roll in less than 10 minutes.  With a slight char on the bottom, this pizza will mostly blow any commercial product right out of the water.  Try this out at your next pool party or backyard gathering and your guests will not be able to stop talking about Your. Skills. for weeks.
Speaking of Skills.  One of mine is thinking big picture.  As in, “Ruth, do not eat all of this tonight”.  I still have two petite wedges with my name on them sitting in my fridge as I type and the siren call is growing stronger.
Think how incredible this could be as a wedding reception appetizer for a smaller celebration!  Or mini pizza bites!   So many possibilities!
If you live in Northern Virginia and are looking for some catering to provide you with delicious – You Have Found Your Perfect Caterer.
Catering By Teatime  (also known as Teatime Delicacies, Inc.) www.cateringbyteatime.com