Big Bowl of Love

Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love – Pantry Raid : White Bean Hummus and Rosemary Vegetable Skewers, Mediterranean Tuna Salad, Lemon Pepper Parmesan Crackers

 

Big Bowl of Love’s Cristina Ferrare helps to unlock our creative cooking energy on this episode of Pantry Raid! She brings along her best friend, Margaret, for the snack-fest. CF shares her pantry secrets and creates a few awesome snack treats that we all can make our OWN.

What’s on today’s menu?

  • White Bean Hummus and Rosemary Vegetable
  • Mediterranean Tuna Salad
  • Lemon Pepper Parmesan Crackers


Who hasn’t had a memory of standing in from of their pantry just staring and seeing nothing of interest. Cristina and her friend Margaret help to turn our pantry into a canvas that gets us all thinking “what can I create?”. I got lots of tips out of this episode and a handy pantry list (which I note below). I look at the list more as a list of possible new entries into my OWN pantry. I definitely know that the next time I am standing and staring into my overstocked pantry, that I will see a lot more yummy possibilities.

Now for a few BBOL tips:

  • Always have a well stocked pantry. Then will have what you need for a craving or last minute entertaining.
  • Make a few extra cheese logs and place them in the freezer. Perfect time saver for the next time you crave this snack!
  • Make sure your butter is cold so your dough is good and flaky.
  • Don’t over mix your dough or it will become stiff.
  • Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and pop it into the freezer for a bit. This will help shape the mixture.
  • Try rolling your dough into bread sticks. Perfect for any table!
  • Use rosemary stalk as skewers. It will infuse your vegetables with rosemary.
  • Soak the rosemary stalk in water for couple hours to prevent them from smoking or burning on the grill.
  • Be sure to strain your tuna so that it doesn’t get mushy.
  • Caraway seeds are great to add to a dish when you want the feeling of having rye…without having rye. Very cool tip!

Here are some of Cristina’s well-stocked pantry items (link to list with recipes at bottom):

  • Dried Ginger
  • Cardamom
  • Powdered Chipotle
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Canned baby clams
  • Canned pumpkin
  • Sweetened condensed milk
  • Jar of Olives
  • Anchovies
  • Dried whole red peppers

Here are a couple of my OWN suggestions:

  • Crackers are great for on top of soup!
  • Don’t like tuna, then try chicken.
  • Place a larger bowl of ice under your tuna salad bowl to ensure it is fresh for the whole party.

Here are a couple of my OWN suggestions for a well-stocked pantry:

  • Box of Pasta
  • Diced & stewed tomatoes
  • Cannelloni beans
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Garlic
  • Sesame Oil
  • Agave
  • Bread crumbs

Time to satisfy your munchies and be creative!

Links to recipes:

http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-big-bowl-of-love/White-Bean-Hummus-with-Rosemary-Vegetable-Skewers

http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-big-bowl-of-love/Mediterranean-Tuna-Salad

http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-big-bowl-of-love/Lemon-Pepper-Parmesan-Crackers

http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-big-bowl-of-love/What-to-Keep-in-Your-Pantry_1/1

http://www.oprah.com/food/Cristina-Ferrares-Cooking-Blog-Pantry-Items/2

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