Engagement Party Recipes

Everyone was so in love with the food at Jess & Glenn's Engagement Party that I thought I would share a few of the recipes from the evening.

I am completely in love with this appetizer dip - it's healthy and absolutely gorgeous. The bright green arugula is perfectly complimented with the red of the tomato. I always serve it in a stark white dish so no other colors interfere. For the party though, I left the tomato out because of a guest's dietary restrictions - it was still simply delicious.

Arugula-Cannellini Dip (Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens)

3 cups lightly packed arugula leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

2 T. lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic, halved

1/2 t. salt

1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans rinsed and drained

1 medium tomato, chopped

Assorted crackers

In a food processor bowl or blender container combine arugula, oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Cover and process or blend until nearly smooth. Add cannellini beans. Cover and process or blend just until coarsely chopped and mixture is combined (mixture should be slightly chunky). Transfer bean mixture to a serving bowl. Gently stir in chopped tomato. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 24 hours. Serve with crackers. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dip.

I've made oven roasted veggies before, but I had never tried this specific recipe - it was so tasty that I'll be sure to use this from now on! Since I was feeding 18 people I tweaked the recipe a bit. I added the potatoes and split everything up into two large baking dishes. Once again because of dietary restrictions, I put the potatoes and carrots in one dish and kept the rest of the seeded veggies separate. The garlic, oil, vinegar and seasonings should be split up accordingly if you choose to split in two (note: you'll need quite a large baking dish if you keep everything together).

Oven Roasted Vegetables (Adapted from Wilton recipe)

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed

3 t. salt

2 medium zucchini, thickly sliced then halved

1 medium green pepper, cubed

1 medium red pepper, cubed

2 medium onions, quartered (I kept them in chunks and placed in the corners of each dish)

1 bag (16 oz.) baby carrots

10 Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered

6 cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 cup olive oil

2 T. dried oregano

2 T. basil

1 t. ground black pepper

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Preheat over to 400 F. Place cubed eggplant in colander and sprinkle with salt; let drain 30 minutes. Blot dry on paper towels. Place vegetables and garlic in large baking dish. Drizzle with oil, balsamic and seasonings. Stir. Bake, stirring one or two times, for 45 minutes to an hour or until browned and tender (the potatoes should be able to be smooshed with a fork when done). Add additional seasonings if desired. Serves up to 18.

Throughout the past few years I have tried a few different buttercream recipes and I have finally found the perfect one! For the party I used the frosting in the middle of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches. If you plan to make sandwich cookies, after you assemble the sandwiches be sure to let the frosting dry or else it will squeeze out the ends. I made my cookies in the middle of the week, froze them, frosted them the day before while they were still frozen and put them back in the freezer until the morning of the party.

Buttercream Frosting (Recipe from BHG's The Ultimate Cookie Book)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 t. vanilla

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 - 2 T milk

In a bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add vanilla. Beat in half of the powdered sugar. Beat in 1 tablespoon of the milk. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in enough of the remaining milk to make a frosting of spreading consistency. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Enjoy!!