Spicy Snack Trifecta: Spicy Shrooms, Guac, & Cauliflower Dip
A spicy snack trifecta! That’s what our latest Saturday night-in called for. What can I say - a day filled with yardwork and on the eve of a holiday put us in the mood to sit on the couch, put on a fun movie, and snack on finger food. & just for fun, we did spicy snacks with a heavy emphasis on the veggies (because lord knows we need to keep it light so we leave room for whatever Easter treats come our way). Our cozy move night in lead to creating the most perfect Spicy Snack Trifecta - Spicy Salami Stuffed Mushrooms, Jalapeno Guac, & Buffalo Cauliflower Dip.
Having a nights where we drift away from the traditional sit down dinner, and instead fill our coffee table with snacks that we can eat with our hands & nosh on with a movie is just the best kind of casual. Chips & dips & things on a skewer - I love it all! Whenever we have snack nights where our dinner is built around these small bite finger foods, the key to keeping my palette interest is variety. The best part about snack night is it is designed to incorporate multiple snacks, and I want snack options so my plate is like a collage of appetizers. But I used to get myself in a pickle with these snack nights - I’d attempt to make several different complicated snacks, which was like the equivalent of making multiple full fledged dinners for one evening. I mean who has the time? I not only want my snack nights to provide a nice variety, but I want them to be simple and delicious. So I’ve mastered my own personal balance for snack heavy evenings - stick to one (maybe 2) snacks that require actual cooking, and 1 finger food that requires no actual cooking. Whether it’s store bought or only requires nice plating, having a good quality no-cook snack is clutch when we’re trying to have bunch of at-home finger foods. With a spicy snack night on deck, that is exactly the plan I stuck with. I baked my mushrooms and cauliflower dip simultaneously, and both were super simple to whip up. My jalapeno guacamole was my no cook addition - just whipped it up in less than 5 minutes while our the other two goodies got hot & bubbly in the oven.
Guacamole is just the easiest thing ever. Like so easy I don’t even know how these pre-made guac companies stay in business. No lie I would rather punch myself in the face than eat store bought guac. It is no bueno ever & never fails to leave a funky after-taste in my mouth. When it comes to guac, fresh is best! Fresh guac is as easy as this - split some avocados, scoop out the flesh, & mash with a fork. Voila - guac! This one is riddled with minced jalapenos that are diced so small there is no unpleasing raw pepper flavor or crunch in the guac. It just adds a little bit of heat & that distinct jalapeno flavor with each chip-full of guac, and it’s a fun guacamole surprise.
Stuffed mushrooms are a total go-to for me. My Aunt Maureen makes the BEST stuffed mushroom with sausage, maple syrup, and creamed cheese, and oh my god did that single hors d’oeuvres open up my eyes to the eternal greatness of stuffed mushrooms. Usually I just stick with trying to recreate my Aunt’s recipe, but not this time! These little nuggets are a fun little Italian twist for stuffed shrooms - basil, ricotta, & salami are the main components of the filling & a mushroom cap is the perfect vessel for consumption. Top each little guy with just a pinch of parmesan, and it gets so perfectly browned in the oven. The parmesan is crispy to bite into, but then creamy ricotta just takes over. It’s like the savory and cheesy equivalent of biting into a cream puff and that creamy, velvety texture just takes over. The key for this app, and any stuffed mushroom for that matter, is to get good quality mushrooms because they’re so much bigger & you can pack so much filling into those bad boys. & these stuffed shrooms just lead to cheese & mushroom & salami perfection.
& the star of the show for this trifecta is 100% the cauliflower buffalo dip. I f*cking LOVE buffalo chicken dip. Like place a piping hot dish of buffalo dip in front of me, hand me a fork, and I’ll go to town. Due to the inevitable binging, I avoid making buffalo chicken dip around these parts. But on spicy snack night - it was on the mind. So I turned to my most favorite vegetable - cauliflower. I ditched the chicken & used mash cauliflower in place of blue dressing to give my favorite baked dip a meatless twist. A total experiment, and holy balls was it good! That Frank’s buffalo flavor with a creamy cauliflower base and bits of sharp blue cheese in every bite - oh my goodness it’s just perfect! It’s cheesy and delish when scooped up with a tortilla chip or on a crisp piece of broccoli.
Perfect little snacks when paired together, but ones I’ll definitely be bringing out of the my back pocket come football season. All are so simple and just easy go-to’s for when you’re feeling snacky or trying to make some crowd pleasing bites.
For the Mushrooms
12 crimini mushrooms, cleaned with stems removed
1 c. Ricotta cheese
1/4 c. Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 c. fresh basil, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
8 slices of salami or capicola, cut in half and then thinly sliced
Good quality parmesan, for sprinkling
Salt & pepper
For the Buffalo Cauliflower Dip
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 c. Buffalo sauce
1/2 c. Shredded gruyere cheese (a gruyere-cheddar blend is totally fine, too)
3 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets (for serving)
Tortilla chips (for serving)
For the Guacamole
4 avocados
1 jalapeno, unseeded and minced
1 lime
Salt & pepper
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Start by prepping your cauliflower. Cut the head of cauliflower into florets. Using either a stovetop or microwave steamer, steam the florets for about 8 minutes so that they become fork tender. As they steam, move on to some other prep work.
While the cauliflower cooks, prep your mushrooms. Using a spoon, carve out a bit of the mushroom insides to create a larger space for the filling. Scoop the gils and the soft mushroom tissue that connected the stem to the cap. The goal is to create small little mushroom bowls. Once done, set your prepped mushroom caps aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, panko, basil, garlic, red pepper, and salami along with a small pinch of both salt and pepper. Mix it up so that all ingredients are well incorporated into the ricotta. Using a spoon, spread the mixture evenly amongst your mushroom caps. You should be able to get a heaping tablespoon into each mushroom cap, and the mixture should be firm enough to hold its shape even when piled higher that the mushroom cap itself. Go ahead and place the filled mushrooms in the designated baking dish, sprinkle them all with just a bit of parmesan, and set aside.
Now let’s go back to the cauliflower. Take the hot cauliflower florets and place them in a large bowl. Using a potato masher, mash the cauliflower so it resembles mashed potatoes. No need to remove any of the cauliflower juices that come out. Add the brick of cream cheese to the piping hot cauliflower, and mix the two together. The hot cauliflower should help soften the cream cheese, making it much each to mix. Once the cauliflower and cream cheese have become one mixture, stir in the buffalo sauce. Pour the whole thing into a separate baking dish. First top the entire dish evenly with the gruyere cheese, and then sprinkle the blue cheese crumbles right on top.
Once your mushrooms and cauliflower dip are in their designated baking dishes, place them both in the oven and let them bake for 45 minutes.
While those two spicy snacks cook, quickly whip up the guac. Cut all of the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh into a small bowl, preferably the bowl you intend to serve the dip out of (I mean why dirty an extra dish?). Using a fork, press down on the chunks of avocado to smash them to your desired chunky guac consistency. Once there, stir in the jalapeños, the juice of half a lime, and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Give it a little taste test, add more salt and pepper if needed. Set the dip in the fridge to get nice and cold. Don’t forget to use saran wrap to seal the guacamole, pressing the plastic wrap directly on top of the guac so there is no air space. This will prevent your guac from browning.
Once the bake time is up for the cauliflower dip and mushrooms, give them a check to make sure they’re both browned and dip is bubbling. If the cauliflower dip isn't golden brown, crank the heat to 400 and bake for an additional five minutes. Once you finally remove the buffalo dip from the oven, the final garnish is sprinkling the sliced scallions right on top.
When everything is heated and browned to perfection, time to let the snacking commence. Serve the cauliflower dip and guac with a side of your favorite potato chips & broccoli florets. Dip and munch and have a happy finger food feast.