spread Archives - Ari's Menu

Honey Goat Cheese Spread

May 21, 2015 · by Ari ·

Smooth, creamy, sweet and tangy honey goat cheese spread is perfect for entertaining, or even just a delicious snack to keep on hand.

It’s been a while since we discussed my love of goat cheese. It’s like in my top 5 favorite foods along with sweet potatoes, fro yo, dark chocolate and cilantro. I love the soft, creamy texture and bold taste. People who don’t like goat cheese? I will never understand you.

I was super stoked when Breton sent me their gluten-free crackers to sample. I love crackers, but I haven’t found too many gluten-free options that do the trick. These, though? OMG so much herb and garlic flavor! No weird textures!are certified gluten free by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness Gluten Free Certification Program, and I promise they will please all of your gluten-loving friends and family as well! I tried the herb & garlic flavor first, and it was so good on its own that I had a hard time figuring out a pairing that would stand up, but not overwhelm. I wanted to taste this cracker, not hide it.

I wandered around TJ’s looking for inspiration when I saw this perfect little package of honey goat cheese. So simple, but the perfect flavor combination. So I bought some regular goat cheese and added some local Arizona spring honey (if you still buy “honey” in a bear, you are doing it SO wrong!). You don’t need much–just a little touch of sweetness. Finish it off with a pinch of salt and pepper, and that’s it. It is seriously the easiest spread ever, but it tastes incredible!

I love entertaining, but I don’t love stressing out and cooking for 17 days ahead of time to get everything together. This spread is so simple you could make it 5 minutes before your guests arrive and they’ll never know. 😉

Honey Goat Cheese Spread

Recipe Type: Appetizer

Author: Ari Ziskin

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 4

Smooth, creamy, sweet and tangy honey goat cheese spread is perfect for entertaining, or even just a delicious snack to keep on hand.

Ingredients

4 ounces goat cheese (in a log, not crumbled)
1 tablespoon honey
pinch salt and pepper

Instructions

Place honey and goat cheese in your food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used a small pinch of each). Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

If you don’t have a food processor, feel free to use a mixer to beat ingredients together.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Vanilla Bean Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

June 4, 2014 · by Ari ·

Simple, easy, sweet & delicious homemade peanut butter with just two ingredients! You’re just 5 minutes away from sweet, creamy and drippy peanut butter that is absolutely unforgettable.

Can I tell you something embarrassing? This morning I was leaving the pool after my swim, and I unlocked my car and I literally sat at this car wondering why it wouldn’t unlock for a good minute. Then I looked around and was like “Waiiiiiit, I didn’t park over here….”

This happens way more often than I’d like to admit. I usually am a “beat of my own drum” type, and I don’t like to have the same things as everyone else, so I’m not used to the fact that everyone and their mother has the same car as me. I love my cute little Elantra, but I’m not quite used seeing doubles everywhere I go.

So that was my morning. I swam, I tried to steal a car, I came home and took pictures of cookies, and now here I am. Avoiding packing. Talking to you. Speaking of packing, I still haven’t officially unpacked from Seattle, so I can probably just keep that suitcase, right???

Friday morning I’m heading to Blend!!! I’ve been dying to go after reading the recaps for the last two years, and I cannot wait to be reunited with this girl and also see/meet some of my favorites. Also, I’m pretty quick to jump into anything that gets me the heck out of Phoenix right now. Did I mention it’s already 110? Ew.

And clearly when it’s 110, I cannot be bothered to turn on the oven or my stove, so I make peanut butter. But not just any peanut butter. Like, the best peanut butter of my life kind of peanut butter. I was kind of obsessed with honey roasted peanut butter as it is, but add the seeds of an entire vanilla bean? Ummm, YES PLEASE. Smooth, creamy, drippy, sweet and totally dreamy; you will make this peanut butter again and again!

Vanilla Bean Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: approximately 1 1/2 cups

Serving Size: 1 tablespoon

Vanilla Bean Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

Simple, easy, sweet & delicious homemade peanut butter with just two ingredients! You're just 5 minutes away from sweet, creamy and drippy peanut butter that is absolutely unforgettable.

Ingredients

16 oz honey roasted peanuts (or feel free to swap honey roasted almonds, macadamia nuts, etc.)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
pinch sea salt, optional

Instructions

Place peanuts and seeds from vanilla bean in your food processor. Blend until a smooth and creamy butter forms, about 5 minutes, stopping and scraping the sides of the food processor as necessary. Taste and add salt if necessary. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for 2-3 weeks.

https://arismenu.com/vanilla-bean-honey-roasted-peanut-butter/

Animal Cracker Cookie Butter

November 8, 2012 · by Ari ·

Sometimes you just have to make something that is not even a little bit healthy.

And then sometimes that thing is so good, you have to share it on you “healthy” recipe blog. Love me anyway?

Although, I promise, it’s not that different calorically from any cookie butter you would buy at the store, and it is sososo delicious.

I do have a lingering question….If I dip an animal cookie in it’s own butter, is that wrong, like ethically? Is it like eating a cow while drinking it’s mothers milk?? Will I have to change religions because I totally broke all laws of Kosher eating??? Hang on, lemme finish my cheeseburger…

Okay, but for real, I think cheeseburgers are gross. Ground beef is just not appealing to me. But an animal cracker dipped in it’s own “butter”, that I can get behind! I have my priorities straight, I think.

So this “recipe” is two measly ingredients. Depending on the type of animal crackers you buy, you can make it vegan, gluten free, the whole 9 yards, as long as you’re not allergic to coconut. If you are, I’m so so sorry. That must suck.

Animal Cracker Cookie Butter

yield 1/2 pint

1 cup animal crackers (regular, vegan, gluten-free, whatever suits you)
4-5 tbs coconut oil, melted

Directions:

Place animal cookies in food processor, and process until only fine crumbs remain.
Slowly 1 tbs at a time, stream in coconut oil. Let the processor run for 2-3 minutes between each additional tbs is added, and scrap down the sides of the processor often. It is somewhat of a process for the oil and cookie crumbs to come together in the right texture, but it is well worth the wait (and you don’t want to end up with overly fatty and runny cookie butter)!
When the oil and cookie crumbs have formed a think, homemade-peanut-butter-like substance, transfer into a half pint jar and store at room temperature. Best used within 1 week.

Roasted Macadamia Butter

August 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

I don’t like pineapple. I don’t like the way it looks; I don’t like the way it smells; I don’t like how it’s all spiky and uninviting. As soon as we checked into our hotel/condo in Maui, we were handed a pineapple. Almost all of the drinks contain pineapple juice, and everything you order comes with a pineapple wedge! Steve loves them, so this was pretty much his dream come true. I, however, wanted to only eat coconut and macadamia nuts the entire trip. Oh, and fish. SO MUCH FISH. Anyway, we were given some macadamia nuts on one of our activities, and I was reminded just how delicious they are, and clearly that meant I needed to turn them into butter.

Have you ever seen macadamia butter at the store??? I have not, and I ask you: why not? I don’t get it. If every nut can be made into nut butter, why is the rest of the universe not as obsessed with this idea as I am??? I mean, it’s SO EASY. You just dump some nuts into a food processor

Look at all my red Kitchenaid appliances. They match. They are a happy Kitchenaid family. ~~I love them like my children.~~

Turn it on

~~Whisper sweet nothings~~ Stand impatiently in the kitchen for what seems like an hour, but is probably about 4-5 minutes, sighing a lot waiting for it to be done. Then, before you know it, you have this:

In fact, the macadamia nuts worked better than any other nut I’ve used so far. I didn’t have to add any oil, and it turned out the perfect drippy texture.

In fact, depending on your taste, you could make it with just the nuts, and no added ingredients. I like a little more flavor in mine, so I added a little raw turbinado sugar and some extra sea salt.

I put some on my rice cake before my long run on Saturday and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I kind of wanted to take the entire jar and pour it into my mouth, then go into a deep and peaceful food coma. That sounded much better than running at 4am. I settled for a little extra on my rice cake, and called it a day. Besides, I have big plans for this stuff. BIG PLANS.

No, my big plans aren’t eating it with a spoon. I wish.

Macadamia Butter

yield 1/2 pint

1 1/2 cups salted roasted macadamia nuts
1 tsp turbinado sugar
pinch sea salt (optional, depending on taste)

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into your food processor, and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Transfer to half pint jar and store in refrigerator.

**Note: You may store at room temperature, but macadamias are a very oily nut. Keep refrigerated for best texture, or if keeping for more than 2 weeks.

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Pistachio Butter

July 9, 2012 · by Ari ·

Have I ever mentioned that nut butter is my absolute favorite thing in the world?

I’m sorry. I don’t know a less funny thing to call it that is not “nut butter”. The other options are not better. Trust me. I’ve tried.

Anyway. I could eat peanut butter from the jar. I could down spoonful after spoonful of almond butter. I could pretty much live on the stuff. As long as I could also have fro yo. Then my life would be content.

It’s weird because, as a kid, I was never the type to ask for pb&j. This love didn’t come until much later in life. Probably when I discovered apple + pb was my very favorite snack (It’s the best one in the world. Fact.), or when I realized I could eat my oatmeal out of the jar, after reading that brilliant idea on some of my favorite healthy living blogs. It’s versatile, delicious, and there are a million combinations you could create.

Pistachios are probably my favorite nut. Hazelnuts give them a run for their money, and I really love cashews too, but I would have to say pistachios are my tried and true fav. I’ve seen some pretty interesting spreads at local shops–cinnamon cashew butter, hazelnut butter (or even better–NUTELLA!), etc., but I’ve never seen pistachio butter. I should put a patent on it, because, clearly, I’m a genius. I should be famous. Selling signed pistachio butter jars with my picture on the label. It’ll catch on faster than cookie butter. Okay, maybe not, but coming from someone OBSESSED with cookie butter, I can honestly say that it is just as delicious.

Not only was this pistachio butter a huge hit, but it is also available for sale to contribute to my fundraising. Bethany loved it so much, that she bough a jar right away. In fact, the one jar I kept for myself kept getting lower and lower, and before I realized it, I had to make more just to have enough to photograph. Whoops. I just could.not.stop.

It has the thick, gooey texture of homemade peanut butter, with the perfect subtle sweetness of the white chocolate, and one of my all time favorite flavors of pure, natural vanilla bean. I can’t think of a more perfect combination.

Perfect on bread, rice cakes, bananas, apples, spoons, ~~fingers~~….

And, also, a great gift! In fact, I sent it in my foodie penpal package to Kristin who was asking for the recipe. Here you go Kristin!! I’m so glad you like it! 🙂

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Pistachio Butter
Inspired by How Sweet It Is
yield approx 1/2 pint (+ a little extra)

8oz pistachio nutmeat
1 vanilla bean, split length wise
1 1/2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 cup all natural white chocolate chips, melted
heavy pinch sea salt

Directions:

Add pistachios to a food processor and blend until a thick nut butter forms. Stream in oil and scrape in seeds from vanilla bean with the processor on, continuing to run it until the mixture is smooth (about 3-4 minutes).
Turn off processor, add melted chocolate and sea salt, and turn processor back on. Blend until smooth.

**Best at room temp, but you may refrigerate for freshness, especially if keeping longer than 2 weeks.