Impress your loved ones with these easy hacks to create crowd-pleasing bites with food that’s already prepared from Sobeys. Create a little holiday magic by adding a delicious dip or presenting classic apps and sides in a new way. These simple changes will help leave your friends and family extra joyful!
Smash your potatoes!
Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, smashed parmesan potatoes are quick to make and might become a family favourite during and after the holidays. Lay your ready made potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and smash them with the bottom of a cup or a spatula. Then, brush them with a simple garlic butter and season them with salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven at 218°C (425°F) until the tops look brown and crunchy – about 35 minutes. Take them out, add your parmesan (measure with your heart), and pop them back in until the cheese is melted. To impress your guests, finish them off with a sprinkle of chives or parsley.
Eating your veggies is easier with bacon
The holidays can be hectic, so a quick, easy appetizer recipe may be necessary for the incoming family visiting for Christmas. Bacon-wrapped asparagus only needs a few ingredients, and there are a few ways to cook it (stovetop, oven, grill, or air fryer). Bundle a couple of asparagus stalks together and wrap a piece of bacon or two around it. Once wrapped, drizzle them with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook them in the oven at 204°C (400°F) for 18 -20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. It’s optional, but highly recommended, to drizzle some balsamic glaze over the bundles before serving. Yum!
Put it on a crostini
Roasted butternut squash crostini, anyone? This flavourful recipe is sweet and savoury and has a bit of heat. Begin by roasting the cubed butternut squash in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once the squash is soft, add some nutmeg to taste and purée the mixture until smooth. Next, you’ll want to toast your crostini, and when the crostini is crispy, add almond butter and spicy cheese on top. Finish the whole thing off with the squash purée, and you’ll have a holiday starter that’s asked for year after year.
Upgrade your fruit tray presentation
Everyone appreciates some fruit at the end of the holiday meal. Present your fruit tray in a new way by alternating the fruit options on skewers, making them easier to dunk in the included dip. You can also melt your preferred type of chocolate to make a drizzle for the kabobs to include some extra sweetness. If your sweet tooth takes over, you might be tempted to try the trending tanghulu. It requires heating sugar and water in a saucepan, dipping the skewer into the bubbling sugar, and throwing them into ice water to harden. The result is the most satisfying crunch!
You can definitely eat the bowl
Most holiday dinners include vegetable trays as appetizers. Help enhance the experience with a bread bowl and tasty BLT dip. Mix softened cream cheese with cooked and crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Then grab your loaf of bread (we recommend a sourdough) and hollow it out. Don’t throw away the insides, as you can dip them along with the veggies from the tray. If you want your bread and the dip to be warm, throw it into the oven at 190°C (375°F) for about 25 minutes, garnish with chopped lettuce and any extra ingredients when done, and serve.
Add zing and tang
Ready-made flatbreads are a perfect appetizer for your next holiday party. Try a brie, prosciutto, and fig flatbread that combines sweet fig jam, salty prosciutto, creamy brie, and fresh baby spinach. Help add an elevated touch by drizzling on some balsamic glaze to add some tang, or create a two-ingredient hot honey drizzle by combining honey and chili flakes. Once the drizzle is added, cut the flatbread into small bite-sized pieces for easy distribution and even easier consumption.
Refreshing ranch
If you’re picking up the Sweet Stinger flatbread, you’ll need something that compliments the hot honey and jalapeno heat and the saltiness from the cup and char pepperoni. Consider trying a cooling ranch spinach dip with the zingy flatbread. Mix Compliments frozen chopped spinach (defrosted and drained of excess water), sour cream, mayo, and a packet of veggie mix and ranch mix. Chill it in the fridge for at least an hour and start dipping!
Make it a melt
The Whole Festive Chicken Dagwood sandwich is impressive in size and is full of traditional holiday flavours. It includes French-style bread filled with roasted chicken stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy mayo, and fresh cabbage slaw and arugula. Before you and your pals dig in, try making it a melt! Take out the slaw and arugula (you can add them back later) and add your favourite cheese, like Swiss or provolone. Once your sandwich press or oven is hot, heat your dagwood until the cheese is melted. Transfer your sandwich to a chopping block, add back in your veggies, cut, and eat.
