Nothing is better than an explosion of sweet and salty all together in your mouth at once.
Nothing. Is. Better.
I haven’t met many people who will turn down that experience!
I have two incredible appetizers that will be a hit at any party or gathering you host or attend: Salty Lime Cashews and Maple-Bacon Wrapped Dates.
Unless…
Someone is allergic to nuts…or doesn’t eat pork.
But chances are fairly good that at least one of these recipes should work. 😉
For any recipe, it’s always best to start with the cleanest ingredients you possibly can. By that I mean always buy organic if you can afford it, and always buy the real, whole ingredient, not some processed product that comes in a can or a box with a boatload of ingredients that you can’t pronounce and wouldn’t find in your own kitchen cupboards to cook with.
Just Eat Real Food!
The first recipe I want to share with you is one I found on Dr. Axe’s website, and adjusted a bit to fit my taste. It has just 4 ingredients, takes about 3 minutes to prepare, and needs to bake for only about 15 minutes. It doesn’t get any easier than that!
Salty Lime Roasted Cashews
You’ll need:
- 4 cups of raw, unsalted cashews (whole or pieces)
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp sea salt (I use Himalayan Pink Sea Salt)
- Juice from 1 medium lime
After pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees, simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir it all around to evenly coat the cashews.
Then spread the cashews out in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Don’t pour the extra juice over the nuts…it just creates a sticky mess after they cook.
Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring them around after the first 5 minutes, and checking on them every 3 minutes after that. You want them just browned…and they go from just browned to burned & blackened very quickly!
Allow cashews to cool slightly before placing them in a pretty serving dish. These taste great warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
The other recipe I want to share with you today has just 3 ingredients, and takes the same amount of time and effort as the Salty Lime Roasted Cashews.
Delectable Maple-Bacon Wrapped Dates
These bacon wrapped dates are the ultimate in sweet-salty perfection! They have a sweet, soft, chewy date in the center, wrapped with crispy, salty bacon with just a hint of maple syrup. It doesn’t get any better than this!
You’ll need:
- 12 slices of thin-cut bacon (organic), cut in half to make 24 shorter slices
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 24 whole, pitted medjool dates
- 24 toothpicks
After pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees, prepare cookie sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and topping that with a wire rack to set the appetizers on as they cook. This will allow grease to drip off and the bacon to crisp up.
To prepare the appetizer for baking, dip a slice of bacon in the maple syrup, wrap it around a date and secure it with a toothpick. Then place it on the rack. Continue doing this until you have all 24 bacon wrapped dates on your baking rack.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until bacon is browned and crispy. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before placing the appetizers on a serving platter.
So there you have it! Two new, simple to prepare, clean food appetizers for Easter!
Enjoy!
Oh, and…
P.S. THIS is why you line your cookie sheet with foil! Baked on maple syrup and bacon grease do not come off easily!
Fit & Fearless after Fifty 