4 easy peasy ideas for Party Food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every cook has a food journey, and as they tread further, each realizes what really their cooking mantra is and these days I know I have found mine......... " Easy and delicious cooking".  My friends often envy the foodie on duty ( read as my husband), imagining,  I cook elaborate meals everyday. Truth is, I hardly do. Meals for us are usually really simple. Yes, I love to cook, but also true is that I love to make fast, simple and delicious food. Maybe it has to do with my mum, constantly telling me when I was a child to choose simple recipes over laborious one, whenever I wanted to cook something. Looks like it's here to stay I cannot emphasize enough how much I need to KEEP IT SIMPLE". I can hardly imagine myself spending long hours in the kitchen, over one dish, or shedding too much effort in grinding a masala, marinating or anything of that sort. As much as I also love traditional cooking, I'm always looking for ways to minimize the effort that goes into making them, ensuring however, they turn out just as delicious. 

So......  I  put together some really really easy to do party food. They all need 6 ingredients or less,  involve hardly any effort, minimum or zero cooking, and you'll hardly find enough material to call it a recipe. But sometimes, just having the idea to put certain ingredients together can be magical. These are super easy snacks, using just a mix of store bought ingredients. I love these, because they are effortless and can be made in advance, God knows I hate, struggling in the kitchen till the 11th hour, only to end up greeting my guests, smelling all kitcheny....

Warning:  These are too simple and cannot be termed as recipes

Here goes. 

1. Sausage and Capsicum skewers :

No of ingredients: 3

 If you skip the part where you need to just toss them in the oven, these require no cooking at all. Yet, these look fancy with all the colours and all. So yes, don't go with all green capsicum, the yellow and red just bring so much colour, they look superbly summery and fresh. So mix and match the colours. To save me time, I prep the skewers much in advance,( even a day earlier will do) keep them refrigerated and  just stuff it into the oven as my guests arrive. This way I can serve the skewers nice and warm 

You will need :

Chicken sausages : 200 gms

( I usually use the smoked variety, I love the extra flavour, but you can use plain ones too )

Bell peppers: Yellow, red, and green, 1 each

Barbeque sauce

This will be all you need to do:

Chop the bell peppers into little squares and the sausages into bite sized pieces. Stick 2 pieces  of  capsicum and a piece of sausage on a toothpick. Arrange in a dish. Bake them at a 180 C for about 15 minutes. Serve with Barbeque sauce, or drizzle a bit of sauce over the skewers and serve.

Chop chop chop

Assemble

In the baking dish

Ready !!!!!!!!!

2. Chip and dip :

No. of ingredients: 4

Told you there hardly is a recipe, see.??? Somehow, having chips with a dip makes it much more interesting (and yes a bit fattening). So often, I have served chips with plain mayo, so this one time I thought I'd add a couple more sauces to make it a teeny bit different and it worked!!!!!!. The quantities given are approximations. I just go with tasting it as I mix and if you like that extra zing, amp up the green chilly sauce. It won't get pungent because of the ketchup, but just give you a hint of sharpness. Don't fret if there's any dip remaining, you can use it as a sandwich spread.

You will need :

Salted potato chips: 200 gms

Green chilly sauce :2 tsps

Tomato ketchup : 3 tbsps 

Mayonnaise: 4 - 6 tbsps

( If using store bought mayonnaise, use the eggless variety, it tastes better for some reason)

Mix the mayo, ketchup and green chilly sauce and serve with the chips.

Mix together

Plate it up

3. Tuna crackers:

No of ingredients: 6

I remember eating these as a kid at some party and I was so wowed .They looked great, tasted even better and got very addictive. I love tuna, canned tuna I must specify. It's so easy to use and tossing it with a couple of ingredients can make it so interesting. The only real effort here is chopping the onions and coriander, its important. It isn't very delightful I've learnt to bite into a big chunk of either. So just a little extra 5 minutes there. If you're using the tuna chunks, just shred them a bit first, using a fork before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. I love this filling and any leftovers are packed into sandwiches for lunch the following day with some buttered bread.

You will need :

Cream crackers: 20

Canned ready to eat tuna : 200 gms

Mayonnaise: 4-5 tbps

Black olives: A handful

Fresh coriander leaves: 2-3 stalks, finely chopped

Half an onion: finely chopped

Getting ready.....

All you need to do :

Chop the onion, olives and coriander leaves real fine. Mix with the mayo and shredded tuna. Spread a thin layer of filling on each cracker and serve. Voila!!!!!!!!!!!!111

4.  Ham wrapped chicken:

No of ingredients: 5

These are little effort, great taste, and big feeling of finesse. There's so little to do, and yet these are so good. Apart from the name sounding fancy, they also look pretty interesting and yes they taste good. If I might add, you could serve them with that mayo, tomato and green chilly dip.

Chicken ham slices : 3

Chicken breast : 200 gms, cut into small, flat pieces

Cheese slices: 3-4

Salt and pepper

Oil 1 tbsp

How you do it:

Cut the ham into strips and the cheese into slightly thinner strips. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place a strip of ham on a board, layer it a strip of cheese and then a piece of chicken. Roll and secure with a toothpick. Continue till you use up all the ingredients. Place in an oven dish, drizzle with the oil and bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes, or till the chicken turns white and cooked.

Getting together

Strips and pieces

Assemble

Wrap

Bake and Serve