fresh lemon juice Archives - Hello Fun Seekers

If you have become a bit tired of avocado toast, you may want to consider swapping out the avocados for ricotta. Don’t get me wrong, no disrespect to avocado toast. I love it, I eat it often, but sometimes I want something a little different. Ricotta is light and airy and perfect with so many different topping.

Ricotta toast is something that I have eaten since I was a kid. Every Italian family keeps ricotta in the fridge. You still get the rich, creamy spread you are used to from avocado toast but a whole new universe of flavors opens up for you. Ricotta can easily be used either in sweet or savory dishes, think lasagna versus cannoli.

In New York, you can find fresh ricotta at many Italian markets. Have you had fresh ricotta? It is so creamy and delicious. I die. Literally. Well, I guess figuratively but still you cannot even at how good it is. I haven’t tried making it at home although I have been told (and this video confirms) that it is really easy to make.

How to Make Fresh Ricotta

I like to use a hearty, rustic bread for the toast. For the toppings on this ricotta toast, I used morel mushrooms which were foraged from the woods near my friend Rachael’s home in Missoula, Montana. I was so excited to get a package from her with bunches of morel mushrooms. What a treat! I made this Pizza with Morel Mushrooms and Green Onions using some of the mushrooms from that same haul.

If Rachael didn’t send you any morels and you couldn’t find them locally, I would swap them out for cremini or button mushrooms. Not quite the panache of morels but still a nice meaty texture to complement the ricotta. I also used some beautiful, medium-sized asparagus chopped into bite-sized pieces to top the Ricotta toast.

Ricotta toast with morel mushrooms and asparagus can really be eaten for any meal. I prefer savory foods in the morning and devoured the toasts on Sunday morning for brunch with coffee. But, served with a green salad or soup, the ricotta toast would also make a perfect light lunch or dinner. Plus, it is so quick and easy to make. Basically, you a few minutes to chop the mushrooms and asparagus, a few minutes to sauté them, and the time it takes to toast the bread. Brilliant when you don’t want to fuss in the kitchen on a weeknight.

Recipe inspired by Cooking Light

I don’t trust people that don’t like queso. How on earth can you resist the warm, cheesy goodness? I know that I can’t resist a bowl that is for damn sure. Queso and tortilla chips are up there at the top of my comfort -food list. Queso is a perfect snack for game time, which if you are sports-obsessed like us, you are always perfecting your queso game.

There is much chatter in queso circles about whether to processed cheese product, like Velveeta or Cheese Whiz, makes the perfect queso. Many foodies turn up their noses at the idea and prefer to make their cheese sauce from scratch with real cheese. I am an equal opportunity queso eater and lover and don’t discriminate against processed cheese product. It is impossible to deny the perfect melting capability of cheese products.

But, sometimes, you may want to fancy up your queso. Maybe you are having friends or family over for dinner and want to impress your coworkers at the holiday potluck. If this sounds like you, then you are going to be excited about this goat cheese based queso. The goat cheese gives the queso a nice tang. Another unexpected ingredient in this queso is white beans. The beans give the recipe a healthful boast of fiber and low-fat protein, but they blend into a smooth perfection that is undetectable to those not in the know.

This goat cheese queso also ups the queso cred with the addition of leeks. Have you worked with leeks before? They look like really big green onions but have a mild oniony flavor. Leeks need to be cut in half from the root all the way to the top. Then, you will run water over each half getting any sand or grit out between the layers. Here’s a video that shows to clean leeks.

I have also found chopped bags of cleaned leeks at Trader Joe’s stores which are a nice short cut if you aren’t feeling Zen about cleaning leeks. If the idea leeks are more than you can bear then you can substitute onions or shallots instead.

Another way to add some health-inducing benefits to this queso is to serve with your favorite chopped vegetables. I recommend thick strips of red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, and celery, in addition to tortilla chips.

The Passionate Pursuit of Delight

Ingredient: fresh lemon juice

Ricotta Toast with Morel Mushrooms and Asparagus

How to Make Fresh Ricotta

Kicked-up Goat Cheese Queso