The Olympics come every four years and I am in front of the television for as many hours as possible during the two weeks worth of festivities.  I am screaming at the television for Team USA and watching every sport under the sun.  They have me from opening ceremony until closing.  I am in my living room, after work with a glass of wine and some appetizers.  Yes, I plan out my meals for the Olympics.  It is usually me rushing from work so I can turn on the tube and start watching right away.  You can clearly see, there is no time to turn on the stove.  So I decided to share some of my favorite quick appetizers I have on standby during the Olympic Games:

 

Chicken Salad

1 pound cooked chicken breasts

(diced and cooked in lemon olive oil by Capay Valley Ranches with a pinch of salt, Italian seasoning & pepper)

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s season salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

 

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate.  Spoon onto a cracker or a 1/2 inch slice of French bread and you are good to go!  Want to upgrade your flavor, coat a pan with olive oil and cook French bread slices evenly and add your chicken salad, yummy goodness.

 

Cream Cheese Bites

8 oz package of cream cheese

2 tablespoons mayo

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon chives

1/4 teaspoon oregano

 

I love this base for an appetizer.  It goes great with so many things.  Use this spread on crackers or French bread and build your flavor profile to make a bunch of different appetizers.  In some bites, I used this spread and added diced tomatoes on crackers.  It also tasted amazing with brie, figs, and bacon bits on French bread.  You can use this spread with diced tomatoes, onions and shrimp or go for black olives, brie, and bacon.  Don’t want to use this spread for an appetizer, try it on a BLT sandwich, it makes everything tastes so good!

 

Try my Olympic appetizers and let me know what you think!