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Three Favorite Sandwich & Cracker Spreads |  |
The Recipes: Three favorite make-ahead made-from-scratch spreads for sandwiches and crackers. Each one is fresh and just a little bit surprising. Each one works on its own, either as a spread that makes fabulous sandwiches or a light spread for crackers. (Or frankly? Anywhere you can think to spread a, um, spread!) All three together? They're a mash-up of color and flavor and texture. This is a great collection! I have a hard time picking a favorite!
~ Almond Cilantro Spread ~ (center)
~ Cranberry Orange Spread ~ (right)
~ Sun-Dried Tomato Spread ~ (rear left)
It Looks So Easy, Doesn't It?
Some people are simply born to entertain – not on stage, not on film, but at home. They make it look so easy, they’re so relaxed!
The trick may be a little up-front effort. So with potlucks, parties and impromptu gatherings filling the year-end calendar, arm yourself with quick, make-ahead spreads that can serve double duty.
Turn an every-day sandwich into something special. Just schmear good bread with one of the spreads, add sliced deli meat and cheese, a leafy green or some sprouts, salt and pepper. Luscious.
Or assemble a cracker plate so impressive your friends will wonder if you’ve slaved in the kitchen. Just fill small ramekins with these spreads and arrange on a platter with crackers and dried fruit.
Beautiful. And easy too? Yes and yes.
Some Tricks for Restaurant-Worthy Spreads
It's all about tools. And ingredient order.
MINI FOOD PROCESSOR Two of these three recipes call for a mini food processor, a small inexpensive kitchen appliance. (I use an earlier model of this one from Cuisinart.)
Now know this. A mini food processor is no replacement for the usual large-size food processor. But it's super-handy for small batches of salad dressing, chopping a few nuts, etc. I use mine week in and week out! It needs a new blade and I will definitely replace it.
For these recipes (and other small batches of sandwich and cracker spreads like these), the most important reason to use a mini food processor is volume. Small batches like these would simply get lost in the large bowl of a large food processor, it would be hugely frustrating to scrape the blade and the sides of the bowl over and over and over.
Could you just use some good knife skills instead of a food processor? Yes! It would take more time and elbow grease to mix the spreads and the texture would be rougher. But sure, get out a sharp knife and start chopping!
Do think about texture when you're mixing these spreads and decide what you're shooting for. You might want the Cranberry Orange Spread, say, to be super smooth. But I really like to leave some texture. This means that the ingredients are mixed together but the most important individual ingredients are still discernible and distinguishable – not processed so far that they've become "one".
But you do you! You know what you like!
INGREDIENT ORDER For spreads like these (and hummus and other similar spreads), you really want the onion, garlic and other pungent/spicy ingredients to be chopped teeny-tiny so small they'll easily distribute evenly throughout the spread.
That's why I have learned to process these pungent ingredients first, on their own, before adding any other ingredients. Chopping a single clove of garlic is very do-able in a mini food processor (and even a large food processor) when you pulse the garlic and salt together, somehow the salt adds something extra for the blade to grip. Try it, it really works.
Once the pungent ingredients are super-fine, then add the remaining ingredients, leaving the most liquid ingredients until last to help control the consistency.
You'll Love These Three Spreads If You ...
- ... are bored with store-bought hummus or cream cheese spreads
- ... appreciate something familiar but just a little bit different
- ... want to turn a simple salad or soup supper into something slightly more substantial
- ... build charcuterie boards or cheese boards with small ramekins of savory spreads
ALMOND CILANTRO SPREAD
Time-to-table: 2 – 3 hours
Makes 1-1/4 cups
- 2 large cloves (5g) garlic
- 1 medium jalapeño (10g), seeds and membrane removed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (135g) toasted almonds, skins on
- 1 cup (19g) cilantro
- 1/4 cup (56g) low-fat mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons (45g) low-fat sour cream
- Zest from 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, more to taste
PURÉE In a mini food processor, pulse the garlic, jalapeño and salt until fine. Add the almonds and cilantro and pulse until fine. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until a thick but spreadable slightly lumpy paste emerges, adding the red pepper juice (or water) as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the salt and lime juice to taste, remembering that the flavors will meld over a couple of hours.
MELD FLAVORS Transfer to a refrigerator container and refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours for flavors to meld. Great for meal prep, easily made a day or two before serving. Keeps for a good week.
ALANNA's TIPS Substitute walnuts for almonds and lemon for lime. Even the herbs can be switched up, think fresh dill, even fresh parsley. I love this spread on warm toast, nearly always Our Daily Bread: My Easy Everyday Bread Recipe, nearly always toasted in the skillet aka Fried Bread. The combo takes a simple soup supper to a whole different level. It also makes one great quesadilla!
WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 2CRANBERRY ORANGE SPREAD
Time-to-table: 2 – 3 hours
Makes 1 cup
- 4 ounces (112g) goat cheese or cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (180g) canned whole cranberry sauce
- 2 tablespoons (20g) very finely diced onion
- 2 tablespoons (4g) finely chopped fresh dill
- Zest of an orange
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- Horseradish to taste, about 1 – 2 teaspoons
MIX In a bowl, mash the ingredients together with the back of a wooden spoon until well combined.
MELD FLAVORS Transfer to a refrigerator container and refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours for flavors to meld. Great for meal prep, easily made a day or two before serving. Keeps for a few days.
ALANNA's TIPS Go ahead, skip the goat cheese or cream cheese (and the calories) for a simple sandwich spread, more relish than spread but especially good with sliced turkey and sliced roast beef. This mixture will seem way too liquid when you mix it but will firm back up in the fridge. Still, of the three recipes on this page, it's the most liquid. This is a great recipe to use up leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. I make it with both store-bought cranberry sauce and this lovely stuff, a staple in my winter kitchen, Homemade Whole Cranberry Sauce for the Slow Cooker.
WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 2SUN-DRIED TOMATO SPREAD
Time-to-table: 2 – 3 hours
Makes about 2/3 cup
- 1 clove (15g) shallot, roughly chopped
- 8 sun-dried tomato halves (about 1/4 cup, 16g))
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1/2 cup (50g) toasted walnuts
- 1 roasted red pepper (about 50g), drained (peppers from a jar work great)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- As needed to thin, about 2 tablespoons juice from the red pepper jar (or water)
PURÉE In a mini food processor, pulse the shallot, sun-dried tomato and salt until fine. Add the walnuts and pulse until fine, you may need to add a bit of red pepper to get the walnuts to the desired consistency. Add the remaining red pepper, red wine vinegar and olive and pulse until a uniform, slightly lumpy paste emerges, adding the red pepper juice (or water) as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the salt, vinegar and red pepper juice to taste, remembering that the flavors will meld over a couple of hours.
MELD FLAVORS Transfer to a refrigerator container and refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours for flavors to meld. Great for meal prep, easily made a day or two ahead of time. Keeps for a week.
ALANNA's TIPS Okay, okay. If you force me to pick a favorite among these three recipes, this is it. I usually double this recipe. It's so handy to have on hand not only for sandwiches and small bites before dinner or with a light lunch but also for tucking into a morning omelet or a Tuesday Taco or spreading on sliced deli meat to roll like a cigar. It's also especially good with charcuterie boards or cheese boards. I have great luck with the sun-dried tomatoes from Trader Joe's but also occasionally elsewhere find "moist" dried tomatoes — I know, moist and dried sound oxymoronic but what you're looking for are pliable tomato halves, not dessicated husks that require rehydrating. Could you substitute almonds or pecans for the walnuts? Absolutely.
WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 2More Appetizer Recipes
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~ cranberry recipes ~
~ almond recipes ~
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna