Many people wonder what kind of light snacks to prepare for the holiday . Some prefer ordinary sandwiches, others - croutons. Another easy and quick snack is canapes. Vegetable, fish, meat, fruit - there are many varieties of such a dish, so everyone can find the recipe that he likes. Canapes are becoming more popular now. The main reason for this is its quick preparation, convenient form of serving and, of course, a beautiful appearance. There are various recipes for vegetable canapes and many ideas for their design. However, in order for the finished dish to look beautiful, you need to know how to properly serve the appetizer.
What is canapes
Before you familiarize yourself with the rules for serving a dish, you need to figure out what canapes are. The name of the appetizer comes from the French word "canapé", which means "small sandwiches." The mass of such sandwiches is usually 10-30 g, and their thickness is 0.5-7 cm.
Canapes are sandwiches made of croutons, which are cut into small cubes, and on top of them a different edible base is laid - fish, meat or cheese. All of these ingredients can be skewered, but this is optional.
There are many options for preparing canapes. All these options can be divided into two types:
- The first way - toasted bread is used as the basis of the dish, on which all the other ingredients are laid out.
- The second type - at the base of the canapes, the basis of toasted bread is replaced with a substrate of vegetables. It can be a slice of cucumber, a circle of boiled potatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetables.
Initially, fried bread was smeared with paste, and skewers were used so as not to get their hands dirty.
Dish history
According to many experts, France is the parent country of such snacks. As you know now, in the 17th century in France there were certain rules for table setting. According to them, before the main dishes it was necessary to serve snacks that would arouse appetite.
An interesting fact: in French, the word "canapé" is a homonym and means both a stand-up meal and a type of upholstered furniture.
It would seem, what is the connection between furniture and small snacks? Some people saw the similarity of upholstered furniture with a French dish.
Varieties of snacks
As has been said, there are many varieties of canapes:
- Meat, fish, fruit or vegetable canapes on skewers. The recipes for these snacks are to chop all the ingredients onto wooden skewers. This is done so that all the components of the dish are well bonded to each other.
- Sandwiches. Such snacks involve layering the ingredients. For the preparation of canapes, sandwiches, you need a solid base - vegetables, bread or other pastries.
- Tartlets - small baskets of dough. They put various fillings. Also, tartlets can not only be filled with a finished snack, but also baked with a filling.
- Canapes rolls. In such an appetizer, all desserts are wrapped in each other. For strength, rolls can be pierced with a skewer.
As you can see, there are many varieties of canapes. To beautifully decorate the table, you can choose several types of snacks at once.
A few secrets of cooking
In order for the canapes, vegetable or any other, to turn out as delicious as possible, any housewife should know some of the secrets of the dish:
- The main thing in the preparation is preparation. Canapé ingredients may not be the most expensive or exotic, but they must be equally chopped, even.
- When preparing snacks, it is best to use either toasted or slightly browned bread. This will allow you to create “designs” much stronger.
- Adding toast or croutons will make the canapes more crispy and aromatic.
- Before serving, the appetizer should be refrigerated. Pieces of sandwiches will stick together, which will make them even more appetizing.
- On the table they should be arranged in accordance with their color.
- In cooking, the main thing is not to overdo it. Canapes are designed for one bite, so it can not be more than 4 centimeters.
- Snacks can be made in a variety of shapes - cubes, triangles, circles, etc.
If during the preparation of snacks all these secrets are respected, the vegetable canapes on skewers will turn out to be very tasty and piquant.
What foods are perfect for canapes
Most often, salmon, various cheeses, ham, fruits and vegetables are used to make snacks. Many experts do not recommend the use of pork, beef, herring and other types of meat and fish. However, this is a matter of taste, and each person can experiment with various fillings as he likes.
Salmon is almost the most popular component for canapes. Of course, such a fish is best suited for the holidays. Salmon canapes are quite tasty and interesting. The basis for such an appetizer is best to take rye bread. You can also add cream cheese. All of these products work well together. Another salmon goes well with cucumber, herbs, lemon and avocado.
Another popular ingredient for canapes is cheese. When preparing snacks, you can use either one sort of cheese or several varieties at once. Hard cheese also copes well with the role of a snack base. Cheese canapes are a great addition to wine. Cheese goes well with tomatoes, bread, ham, avocados. For a change, it can also be added to vegetable canapes.
Other Snack Ingredients
A great alternative to meat in canapes is ham. It needs to be cut into thin slices and curled. To fix the ham, be sure to use skewers. Canapes with ham are quite tasty. It is best to combine ham with cheese, cucumber, tomatoes and olives.
No less tasty stuffing are seafood. This is a great substitute for cheese and ham. It is best to prefer regular shrimp. Not only are they very tasty, but also hearty. They also hold their shape perfectly and are great for canapes in size. For larger snacks, you can use large shrimp - tiger. Shrimps are combined with cheese, lemon, as well as grapes and bacon.
Olives are another great ingredient for canapes. They can give any dish a spicy taste. In addition to taste, they will also be a decoration for snacks. Olives can be alternated with salmon, cheese and bell pepper. In general, they are almost a universal ingredient and can be combined with almost any component. They can also be used in vegetable canapes. Photos of ready-made snacks can be an inspiration for creating your own dish.
Well, in conclusion, it's worth talking about fruits. You can make individual canapes from them, or add them as a complement to other ingredients. In the second case, the main thing is not to overdo it. One fruit is enough to give a piquant taste. Most often, grapes, bananas or apples with oranges are chosen for canapes.
Berries, because they are too small, are not suitable for canapes at all. An exception can only be strawberries. Other berries can be used as decoration.
Cooking vegetable canapes on skewers (recipes with photos)
For a more illustrative example of how to cook such an appetizer, several options for preparing canapes will be given below.
For the first option you will need these products:
- skewers;
- Cherry tomatoes;
- olives or olives;
- cucumber;
- cheese (tofu or feta cheese).
Such vegetable canapes can be prepared in several stages:
- First you need to chop the cheese. All pieces must be the same, otherwise the snack will be less presentable.
- The second layer is laid out cucumbers. They can be cut into rings.
- The next layer is the olives.
- In conclusion, tomatoes are put on skewers.
So the option of vegetable canapes No. 1 is ready.
The second option is also simple, but no less tasty. The ingredients are practically the same:
- skewers;
- a tomato;
- olives or olives;
- bell pepper;
- cucumber;
- cheese (tofu or feta cheese).
Step by step cooking:
- At the base of the canapes lies a cucumber. It needs to be cut into circles.
- Next, fresh tomato is cut into identical slices.
- The next layer is bell pepper.
- Then cheese is laid out, and on top - olives.
So the vegetable canapes are ready. Recipes with photos of ready meals will help determine the correct sequence of vegetables. In general, ham or other ingredients can be added to these recipes if desired.
Children's canapes (recipe)
As you know, many children love "adult" dishes. For children, you can also cook a similar snack. In this case, the vegetable canapes can be replaced with fruit. To prepare such a snack you will need:
At the heart of the canapes will be a banana. It needs to be cut into approximately the same circles. Strawberries should be put on top. The third layer is kiwi. So that the canapes do not look empty, everything can be duplicated several times.
Another option for making fruit canapes. Need such fruits:
- kiwi;
- cranberry;
- a pineapple.
In this embodiment, the base is pineapple. It needs to be cut into identical pieces, lay kiwi on top, and then cranberries.
Little conclusion
As you can see, there are many different canapé recipes for every taste. In general, all of these recipes can be changed and adapted to you. You can serve snacks such as meat, fruit or vegetable canapés on skewers at any event. At the festive table, they will also be very appropriate. And for a change, you can cook several different dishes at once.