LCHF-tapas or appetizers

I will remember this summer for many things but one thing in particular: This was the summer where I ate ridiculously delicious food – without spending many hours in the kitchen!

It feels like we have been eating nothing but “tapas” as we call it, for easy dinners og lunches – or appetizers as we call it when we have friends or family visiting.

The main idea is just that you buy stuff, take it out of the fridge, combine it a little bit and make it look pretty. You don’t need any cooking qualities to make this. And it’s still delicious.

Today I want to share my favorites with you, one by one. Hopefully that will bring you inspiration for the next time you have people visiting and don’t know what to serve them.

ON OUR TABLE DURING THIS SUMMER…

• salami bites with tomato and cheese
• salad boats with smoked salmon and sour cream
• melon with parma ham
• tamari roasted almonds
• Serrano rolls with cream cheese and rocket salad
• tomato-mozzarella with pesto
• olives
• various cheeses
• various veggies

LET’S TAKE THEM ONE BY ONE…

Salad boats with smoked salmon and sour cream
These are just salad leaves with a slice of smoked salmon and with a spoonful of full fat sour cream on top. Please put your fat phobia aside (if you still fear fat) and choose the sour cream with the highest fat content you can find. In my country, that means 38% (which is not completely true, very few places have 50% but it’s difficult to find). The higher the fat content, the better the taste. That goes for practically anything!

Melon with parma ham
Yes, I know. The 80’s or 90’s called and want their appetizer back. But this is just so tasty. I also do know that melon is not really LCHF/keto so leave them be if you don’t eat fruit.

Tamari roasted almonds
These are always the first ones to sell out when I serve them for appetizer. They are incredibly delicious. Recipe here: The best tamari roasted almonds

Serrano rolls with cream cheese and rocket salad
These were so popular! Basically they are just slices of serrano ham with a small handful of rocket salad and full fat cream cheese mixed with freshly chopped parsley. For an even easier version, buy a cream cheese with garlic and herbs and use that. I use about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese per slices of ham.

Also, if one pack of serrano ham costs a lot more than the other, it’s often a lot better too. Go for matured ham, if you can.

Tomato-mozzarella with pesto
The good old Caprese salad. It just never goes out of style. Especially during the summer when the tomatoes are so sweet and full of taste. They just taste amazing together with the soft mozzarella cheese (go for buffalo mozzarella if you can) and with lots of fresh basil and a bit of pesto drizzled on top. If you buy pesto, choose one made with (extra virgin) olive oil and avoid those made with sunflower oil or other low quality vegetable oil.

Olives, cheeses and veggies.
This needs no further explanation. Buy some good olives and serve them in a bowl.
When I buy cheese for a dinner like this, I often pay my local cheese vendor a visit. He’s so good at recommending new cheeses and he challenges my tastebuds which I love. Favorites in my house are a matured Comté – other cheeses that we often buy are Manchego or Beemster. But you pick your favorite!

A portion of the very popular chia seed crackers and a good salted butter are also brilliant on the table.

Also consider serving a good glass of wine. Both red and white will go well with this.

That’s it. I hope this was useful for you and if it was, please consider sharing or pinning. Thanks!

My challenge right now is that I’m having friends over for dinner again on Saturday and they had these appetizers the last time they were here so I need to come up with something different. Any ideas? Please share them with me!