Appetizer recipe collection

Tomato kachumber with fresh mint, ginger, lime juice, and popped black mustard seeds. A tangy Indian tomato salad that adds bright, cool contrast to any curry or dal.

Tropical fruit and black bean salsa with diced mango, pineapple, papaya, red onion, and jalapeño. A fresh, no-cook salsa that's sweet, spicy, and colorful.

Delicious! And simple to make in a large batch for appetizers. As made in Thrace, the soft-dough may be spread into a sheet and cut in squares before baking, or each shaped individually into daintly "bastounakia" (little canes or sticks). The word "trifti" identifies the texture - crisp and crumbly in the mouth.

Microwave veal roast rubbed with garlic and pepper, cooked on an inverted saucer to stay out of the drippings. Simple technique with timing charts for rare, medium, and well-done.

Vietnamese vegetable spring rolls (cha gio chay) with cellophane noodles, tofu, shredded potato, tree ear mushrooms, and leeks wrapped in crisp rice paper. Fried shatter-crisp on the outside, tender and fragrant inside.

Crispy deep-fried spring rolls packed with stir-fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and julienned vegetables seasoned with garlic, curry paste, and soy for an addictive Thai appetizer.

Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio): crisp rice-paper rolls stuffed with ground pork, crab, glass noodles, garlic, and shallots, fried to a deep golden crunch. The crackly fried appetizer everyone fights over.

Wild rice and mushroom soup simmered in vegetable stock with red wine, bell pepper, and parsley. A vegan, broth-based soup with earthy depth and chewy wild rice in every spoonful.