This week’s kitchen submission is from Buenos Aires based Eliza Jane Curtis of Morris & Essex. To live in Buenos Aires! What envy! Eliza has prepared a cute recipe for party appetizers that can be prepared in an instant, and personalized to fit any and all tastes. And it leaves ample room for creativity in scoring and peeling the vegetables. I know you’re not supposed to play with your food, but this time, you’re encouraged to! -Kristina

About Eliza: based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Eliza is the designer and printmaker behind Morris & Essex greeting cards. She spent her childhood in rural Maine and then moved to New York to study design and worked in fashion and children’s design before moving to Buenos Aires and developing her current line of stationery and invitations. A lifelong tinkerer, explorer, printmaker and nature lover, Eliza loves traveling, cooking and baking, biking, gardening, knitting, thrift-shopping, drinking wine, and studying Spanish. Eliza lives with her partner Mike and their two dogs Emmylou and Inga in the leafy and historic Palermo barrio of Buenos Aires. You can click here to see a tour of Eliza’s home!

CLICK HERE for the full recipe!

Why Eliza chose this recipe:

I picked this recipe because it’s cool and fresh, easy and super cute… perfect for summer snacking. (although it’s early winter here in Argentina, I think that most of design*sponge’s readers are in the northern hemisphere, where it’s early summer).

Cucumber Snacks:

Peel several cucumbers, leaving a few thin stripes of peel.

Cut into one-inch slices and use a small spoon or melon-baller to scoop out some of the seeds, creating little cucumber cups.

Scoop a small spoonful of filling into each one and garnish.

Fillings:

Boursin:
-1 package of cream cheese, softened
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1 teaspoon lemon juice

fresh herbs – you can use chives, parsley, dill, thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram… you don’t need all of these, use whichever you have on hand. a few sprigs in total.

Salt & pepper to taste

Mince herbs and mix everything together. Ideally this should chill overnight before using.

Scoop into cucumber cups and garnish with tiny sprigs of fresh herbs.

Hummus:
-1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-4 teaspoons lemon juice
-1/3 cup tahini
-a few drops of hot sauce, if you like
-salt & pepper to taste

mix everything together in a food processor or mash with a fork. You can add a few tablespoons of water for a thinner consistency. I prefer a thicker and coarser hummus to go with the cucumbers.

Garnish with tiny chunks of fresh red sweet pepper

Other tasty filling ideas:

Sour cream and smoked salmon with a dill sprig

Goat cheese and mint leaf with a drizzle of honey

Feta cheese with slices of dried fig

Cream cheese and crumbled bacon

blue cheese crumbles and sunflower seeds

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