Appetizer Kabobs

This is more of an idea than a recipe.

It's a colourful and fun way to serve up a variety of tastes and textures.

The kabobs can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator

until you are ready to serve them

Method:

Use 3 or 4 inch long toothpicks or skewers or, if you like, find some fancy Cocktail picks and use them. The thinner the skewer, the easier it is to thread mushrooms and hard cheeses which tend to crumble if the skewer is too thick.

Another tip is to anchor the ends with something like a cherry tomato or grape that will keep everything else in it's place.

For each kabob, choose 3 or 4 of the following; keeping in mind flavours that will enhance each other:

• prosciutto wrapped melon balls
• grape tomatoes
• cold cuts such as Italian salami, prosciutto, roast beef or chicken. Fold each slice into quarters or weave on the skewer so that they don't tear and fall off
• cheese cubes - soft cheeses such as havarti, German butter cheese, mozzarella or bococcini work best
• cooked shrimp or prawns
• red, green or yellow pepper pieces
• red onion or green onion
• mushroom pieces - either raw or very briefly wilted
• fruit - grapes, pear, apple, orange or pineapple
• hard boiled egg quarters
• dill pickles or pickled vegetables
• marinated artichokes
• canned baby corn
• meatballs
• cubed cooked chicken
• fresh basil leaves
• zucchini or cucumber pieces

These are just a few suggestions - use your imagination and be creative with the flavour combinations.

A few combinations that work well together are:

• Prawns with cucumber, cream cheese cube and cherry tomato
• Cherry tomato with basil leaf and bococcini (fresh Mozzarella balls)
• Havarti with Italian salami, red pepper and artichoke
• ham with mozzarella, grape and pineapple
• Chicken with orange and cucumber and butter cheese
• deli sliced roast beef with herbed cream cheese ball, tomato and dill pickle

Place kabobs on platter or long tray and drizzle sparingly with a vinagrette salad dressing or a flavoured olive oil (purchased or make your own by adding a tsp. of lemon juice and some garlic or dill weed to the oil). Refrigerate until serving time.