Here are five good recipes that are easy to prepare when company comes knocking at your door unexpectedly. These dishes can serve as snacks, or two of them together can make a delicious light meal.

>Taco-Pasty Snacks<

Makes 30 pasty-style taco snacks -- These are small, spicy versions of the large beef-and-potato pasty enjoyed in Michigan, Wales and some other locales.

INGREDIENTS

• Vegetable oil
• 1 Pound of ground chuck or chicken
• 2 Cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Envelope Taco seasoning – you might want Lo-salt style
• 3 10-biscuit tubes of country-style refrigerator biscuits
• Dipping sauces (optional) - Your favorites.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 C.
• Heat a little vegetable oil or use cooking spray in a frying pan and crumble the meat into it. Stir and cook until all pink is gone.
• Drain any excess grease from the pan.
• Add the taco seasoning and stir well, then add in the shredded cheese and stir until well mixed. Remove pan from heat.
• Open the biscuit tubes and take out the biscuits. Flatten all of them into circles that ar 4” in diameter.
• Place 2 tsp of meat filling onto 1 die of each dough circle and fold the circles in half. Be careful not to overfill.
• Pinch the edges of the dough semi-circles together to seal.
• Place snacks on baking sheets, about 1-2” apart.
• Bake snacks for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve alone or with dipping sauces.

Makes 48 quesadilla wedges

INGREDIENTS

• Cooking spray
• 1 8-oz tub spreadable cream cheese with vegetables
• 8 9-inch flour tortillas
• 2 Cups shredded Colby Jack Cheese – use Pepper Jack for more heat
• 2 4-oz cans diced chili peppers

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400 F or 205 C.
• You will be dividing the cream cheese among all 8 flour tortillas. You might want to dive the cream cheese into eight portions first.
• On each tortilla, be careful to leave the outermost 1/2” empty, spread the cream cheese evenly.
• Distribute cheese and chillies onto half of each tortilla across the cream cheese (not the ｽ” “seam”).
• Fold all tortillas in half and flatten gently, but do not smash ingredients.
• Gather enough baking sheets to hold the tortillas without overlapping them.
• Spray cooking spray lightly on both sides of each tortilla and arrange them on the baking sheets.
• Bake 12 minutes on the first side (should look lightly browned), open the oven and flip tortillas over and bake another 10 minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to urn them and reduce heat of they are cooking to quickly.
• Remove from oven, cut each tortilla into 6 wedges and arrange on a platter.

Makes 24 wrap-type snacks. These are so much fun to make, one of your geusts may want to help.

INGREDIENTS

• Cooking spray or vegetable oil
• Frying pan
• 9” x 9” Square or 9” diameter Round cake pan that can hold a piece of rice paper listed below.
• 1 Pound ground chicken
• 1 Cup ready-made Thai peanut sauce
• 12 rounds of 8” diameter Rice Paper (available in Asian markets)
• 6 oz bagged mixed young lettuce or shredded lettuce or shredded light Asian cabbage.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat a little vegetable oil or use cooking spray in a frying pan and crumble in the chicken. Stir and cook until all pink is gone.
• Drain any excess grease from the pan and sit the pan on a towel or hot pad on the counter.
• Pour in the peanut sauce, mix well and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, heat some water and pour into the cake pan.
• One at a time, soak each rice paper piece for 60 seconds until moderately soft.
• Place rice paper on a clean board, leave 1” at bottom edge for a seam and layer some lettuce on that half of it. Spoon on 3 Tbsp cooled filling and fold side edges over the it. Now, roll the rice paper up from the bottom and press the top of the paper over like a package to seal the roll.
• Place each roll with the seam side down on a platter and cover the finished rolls with a damp tea towel to keep them moist.
• After 12 wraps are completed, cut each one in half on the diagonal and serve.

Makes 4 Servings of over 2 Cups each..

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Cups fresh baby spinach, washed and patted dry
• 4 Cups mixed salad greens
• 1 Pound cooked chunk white chicken (leftover or canned)
• 1 large can (10 oz) mandarin orange segments
• 1 Cup shredded Daikon (giant white radish)
• 1 Cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted (no salt)

Dressing:

Mix ½ Cup balsamic vinegar with ¼ Cup orange juice, 2 tsp fine chopped green onion, and 1 tsp sugar or honey. Adjust ingredients to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix all the greens in a large salad bowl, add chicken and oranges and mix.
• Arrange Daikon across the top of the salad and sprinkle walnuts on top.
• Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss at the table.

Makes 4 Servings.

This dish can be prepared with cooked (boiled) sweet potatoes already on hand, but if you must boil them,. they don;t take as long as white/Idaho.Michigan potatoes. Canned chunk sweet potatoes are usually too mushy to use in this recipe, but if you served it HOT, that might be a good thing (see measurement notes at the end).

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 Pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium sized), washed and cut into quarters
• 1 Cup chunked white meat chicken (left over from another meal, or canned)
• 1 Cup canned chunk pineapple
• 1/2 Cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 Cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 Cup light sour cream
• Iceberg or young spring lettuces, if desired

INSTRUCTIONS

• If you have no prepared sweet potatoes, boil in salted water until just slightly tender; drain and rise in cold water to stop cooking.
• Peel sweet potatoes (or leave the peels on) and dice into 1” cubes and place in large salad bowl.
• Add chunk chicken, pineapple, and red bell pepper and toss. Then add yogurt and sour cream, toss slightly and serve on lettuce leaves on individual plates.
• Add salt and pepper to taste or let this be done at the table.

Sweet Potato Equivalents

• 2 medium size, fresh sweet potatoes = 3 to 4 canned = 1 1/4 cups mashed
• 3 medium, fresh sweet potatoes = about a 1 Pound can = 2 cups mashed
• 4 medium, fresh sweet potatoes = about 23 to 24 ounces canned = 2 l/2 cups mashed

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