We had a couple of new friends over for a happy hour on Friday.
I thought it would be a good opportunity to come up with tasty but easy-to-make appetizers/snacks that are 100% plant-based.
Of course in Minnesota at 5 o’clock it’s already too dark for me to take pictures, so this was our brunch from some of the happy hour snack leftover the next day.
Over the years I’ve learned that it’s okay to get some help from stores and you don’t have to make everything yourself.
Our local grocery store has a fantastic olive bar and I got some various kinds of olives.
Dried fruits and roasted nuts are other things that I also like to serve as a snack.
But there are pre-made or straight-from-the-store items that I do not care for, and hummus is one of them.
Hummus tastes so much better when it’s freshly made at home.
The center of my happy hour table was the bruschetta.
This one is the tomato-olive-basil version.
For the happy hour snack, I cut them into smaller pieces so that it was easier to eat.
This was my original, corn-radish-mustard-dill version with curried cashew cream on top.
I liked them both, but the corn version is a bit unique and I was proud of the creation.
I love hummus, and this is definitely one of my favorite ways to eat fresh veggies.
A secret to my delicious hummus is adding a little sugar, which I believe gives the “umami” you can’t resist.
This turned out to be a tasty brunch, and it was a good way to clear out the fridge.
I think I’m slowly getting better at entertaining, serving the food that I’m satisfied with, and not getting stressed out.
It takes trials and errors, but a Friday happy hour is a good way to start with as it’s less pressure (vs. dinner).
By 
