This is a simple, elegant looking app that's easy to whip up. I love a good cheese plate, but I thought this would be a fun and unique alternative. I've made two versions here- goat cheese, honey, and walnuts (creamy, crunchy, sweet) and herbed goat cheese, chives, and lemon zest (salty, savory, herbaceous). I'll never say "herbaceous" again, I promise. Anyway, I think the...herby... one would be GREAT with pomegranate, but allegedly they were out of season when I made these, womp womp.

You're just going to add portions to your liking, so I don't have a recipe with exact measurements for you, but here what you'll need.

Ingredients:
• 2 endives (will yield about 18-ish useable leaves)
• 1-2 tbsp honey
• A couple tbsp of chopped walnuts
• About 3 leaves of fresh basil, finely chopped
• About a tsp of garlic powder
• About 1/4 tsp of dried oregano
• About 3 fresh chives, chopped
• Tbsp of fresh lemon juice, plus half tbsp of lemon zest
• Sea salt, to taste
• Cracked black pepper, to taste
• 3-4 oz goat cheese
Optional toppings: balsamic glaze (highly recommended!), pomegranate

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix half of your goat cheese with the basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper
Spread on half of your endive leaves, drizzle with lemon juice, and top with lemon zest. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.
Take the remaining goat cheese and spread on the second half of your endive leaves. Top with salt, walnuts, and a drizzle of honey

That's it! Keep cold until ready to serve.

My girlfriend Julian came over for dinner last night. We drank red wine, listened to jazz, watched a movie, and had a feast. On the menu was this amazing grilled peach flatbread with whipped honey ricotta and basil. I'll let you take a minute to reflect. This honestly might be one of my favorite things I've ever made.

Every single component is wildly delicious. The naan is perfectly crisp with a chewy center. The peaches are sweet and tart with a beautiful char. The ricotta...my god, the ricotta. It's light, and creamy, with just a hint of sweetness. I had some leftover and straight up ate it by the spoonful as I assembled the flatbread. I actually have a little bit more in the fridge that I'm about to spread onto some toast. And finally, the basil helps to balance out the richness, and adds beautiful color, making this the most scrumptious little bite of heaven. 

Ingredients:
• Flatbread of choice (I used this naan flatbread)
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1.5 tbsp honey 
• 2 small peaches, sliced very thinly (I used 1 yellow and 1 white fleshed)
• 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• Pinch of salt

Directions:
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and fit a baking rack over a baking sheet
Note: If you don't have a baking rack, just lay your flatbreads directly onto a lined baking sheet. Using a baking rack will allow the heat to circulate under the flatbread, with helps cook everything more evenly, but this will still turn out great without one)
• Heat a grill pan over high heat and spray with non-stick olive oil spray. Once hot, arrange peaches in one layer and grill for 2-3 minutes per side, or until each side has deep grill marks and the slices have softened, without becoming mushy. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
**before flipping the peaches, spray the uncooked tops with the olive oil spray, and sprinkle with salt, then flip and cook the other side
• In a blender or food processor, blend the honey and ricotta until the ricotta is light and silky. This should just take a few pulses
• Spread the ricotta mixture over the flatbread, stopping about half an inch from the edge, and top with the grilled peaches. Place onto baking rack and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and crispy. Remove and top with chopped basil. Add back to the oven for about 30 seconds, to bake the basil into the peaches and ricotta. Quickly remove so that the basil doesn't burn.
• Serve hot and enjoy!

Caramelized Onions. Goat Cheese. Basil. Bread. Jesus be a flatbread. This is crisp, chewy, creamy, rich, and a breeze to make. It’s a real crowd pleaser, I guarantee it. My cousin came over a couple weeks ago and cooked us a FEAST (I’m talking ribs, empanadas, salmon, arroz con gandules, everything). There was so much food, but I still wanted to contribute, so I whipped this up right quick and served it as an appetizer. Our bellies were happy (and extremely full).

Ingredients:
• 1 Flatbread. I used this one from Stonefire. I think it was about 8×9″
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium sweet onions (sliced)
• 6 oz fresh goat cheese
• 8-10 leaves of fresh basil (chiffonade… I don’t know if this is a verb or an adjective)
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• Tsp of sea salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• Cracked red pepper

Directions:
Note: We are cooking these onions looooow and sloooowwww (about 30 minutes) to build maximum flavor, texture, and sweetness.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet over high heat. Once hot, add onions, and allow most of them to develop a nice sear, stirring every so often so as not to burn
• Once most of the onions have seared, reduce heat to low. Add salt, black pepper, sugar, and a splash of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan. Stir.
• Now let the onions do their thing. And you can go do yours (set the table, read a book, twerk to Work, whatever). Just come stir them every 5-10 minutes.
• Once the onions have caramelized to candy perfection, take the remaining oil and brush it all over the flatbread.
• Sprinkle evenly with the onions, and add small dollops of the goat cheese to any empty spaces so that every bite is delicious. So that it cooks evenly, press the goat cheese down with your thumb to flatten it out a bit. You could also brush a little olive oil over the cheese, to help it stay moist in the oven.
• Place the flatbread on a lined baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the edges have browned and the goat cheese has softened.
•  Chiffonade (verb? adjective?) your basil. Here’s how to do it.
• Remove flatbread from oven and top with basil and cracked red pepper
• Serve immediately
• Take a bow