All I can think of is broccolini and martini....

seagrass

Oooh... martini!!! Anyway to turn that into a side dish

Here's a few Pasta Idea's:

Capellini
bucatini
Tortelini and Sausage soup
Linguini Alfredo
Ditilini
If I think of more I''put them in
LOU

bellini
cannellini beans
cremini mushrooms
panini
porcini
rapini
scaloppini
tahini
tortellini

I realize that many of these are more ingredient than dish, but perhaps you can find inspiration in them...

A couple more;
Zuchini Crescent Pie

Bocconcini ( Breaded Mozzorella w. Tomatoe Sauce )

Louini

Swordfish Spiedini - Giada de Laurentiis
Cheese Crostini

Lou-ini

Awesome!! Keep'em coming and recipes too if you have them.

Anyone working on turning a martini into a side dish. THAT would go down well with this crowd I bet!!

How bout

Vodka Martini Crostini?

Some sort of Olive Tapenade with Vodka and lemon on Crostini. Any ideas for making something like this?

Beanie-wienies?

Courtesy of Maureeny

Here you go. This is in my "to try" file ,so I can't vouch for it, but it sounds delish!

Salmon Martini Starter
Serves 4

Nonstick cooking spray
8 oz salmon filet, 3/4 to 1 inch thick
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeld and sliced
1/2 of a small cucumber, halved. seeded and cut into spears
1 c grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c frisee, escarole or lettuce leaves
4 T fresh lemon juice
4 T olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Lightly coat shallow baking pan with cooking spray.

Sprinkle salmon with salt & pepper, bake 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with fork. Remove from oven, cool. Remove skin and discard. Break salmon into large chunks, transfer to plate and chill 30 minutes.

In martini glasses or small bowls, arrange salmon, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and greens. Combine lemon juice and olive oil, drizzle over salmon mixture. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Cover, chill until serving time.
From BH&G magazine

This is one of our favorite soups. Not low-cal, but fabulous!

Tomato Bisque with Tortellini

1-1/2c diced tomatoes
1-1/2c tomato sauce
3/4c bloody mary mix
1-1/2tsp fresh basil
1/4tsp italian seasoning
2c heavy cream
1/4c chicken base
1/4tsp dried thyme
1/4tsp white pepper
1T sugar
1/4c grated parmesan cheese
1/2lb tortellini

Combine all ingredients except tortellini and cheese in stock pot. Bring to low boil then remove from heat and add parmesan. Blend with stick blender or in food processor until smooth. Return to pot and simmer. Meanwhile cook
tortellini in boiling water 5-7 minutes or until tender, add to soup and serve, garnish with parsley flakes.

My note: original recipe calls for 2T sugar, I reduced it because I donÂt like much sweetness. You can add more if you like

I have lots of drink recipes that end in "ini". I'd be happy to share them if you'd like any of them.

Linda

I'm with Maureeny [lol] on the beanie weinies. I thought of an upscale version. Use cannelini beans with lots of roasted garlic. Half mashed and half whole beans with some nice garlic chicken sausage cut into rounds and then quartered. Would be a nice side dish.

Btw, American is pone but Italian po-nay not ni.. smiles. Good try though.

Meanie Greenies. Some kind of greens, spinach, escarole or whatever, with some hot pepper flakes or hot pepper slices. Lemon butter on it. Simple to make but a nice side.

If you serve whatever you decide on in a Martini glass you could make just about any veggie! Then you could call it a veggie martini!

Here is an elegant sounding side dish that I have been meaning to try. It's from a blog but I think I got it here.

Cipolline En Agrodulce (Sweet And Sour Cipolline Onions)

Source: Pie in the SKY Blog

1 Lb cipolline onions
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 Tbl salt
2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tsp chopped fresh oregano

Soak cipolline in chilled water for a few minutes to loosen their skins, then peel them with a small knife, removing top and bottom nubs.

Put cipolline in a large pan with water to a depth of two inches. Bring to a simmer on medium heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. If the water evaporates, add more as needed to cover the onions.

Stir in the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer 40 minutes to an hour, adding more water as necessary.

Transfer to serving plate with slotted spoon. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano, and serve.

Cook's note: The author's serving suggestions vary somewhat - she says to serve the cipollini in the remaining pan juices, but that's a lot of juice and I think it might be a bit overwhelming. Anyway, Peggy didn't serve the juices in her accompanying photograph!

This recipe of sol's is fantastic!

Zucchini Pancakes

2 Cup grated zucchini
3 eggs lightly beaten
3 Tbl melted butter (more for greasing the pan)
¾ Cup AP flour
1½ Tbl water
1/3 Cup grated parmesan cheese
Black Pepper and Salt to taste *
½ Tsp grated nutmeg

Serve with:

6½ ounces double cream brie
roasted tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Preheat a frying pan over medium heat. Combine all pancake ingredients in a bowl, except for the water.
Mix until smooth, then add enough water to make a thin batter (you shouldn't need more than 1 to 1½ tablespoons). Mix until just combined. For 6-inch pancakes, add about 1/3 cup of batter to greased pan and cook 1-2 minutes per side.

Serve with double cream brie (or your favorite melting cheese), roasted tomatoes and chives.

*Add all the black pepper you like, but use a light hand with the salt, as parmesan provides some saltiness. I normally add 1/8 teaspoon salt, and find it's plenty. Enjoy.

Sol

My note: I chopped the chives and added to the batter didn't top with the cheese and served as a side with pork.

Try mini's topped with a dollop of sour cream and chives (I think that's what Ann T did)

I can't stand zucchini because I think it squeaks when you bite into it. However, my DD did get me to eat it when it is oven roasted. All measurements are "to taste."

thinly sliced zucchini
olive oil
parmesan cheese

put the zucchini slices only one layer deep on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkly with grated parm. Cook in oven (350 to 400 degrees) until browned (and I like mine a tad crispy). Good hot, warm, or room temp.

When we were in Northern/Central Italy we had Piadini.
It's a flat bread - sort of in between a pita and a wrap.
We were served plain and rosemary piadini w/ an assortment of thinly sliced meats and a soft cheese (I can't remember the name) it was sort of like marscapone but a little tangy. Very nice appy w/a glass (or 2) of wine.

I went to a cookie-decorating party around the Christmas holidays and our hostess served lunch to us. One of the things she served were individual on-the-rocks glasses with ranch dressing in about 1/3 of the bottom and crudités (sitcks of carrots, celery, cuke, etc..) arranged standing up in the dip. They were quite attractive and really easy to eat, and no double dipping so no shared cold germs (her primary concern since there was a flu bug going around). Maybe you could do the same thing somehow in a martini glass?? I'm sure you can buy plastic martini glasses.

seagrass

Sounds like a fun party!! How does the rest of it work? every dish with ini? or everything different :)

So, my first thought was shrimp cocktail martini... your favorite (preferably homemade) cocktail sauce in the center of a martini glass on a bed of lettuce, with 3-4 shrimp hung on the edges of the glass... I like with slices of avocado for color and b/c I love avocado.

Not sure how big the party is, but if you are near me, I can lend some martini glasses LOL!!!

Yup, every dish must end in "ini" and I'm sure there will be PLENTY martini's LOL

Some great ideas here. She does this annually and there is usually an award for best presentation so keep these great ideas comin'

Loves2:
Do you know what a Schutch-ini is in Italian? ( spelling )

Dump the Martini on a Fish and Barbecue it.

Can I win a Gold Star ?

Bbx:
Zucchini squeeks when you bite it ??? Maybe there was something alive in it.

I think a lot of you women are sipping on the Martini's

I see there are no other ini's but Italian.

How about some other Nationalities , eg. Japanini, Tahitini,Hinini, Nini Nani Noo , etc.

Luigini

How about some other Nationalities , eg. Japanini, Tahitini,Hinini, Nini Nani Noo , etc.

LOL Hawk - have YOU been sipping the martini's?

I would love to know some of the other themes she has done since it is an annual event.
I don;t know how much it would cost but you could rent one of those huge martini glasses and do just about anything in it. I saw them at a local rental store but didn't check the price. You could do a shrimp cocktail, or pour the dip in the bottom with veggies around it. It would certainly wow them.

How about mini panini? Assorted ones, like pear and brie, or swiss and onion? or mozzarella and procutto?
Jo

Most of my favorites have been mentioned. One which hasn't is:

Eggplant Rollatini

Jimsterini

LOL Jim !!!

Boccocini are the small round mozzarella balls - Roselin's recipe is just delicious -

Roselin's Marinated Mozzarella

1 lb fresh domestic mozzarella
1/2 c olive oil (I use the lite)
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
10 coarse grinds black pepper
2/3 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt- less if using
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced - optional

Drain cheese of all brine. Cut in cubes. Whisk together all remaining ingredients. Toss with cheese.
Yield: about 4 cups
RL`

Jim:
I thought of that but didn't know how to spell it!!!

Coconut:
They say it that way ( Po-nay rahd )somewhere else too.

Loves2:
I thought of a Classic. MINI SUBS or MINI HOAGIES made on tiny " MINI " rolls .

Do I get a Gold Star ?

Luigini

Lou,

I had to look up the spelling. My first guess was rolatini. It turns out that many people spell it that way. But Google said, "Did you mean rollatini?", so I went with that.

Jimsterooni

Along Woodie's lines, I saw a recipe for a bocconcini martini... it was a skewer with cherry tomatoes, bocconcini and basil in a fresh tomato consomme...

that gives you TWO ini's :-)

(or another two ini's bocconcini crostini...)

Here is a link that might be useful: bocconcini martini

You guys are cracking me up.

A shiny BIG

Auntenete - awesome idea on the giant martini glass. I picked one up at Michael's yesterday for under $10 with a coupon.

Last year's theme was alcohol so every dish had to have some alchohol in it. Good thing it wasn't a pool party.

Keep 'em coming - I still haven't decided.

Warning - idiotic line ahead:
loves2cook4sixini

Jim:
Italians like to roll their words, so they added another " L "
Sometimes the "R's sound like a Machine Gun "RRRRRRRRRRRR"

Auntenet: I remember in an Old Movie there was a Martini Glass with a woman was swimming.

I didn't see the size of the Olives.

Lou

I soak in Vodka - large olives stuffed with blue cheese and or stuffed with jalapenos - you could add a splash of vermouth. Remove the olives from the Vodka & serve in a Martini glass. Usually I serve in a pretty bowl, but a pretty Martini glass would be better.

Lou! the zucchini didn't scream, it just squeaks, sorta like chomping down on rubber bands (I imagine, never having eaten or chewed rubber bands, or had any desire to). Zucchini is just a texture I don't like. When I make ratatouille, I substitute yellow crookneck squash for the zucchini.

Lovely and inventive suggestions.

Believe it or not, I came up with another "ini" dish. Involtini. This one sounds good, because I like smoked salmon and guacamole:

Smoked Salmon and Guacamole Involtini
(Food and Wine Magazine)

Ingredients
3 medium scallions, white and tender green parts only
2 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 jalapeño, seeded and quartered lengthwise
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 Hass avocados, halved and pitted
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound cream cheese
2 teaspoons jalapeño hot sauce
2 pounds smoked salmon
Mini toasts
Directions
Preheat a grill pan. In a small bowl, toss the scallions, garlic and jalapeño with the vegetable oil. Grill over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until charred all over, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a work surface and let cool.

Finely chop the scallions and jalapeño and transfer to a medium bowl. Peel the garlic cloves, mash them to a paste and add them to the bowl. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl and coarsely mash with a fork. Fold the cilantro and lime juice into the guacamole, season with salt and pepper.

Fold the Guacamole with the cream cheese and jalapeño hot sauce; season with salt and pepper. Overlap the smoked salmon slices in pairs. Trim each pair to a 4-by-6-inch rectangle. Pipe a 1-inch thick strip of the guacamolecream cheese mixture along one of the 4-inch sides of each pair. Roll the smoked salmon into cylinders, transfer to a tray and freeze for 15 minutes or until firm. Cut into 4 pieces; serve on mini toasts

Or this one:

Prosciutto and Artichoke Involtini

1 teaspoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup(s) slivered blanched almonds (2 ounces)
1 6.5-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry
1/4 cup(s) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoon(s) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon(s) finely grated lemon zest
salt and freshly ground pepper
18 slice(s) (thin) prosciutto (about 7 ounces)

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.

In a mini food processor, pulse the artichoke hearts with the almonds until finely chopped. Add the cream cheese, Parmesan and lemon zest and process to a paste. Season with salt and pepper.

Lay 3 prosciutto slices on a work surface, overlapping them slightly along the sides. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the artichoke filling onto the short end and roll into a tight cylinder. Repeat with the remaining prosciutto and filling. Trim the ends, cut into quarters and serve.
Make Ahead: The rolls can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Annie-ini

Reading your posts is better than a bedtime story. Y'all are too funny.....I love it!

Judini

"Smoked Salmon and Guacamole Involtini"

When I eat salmon and guacamole it is strictly voluntaralini.

Allreet?

Allroot.

Jimstereeni

bbstx:
I said the Zucchini Squeaked !
I've chewed on rubber bands , they Scream.

Jim: have you been chewing on that Hard Cheese again.
That's OK !!!
I just found out

Mago " soaks in Vodka "

Judini :
You ain't heard nuttin yet. Or is that nuttini ???

Annie:
Are you serious ? Serve on mini toasts , That wouldn't fit on Domino's Giant Pizza.
WAIT ! I just saw it !!! MINI " INI " You Devil you.

That's it I quit
Lou

I had to come back.

Don't believe it . I Googled " Bikini Recipes " and
This is what came up. You should see the others.
What a menu. Don't even need Garnishs.

{{gwi:1517586}}

Loves2: Sorry guess that wasn't much help. Loves2 ???

OMG!!! You guys are killing me. This is more fun than the party will end up being. The guys would LOVE me forever if I bought Louini's latest "dish".

Still haven't made up my mind what to make but I definitely have some great ideas here. So far I'm thinking a ribbon Zucchini salad in a giant martini glass, and either the Egglant rollatini Jimsterini mentioned or the artichoke involtini. It's the side to a big meal so mini panini's, hoagies weiners etc wouldn't really be suitable although they are ALL great ideas. I think I may host a party where the theme is MINI just so I can make some of them.

Loves2ini

loves2:
Who cares what you make. We are having more fun here.
Why don't you do all the Side's, then you won't have to do the Main meal.

I'm going back to check out all the other Bikini Menu's.
I'd probably wind up with a whiplash , if I were on that beach.

My mother always warned me about that,

She said " Watch them beautiful girls in Bikini's "
So naturally , I had to do what mom said.

Lou
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here is a winner . Very easy to make !!!

GAMBERI E CANNELLINI ALLA TOSCANA
20 large shrimp-cleaned,and shelled
2 cans of cannellini beans
4 Tbls. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic-crushed
2 tomatoes- diced
1 tsp. of rosemary
salt and pepper
1 cup of water

heat olive oil in a large sauce pan/add garlic and saute til browned /Add shrimp and cook 1 minute on each side/ Add the rosemary, tomatoes, cannellini beans, water, salt and pepper and simmer for 3 more minutes.

Loves2:
Can't help it .
Don't know why I didn't think of these.
My Daughter makes them to sell.
Mini Crab Cakes
Mini Meatballs in Brown Gravy

Mini Mushroom-&-Sausage Quiches
By EatingWell.com
Rated by 187 members Click Star to Rate... 0 Comments Find more about healthy, breakfasts, snacks, lunches, american, french, european, baking, dinners, turkey
See Our Most Popular Recipe Collections:
Easter Brunch, Dinner & Desserts Budget-Friendly Meals Top 20 Appetizers 15 Easy, Cheesy Casseroles 20 Quick Crock-Pot ® Slow Cooker Recipes These crustless mini quiches are like portable omelets. Turkey sausage and sauteed mushrooms keep them light and savory. Small and satisfying, they're also a good finger food for your next cocktail party.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour
Yield: 1 dozen mini quiches
Ease of Prep: Easy
Recipe Ingredients
8 ounces turkey breakfast sausage , removed from casing and crumbled into small pieces
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms , sliced
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 eggs
3 egg whites
1 cup 1% milk

Recipe Directions
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 325°F. Coat a nonstick muffin tin generously with cooking spray (see Tip).
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Add oil to the pan. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to the bowl with the sausage. Let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in scallions, cheese and pepper.
Whisk eggs, egg whites and milk in a medium bowl. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each cup.
Bake until the tops are just beginning to brown, 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Place a rack on top of the pan, flip it over and turn the quiches out onto the rack. Turn upright and let cool completely.
Individually wrap in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, remove plastic, wrap in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.

A good-quality nonstick muffin tin works best for this recipe. If you don't have one, line a regular muffin tin with foil baking cups.

Health Advantages: low calorie, low carb, low sat fat, low sodium, heart healthy, healthy weight.

LOL, I like to be well prepared.

The dinner was last night. The hostess made spedallini (sp?) - a rolled beef dish that dh thought rather uninspiring but which was the driving force behind her theme choice.

Appetizers were Blini's with homemade gravlax, OMG was that Salmon good, and Crostini with a summer salsa and prosciutto.

I ended up making Chase's Cippolini Onions and they were the total hit of the evening along with the grilled Zucchini salad dh and I made from the food network site. (I made dh use way less red pepper flakes just in case and it was perfect. He used about 1/4 tsp. Also if anyone tries it it says cook time is about 5 minutes. I call bs on that LOL, took me almost an hour to grill all those paper thin slices for 1-2 minutes each, maybe if I had a huge grill it would have helped but I could only fit 8 slices on my cuisinart at a time).

And then I also made doucanoe's Broccoli Linguine except I subbed out the broccoli for broccolini - yumm, yumm, yumm.

Dessert was a m"ini" sweet table with mini cheesecakes, mini cupcakes and mini strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Just wanted to thank everyone again for all the advice and let you know those to-try recipes in your files are really great - go try em :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Zucchini salad

Thanks for reporting back L2C4S. I love to hear how these things work out! You are right, all these recipes sound fab.

Oh I'm so glad the dishes worked out well, how nice of you to let us know! Sounds like a fun time.

Broccolini Linguine....double hit ! LOL

I know it's not a side dish, but for future "-ini" things, you can always have Chocolate Mousselini--didn't he try to make all the trains run on time in Italy?

You could make tiny meatballs and call them Testinis (poetic license).

Sounds like you had a wonderful and fun time!!!! Thanks for sharing with us--love these posts, too!

:O)