Mystery Basket Competition: Apricot and Pretzel
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 by Health Foodie
Mae from Ohhmay had the genius idea to start an online competition inspired by the TV show “Chopped”. Each week she announces two or three ingredients that must be used in a recipe. Everybody can enter the competition even if they do not have their own blog. The votes of the readers decide who will be the winner at the end of each week. Here is the official website. Isn’t it genius? ☺
The idea
I love challenges and I did not want to pass this one up, even though this meant making something that I would not usually make. Even though the Pretzel is savory, overall this recipe is definitely sweet. I am not a big fan of sweets and therefore am not experienced in making sweet dishes. I decided to make whole wheat pretzel bites and fill them with an apricot and rosemary spread. I also added some lightly salted crushed raw almonds for a crunch.
Flavor Tips
Apricot is one of the rare fruits that actually tastes better cooked. If there is one classic flavor that is often paired with apricots it would be vanilla. But apricots pair well with a variety of other foods/flavors. These include almonds, pistachios, apples, cherries, orange juice/zest, lemon, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, pepper etc.
Don’t ask me!
To be honest, this is a little embarrassing, but it was really hard for me to figure out how good this is or if it is even good at all! Maybe I am just biased against sweets. Mark of course could not tell me either… it was hard enough to get him to just eat one, let alone talk about it! You are certainly welcome to try it and let me know what you think! I can assure you that neither Mark nor I spat it out.☺
The apricot spread
The apricot and rosemary spread is very creamy. It can be used as a jam on breads or in yogurts etc. I think the apricot and rosemary flavors go really well together. The creaminess with the typical dried apricot flavor is unexpected, but pleasantly so. I would have loved to use fresh apricots since they are divine when cooked, but there were none available. Feel free to try this recipe with fresh apricots once they are available. Using dried apricots also makes the spread slightly sour.
For the pretzel bites you can use any pretzel recipe. I made whole wheat pretzel dough and formed tiny balls. I crushed some raw almonds and mixed them with some vanilla seeds and salt.
Apricot and Rosemary Spread
Makes ~ ½ cup
Ingredients
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Instructions
- 1.Preheat the oven to about 400°F.
- 2. In a shallow dish combine the apricots, orange, and rosemary. Place in oven for about 20 minutes or until most of the juice has evaporated.
- 3. Puree the apricots, rosemary, water, and salt until smooth. Add more water until it reaches the desired consistency.
- 4. Taste and maybe add other ingredients. Orange zest? A little bit of oil to carry the flavor?
Health Facts
Apricots are full of different carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin and lycopene. All of which are antioxidants with various health benefits. Also, apricots are a great food for weight loss. One apricot only contains 17 calories. But make sure you eat them fresh. Dried fruit can be an easy way to eat too much sugar and too many calories. A lot of dried fruit also contains preservatives, added sugar and generally has a lower nutrient content.
This was definitely a fun challenge, but the recipe probably needs tweaking. This is just for fun and not something I would usually make, I therefore did not categorize it with the rest of the recipes. If you want to submit your own recipe, you can still do so for this week’s challenge. Have fun!
- Christina
Mark says:
This was a very pleasant surprise. I was definitely scared to try this, but it turns out I really like apricots (I’m sure I tried them before at some point, but I don’t remember when). I thought it went very well with the pretzels and almonds. On the other hand, it’s a bit too sweet for me, and I would rather eat the pretzels plain :-)
Nutrition Facts (entire spread)
Calories: 160, Fat: 0g, GL: 29, Fiber: 3.5g, Protein: 5g, Carbohydrates: 50g
There’s a similar competition called BSI (Blogger Secret Ingredient)…it’s always just one ingredient and they are usually on the healthy side of life. Here’s a link to some information: http://biz319.wordpress.com/bsi-rules/
Thank you so much Rachel for the tip! ☺
I just checked it out. So sad that I already missed 72 weeks! haha
What a cool idea…I didn’t know about BSI either!
Apricots are so great in just about everything. I love apricot jam so I think this spread would be fantastic. Thanks for the great recipe. And as always, I love looking at your fabulous pictures!
Thank you Ameena!
Apricots do have a great flavor. I really want to try this with fresh apricots, dried ones are just not the same… It is sort of like a jam you are right. Just less sweet and maybe more sour. But I really think that is because of the dried apricots.
Very cool…I have done the BSI contest…so fun!
It does sound like fun! I have to go look at some old competitions. It is just exciting to see what people come up with. ☺
I have never had a not dried apricot – maybe I should get on that!
With aprictos it is super important that they are fresh, in season and ripe. Or they can be quite a disappointment. I would definitely wait until the summer.
I love apricots. Especially dried probably b/c of the sugar content. ;-)
It think you would like this spread then. At least it is dried apricots diluted with water! haha ☺
I have a container of dried apricots that was given to me. I haven’t wanted to eat it because of the preservatives! And of course the sugar. Maybe I should find a good recipe where I can just use a few for flavor. Your spread gets me thinking outside the box a little…:)
I don’t eat regular dried apricots for the same reasons. But I really wanted to participate so I bought some. And I did not put the two things together, but since you mentioned it: I have had terrible headaches and trouble breathing in the mornings ever since I made that spread (and ate some of it every day). These symptoms are common for people who are sensitive to sulfites, which is the preservative that I had in my apricots… scary. Sulfites are not equally a problem for everyone. It depends on your levels of a certain enzyme called sulfite oxidase. If you have asthma (even just exercise related asthma) I would throw the apricots out. It can make it worse. Also, if you eat some and experience symptoms like headaches, fatigue, reddening of the skin, a weird cough or even depression you know you are most likely sensitive to the sulfites.
This was a good reminder for me why I do not eat processed foods. Even just having a headache for one day is just not worth it! ☺
I love the idea of Chopped! That’s one of my favorite shows! I may have to join! :D
Such a creative recipe!!
Ahh I wish I had a TV so that I could watch it too! Love cooking shows! I did watch most seasons of Top Chef though. Maybe I should find out when it is on and then watch it at the gym! haha
Thank you!
[...] Christina’s Rosemary Apricot Stuffed Pretzels [...]
I followed over from Mae’s blog.
You did a great job on your recipe!! :-D
Thank you Michele! It was a pretty fun challenge! ☺
What a pretty & creative dish! I really like apricots, but I just realized that I hardly ever eat them… Chopped is one of the shows I really miss (we canceled cable t.v. last year). I always try to catch it when doing cardio at the gym… Great challenge!
Happy Sunday!
haha I don’t have TV either and when I want to watch something I also go to the gym… ☺
I have never seen chopped though! I guess I should go to the gym more often!