5 NO-COOK, NO-BAKE Tea Time Recipes

Mehfil loot lein, budget mein

There are lots topics discussed on my blog which are close to my heart and one of them is keeping it easy and stress free for yourself when you’ve got people coming over. The idea is not to be NOT mehmaannawaz. I idea is to keep it simple, practical yet making an impact. Kaun keh raha hai bad-maza cheezein khilaao, ya sookhi chai ke sath hosting karo. Bass barhi si trolley ko choti si tray se replace karo aur mehfil loot lo!

Move over haleem and shaami kababs (unless you’re banay banaye DAWN walay), easier and yummier condiments are the new cool.

Three-tiered Pineapple sticks

My mum's been using these since my bachpan to serve as appetizers at dinner parties but I think if you have them chilled, they would make a great item for tea time or iftar parties too. A little sweet, a little sour and so fulfilling, thanks to the cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

1 block of cottage or feta cheese (depends on what you prefer)

A few olives (green or black, both work)

A small tin of pineapple slices

Some chili flakes and oregano

What to do:

Cut the cheese and the fruit into small cubes and then use toothpicks/finger food sticks (fancy ones if you have them, like the ones I have used) to assemble this delight - cheese on the bottom, then pineapple and then an olive on the top.

Garnish your dish with some chili flakes and oregano before serving. 

Cracker Platter

This one’s super impressive, tasty and ideal with a warm cup of chai or coffee. There is so much going on in one platter yet there’s no cooking or baking involved. Bijli na bhi ho, kitchen se aap zinda hi lautein gay!

Ingredients

Crackers of your choice

A can/packing of ready-made hummus

Olives (green and black)

Pickles (handful)

Jalapenos (handful)

Cold cut chicken

Cheese slices

Chili flakes and oregano for garnish

What to do:

Choose a nice flat platter and spread crackers in lines. Cut all the olives, jalapenos, and pickles in small pieces, as shown in the photo. Now alternate the lines, one with hummus and one with cheese slices.

For the hummus crackers, use a teaspoon to top each cracker with a generous dollop. Top with one piece each of jalapeno, green olives and pickles.

For the cheese crackers, cut the cheese and cold chicken slices into 4 parts. Top each cracker with a piece of cheese, cold chicken, then finally finishing off with black olives and jalapenos.

Sprinkle chili flakes and oregano on the dish as garnish and serve.

TIP: Don’t prepare the crackers too much in advance. They tend to get soggy otherwise.

Cream Cheese Dip

Okay, this one’s famous. I made this for Faizaan’s birthday party and had everyone asking me for the recipe. So, I did it again when he invited his colleagues over. Someone actually said “this is the best sauce I have ever tasted”…..only that it’s a dip and not a sauce. I like serving it with cucumbers and carrots but everyone started dipping in their grilled chicken too! So, if I were in Pakistan, I’d order a plate of chicken boti and even serve that alongside!

Ingredients

½ cup yogurt

½ cup Philadelphia cream cheese mousse (I used to buy Puck or Kraft  cream cheese when I was in Pakistan)

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

4 tablespoons cream (optional)

½ teaspoon garlic paste

Chili flakes

Oregano

Salt to taste

What to do:

Mix everything together with a whisk and serve with the veggies.

Yaani. SO EASY.

Cheese platter

If you love cheese, you’re going to love this. Plus, this is mostly assembling, not even cutting.

Ingredients

Variety of cheese (I used 3 types, out of which 2 are easily available in Pakistan, the cheese slices and triangles. If you find just those, it’s good enough. OR you can make a cheese dip and pop that into the mix too!)

Grapes (green and purple)

Variety of crackers

What to do:

Put everything on a cheese board aesthetically and serve. If you don’t have a cheese board, use a chopping board!

Nutella Crunch Cookies

This list would not have been complete without meetha and without chocolate! Here’s the simplest, most divine ‘goodness on a biscuit’ that you can serve without working hard.

Ingredients

Nutella

Cereal (I usually use Kellogg Special K because we always have that at home. You can use Muesli too.)

Simple plain biscuits (I used Marie in Pakistan)

Chopped hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

What to do:

Crush some cereal in your fist (lol) and put it in a bowl. Add a few tablespoons of Nutella and mix. The consistency should be thick. Put dollops of this this mixture on the biscuits, garnish with hazelnuts and serve. Voila!

TIP: If you’re Nutella has succumbed to the temperature and is a little too thick/hard, warm it in the 

microwave for a few seconds before mixing.