Mini Quiche Recipes

10 wedding food cliches (and how to avoid them)

The well-seasoned wedding guest may attend six or seven weddings a year, which often means sitting through six or seven nearly identical renditions of shrimp cocktail, rubbery chicken with grilled asparagus, a slice of cake, and milk and cookies at midnight. A sundae bar? They've done it. Mini-quiche? They ate their fill at the last one.

When  Bon Appetit highlighted  their wedding-cliche picks (like the raw bar -- can it really stay cold enough through the whole cocktail hour?), it got us thinking: What's a bride and groom to do, then, who want to mix tradition while still knocking the socks off their guests? Because boring food leads to a boring wedding, keep things interesting with these wedding cliche alternatives:

1.  Crab cakes Substitute them with something your guests will enjoy just as much: Executive Chef Daniel Mattrocce of FCI Catering & Events suggests swapping out crab cakes for Green Curry Thai Crab Salad. When replacing overplayed menu items, ask your chef or caterers if they have alternate dishes or selections using the same ingredients or flavors for unique twists on traditional wedding fare.

2. Mini quiche Mini Quiches are readily available in the frozen food section of most grocery stores: a sign that they should be retired from wedding menus. Try instead mini savory pies as the perfect appetizer to pass around during cocktail hour. Mini chicken pot pies are easy crowd pleasers, as are mini versions of traditional British meat pies, such as steak and ale or lamb and mint.

3. Overdone: Bruschetta Like crab cakes, shrimp cocktail can be delicious, but not when they're prepared ahead of time and served in a giant pile. Chef Mattroce suggests substituting it out for a more refined grilled shrimp on rosemary sprigs. Or, set out an array of Spanish style tapas, like olives, cheeses, sausages, and other mini dishes that your guests can help themselves to.

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