If you love entertaining as much as I do, then you understand how important appetizers are! They are a subtle introduction to a meal, a way for guests to mingle and wet their appetite while not getting too full! The following appetizers would be great accents to a Latin or Caribbean style meal. Each dish is simple to prepare, look fabulous and most importantly taste amazing. <br /> <br />My inspiration came from: <br />a. My friend Luciana posted a FB photo of smoked salmon wrapped heart of palms, they looked amazingly divine! <br />b. I have never been, but my dear friend Amorena tells me that I must try Tango Sur in Chicago. They offer an appetizer of Prosciutto wrapped Hearts of Palm (served up by swanky Argentinian servers yielding sticks of carne!) <br />c. My love of tostones! <br /> <br />Hearts of Palm are very delicate and tender. If you buy the canned, which is more typical than fresh (especially here in Michigan), I would describe them to be similar to artichoke hearts. I enjoy a good interesting fact so here you have it: harvesting wild palm plants actually kills the plant because they only have one stem. In order for us to enjoy the tender heart of palm the inner core of the palm stalk is extracted, which kills the plant. But DON’T WORRY, fortunately, for the wild palm and consumers of palm hearts, palms have been domesticated and bred to produce multiple stalks. This allows the farmer to extract the heart of palm while the plant sustains. Hooray! A guilt free and plant friendly heart of palm.

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