Caramelized Onion Dip and a Giveaway

And continuing the entertaining theme, we move on to dips, a key ingredient for any good party. I confess that I grew up on grocery store French onion dip, and boy did I eat my share of it. In fact a really good French onion dip such as this one and a few wavy potato chips could set me back weeks on my diet.

Party recipe #2 this week comes from Great Party Dips, a new cookbook from Peggy Fallon. Dips are a must for any party, and this book has tasty recipes for all kinds of dips and dunkers, giving you plenty of variety to choose from. This caramelized onion dip is creamy, rich, and full of flavor and is a great make ahead for parties as it can sit in the refrigerator for up to two days. At the minimum, let it rest for four hours to give the onion flavors time to permeate the sour cream mixture. The dip is easy to make, but caramelizing the onions properly takes some time, so plan for that. Read more

Slow Roasted Tomato Hummus

In the summertime we grow tomatoes in our garden, and sometimes we get a bumper crop like we did this past year. We ended up with so many tomatoes we couldn’t eat them fast enough and I slow roasted a few batches to put away for the winter. If you look up “slow roasted tomatoes” on Food Blog Search you’ll find several blogs have written about it, and I chose to follow the instructions at A Veggie Venture. After roasting I packed the tomatoes into jars with the olive oil and spices leftover from roasting and topped off with more olive oil. The jars keep well in the freezer.

We’ve used them in several ways, and last week we opened another jar and added some to a batch of hummus. It only took a few bites for Michael to proclaim this the best-tasting hummus we had ever made and we quickly went through it and made more. This makes a great healthy dip that I like to nibble on for lunches, but we also like to spread it on sandwiches. Read more

Live Blogging: The Daring Bakers Make Lavash

Today is posting day for the monthly Daring Bakers challenge, and I’m live blogging the challenge. This month our hosts Shel of Musings from the Fish Bowl and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go chose an alternative challenge for us: vegan and/or gluten-free lavash crackers from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice with vegan and gluten-free dips.

Because crackers and dips are a match made in heaven, the challenge calls for both. I chose to make a roasted tomatillo jalapeno and avocado salsa using the fresh tomatillos and jalapenos from our garden. The flavors worked perfectly with the cumin seed lavash, and it’s a combination we will certainly make again.

I chose to make two batches of lavash, one according to the challenge instructions and the other with a 50-50 mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour. Of the two, we preferred the flavor of the whole wheat lavash.

Step 1: Mixing Read more

Cannellini Bean Dip with Herbed Pita

Bean dips are one of my favorite appetizers because they are versatile, easy, and (usually) healthy. Just start with a can of your favorite beans, two or three herbs and spices you like, then add some olive oil and a little salt and some kind of pepper and you have the formula for a tasty snack or even a light lunch. Today a bean dip with pita was calling my name, so after finding the cannellini beans in the pantry, I whipped out the skillet and the food processor and had lunch ready in about 10 minutes. This dip recipe uses fresh rosemary, sage, and garlic, and to extend the theme I made extra herbed oil and spread it on whole wheat pita then toasted it. I thought the combination was quite yummy, and so did my boys.

The full recipe makes about 3 cups of dip, but you can easily halve it for a smaller batch, and it will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

This is my contribution to this week’s installment of Weekend Herb Blogging, founded by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. This week’s host is Margot from Coffee & Vanilla, so be sure to check out her blog with the round-up next week!

UPDATE: The round-up is posted here.

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

Slow-Cooker Four Bean Baked Beans

Black Bean Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Hummus Bi Tahini

Read more

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

We first tried this dip over the holidays and really liked the flavor, and I now keep a jar of roasted peppers on hand specifically to make this dip on short notice. It’s a good dip for parties, Bunco, or brunch and it pairs well with crackers or crudités. The base is sour cream, but the flavor comes from the garlic, peppers, and the balsamic vinegar reduction. In fifteen minutes you can have this prepared and then toss it into the refrigerator to let the flavors marry. It’s a good make-ahead dip because the flavor gets better as it sits, just give it a good stir before serving. Read more

Hummus bi Tahini

I was first introduced to hummus while working in Saudi Arabia. The cafeteria cooks on the Saudi Aramco compound made some really excellent hummus. The color was almost like alabaster and the texture was very smooth. The local pita was very thin, and we would take a torn piece between the thumb and index finger and pinch up the creamy hummus.

Party fare always included hummus, and I asked the other teachers how to make it. The answer was almost always the same: garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, tahini. No amounts included. So I started experimenting and reading many different recipes for hummus, and after many experimental versions I finally hit the nail on the head. When I taste it I can close my eyes and imagine that I’m back in Saudi Arabia—it’s that close to the stuff I remember. Read more

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