Resolution Saving Touchdown Dips

Resolution Saving Touchdown Dips

No good party, football themed or otherwise, is complete without at least one dip.  Well, that’s how I feel about it anyway.  I want something delicious to dip vegetables, tortilla chips and pita chips into throughout the event.  Dips are perfect for prolonged snacking…just put a little on your plate with some sort of dipper, eat, and repeat!  Unfortunately, most party dips are FULL of fat and high in calories – not exactly helpful in keeping to a New Year’s resolution.  In an attempt to help myself, and all of you, stay healthy throughout this New Year, I concocted this trio of dips.  They are perfect together or individually.  They are beautiful and tasty enough to use at a party, and simple and healthy enough to take with you in your lunch for work.  Just pack some vegetables and/or pita chips and you’ll be looking forward to that healthy packed lunch for once!  The hummus is also really good in a wrap or sandwich with some crunchy lettuce and tangy tomatoes. 

So don’t shy away from those playoff parties this year!  You can have your dip and be healthy too!

Dip #1

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients

4 Cloves garlic

2 (15 oz) Cans garbanzo beans (chick peas), liquid from one can reserved

1 ½ Teaspoons salt

1/3 Cup tahini paste

6 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons bean liquid

3 – 4 Teaspoons Frank’s hot sauce

3 Whole roasted red peppers, towel dried

Before we begin, I need to make sure you know about the tahini.  It is a sesame paste that is a classic ingredient in hummus.  You can actually find it in the ethnic (Mediterranean section) of most grocery stores.  It really makes hummus delicious, so pretty please…keep it in the dip! J

Step 1

This dip is so incredibly simple to make!  You just need the food processor and you are ready to go!  Throw your garlic cloves into the processor and process them until they are minced.  Then scrape the pieces down the sides of the food processor back to the base of the bowl.

Step 2

Add the drained garbanzo beans, salt, tahini, lemon juice, bean liquid, hot sauce and roasted red peppers.  Turn the machine on and let the ingredients blend until smooth. 

If it is too thick, add more of the bean liquid until the texture is just as you would like it.  Make sure you taste it and add more hot sauce or salt if your taste buds aren’t dancing!

To serve at a party, I just chopped some roasted red pepper and used it to garnish the dip.

It's that easy!!!  Now on to the next dip...

Dip #2

Black Bean Dip

Ingredients

1 (15 oz.) Can black beans, liquid reserved before rinsing the beans

Juice of 1 lime

¼ Medium red onion, small diced

1 Tablespoons cilantro

1 Teaspoon cumin

1 Jalapeno, small diced

1 Tablespoon, plus more if needed, bean liquid

2 Cloves garlic

½ Teaspoon salt

Step 1

The food processor makes this dip a snap too!  Place the garlic in the food processor and process until minced.

Step 2

Place the black beans, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, bean liquid and salt into the bowl with the garlic and process until it is smooth. 

Add more bean liquid if the dip is too thick.

Step 3

Small dice your red onion and jalapeno.  When it comes to the jalapeno, I removed most of the ribs and seeds, but left some for heat.  It is up to you how hot you would like it to be.  When you have finished, hand mix them into the dip.  I like the crunch of the onion and pepper with the creamy dip.

To serve this dip, I topped it with cilantro.

How easy have these dips been?!  Now on to the last...

Dip #3

Guacamole

Ingredients

3 Avocados

Juice of 2 limes

1 Teaspoon Frank’s hot sauce

¼ Red onion, diced

2 Cloves garlic, minced

1 Teaspoon salt

½ Dry pint grape tomatoes, cut into eighths

1 – 3 Teaspoons cilantro, chopped

First, put the food processor away!!!!  Guacamole should be delightfully chunky with creamy cubes of avocado, juicy bites of tomato and the pungent crunch of onion.  I don’t like it perfectly smooth…it says “I was made from a mix” and not, “I am fresh and delicious!”  Enough of my guacamole rant…let’s just make some…

Step 1

Chop the onion, tomatoes and cilantro and mince the garlic.  Put them into a container or bowl.  Add the juice of 1 of the limes and hot sauce.

Step 2

Now it’s a race against the clock with the avocados.  They brown when they are exposed to the air, but the acid in the lime juice helps to prevent this.  Cut your avocados in half long ways and remove the pits.  Use a large spoon to scoop all the flesh from the skin.  Then large dice the avocado.  Add the pieces to the bowl and squeeze the remaining lime on top of the avocados.  Then sprinkle the salt on top.

Step 3

Mix all of the guacamole together. 

Grab a potato masher like this one (or just use a fork if you don’t have one) and mash the mixture until it is creamy with large chunks of avocado throughout. 

Taste to see if there is enough salt, cilantro (I use a little bit because I am sensitive to large amounts of cilantro) and hot sauce for you.

To serve, I garnished with some extra cilantro and some small diced tomato.

(Guacamole is best served immediately.  If you are storing it, keep it in an air tight container, with plastic wrap pressed directly on top of the guacamole before placing the lid on top.)

These dips are all wonderful.  I was trying to select my favorite.  Each time I thought I had a choice, I tasted another one and that went out the window!  Make one, make all, it's up to you!  But enjoy these simple, flavorful and healthful dips this winter!

Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup

It’s December!  Where has 2011 gone?  It feels like just a couple months ago we were celebrating Independence Day with hot dogs and fireworks, but here we are…in the throes of Christmas preparations (and I’m loving every minute of it!).  After the delicious, but oh-so-un-waist-friendly Thanksgiving festivities and in between the thigh dwelling Christmas cookies, I decided dinner should be something healthful yet hearty.  I absolutely love Panera’s black bean soup and decided to create a knock-off of it to provide a flavorful, filling and low calorie dinner option!  Boy was it a success!  Lots of flavor, while fantastically low calorie.  Served with some baguette slices and a salad, you’ve got yourself a meal!

Ingredients
Olive oil

2 Onions, chopped

¾ Cup carrot, chopped

2 Ribs celery, chopped

1 Poblano, seeds removed and chopped

8 Cloves garlic, minced

4 Teaspoons cumin

2 Jalapenos, chopped – seeds removed if you don’t want the heat

4 15-to-16 oz. cans black beans, undrained

2 15-oz. cans petite diced tomatoes in juice

3 Cups low sodium chicken stock

2 Tablespoons cilantro, plus more for garnish

Step 1

This recipe begins as most of my recipes do, with vegetable prep!  Go ahead and chop the onions, carrot, celery, poblano, garlic and jalapenos. 

When it came to the jalapenos, I decided to remove the seeds from one and not from the other.  I like some heat, but not too much.  But you can do whatever your little heart desires!  Oh, and while you’re at it, you might as well chop the cilantro for later too.

Step 2

Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, carrot, poblano and celery.  Sauté the vegetables for about 6 minutes, or until they begin to soften.  Then add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.  Mix in the cumin and jalapenos. 

Then add the beans, tomatoes and stock and bring the soup to a boil.  When it boils, reduce the heat to medium and cover for about 15 minutes, or until the carrots are softened.  Add the cilantro.

Step 3

Remove the soup from and heat.  Take about 5 cups of beans and vegetables from the soup (it's okay to get some of the liquid too) and set aside.  Then use an immersion blender, blender or food processor to puree the rest of the soup until it is smooth. 

Combine the puree and whole vegetables in the pot again and simmer another 15 minutes, uncovered.  Season with salt to taste and serve with a cilantro garnish.

Enjoy!  Happy shopping and cookie baking!