Thursday, November 10, 2011

Summer Dips


I love dips especially in summer but has anyone noticed how one pot of gourmet dip bought at the supermarket doesn't go far? Its really easy to make your own and you can get creative at the same time and devise your own concoctions...
The first dip came about when I was heading to Ma and Pa's for "Guy Fawkes" night and didn't have a huge amount to contribute. Of course my parents don't mind but I always love taking something new for them to try. There was 3/4 of a tin of beetroot slices leftover from the good old "KIWI" burger (for those who don't know its basically a burger with beetroot, egg, cheese and pineapple as well as the other usual things) and a few gherkins as well as a tub of cream cheese. All I did was blitzed these things together with a touch of lemon juice and some chives from the garden and ended up with a pretty pink dip.

Beetroot and cream cheese dip with crunchy garlic Ciabatta
What you need
300gram tin of beetroot
2 big spoonfuls (tbs) of cream cheese
1 gherkin
Juice of 1 lemon
A few chives or coriander

How to make
Put everything into food processor and blitz until smooth
Serve with anything crunchy!

Hummus - the perfect picnic snack
Hummus is possibly the most popular dip in the chiller at the supermarkets in Auckland. Why? probably because its reasonably healthy as well as delicious. Its between $3.00NZD - $5.00NZD per tub and to be honest a tub doesn't go far if you like dipping. It's so easy to make at home, all you need is a food processor. Traditionally hummus has tahini (sesame paste) in it. I never buy it, never use it so improvised with sesame oil (just a dash) and it worked a treat!

Like with the beetroot and cream cheese dip you can get creative and add your own touch. I love spicy food and had a few jalapenos in the fridge so in they went.

Other ideas could be...
Baked pumpkin or Kumara (sweet potato)
Sun dried tomato
Wilted spinach leaves
Roasted carrot
Avocado
Jalapeno Hummus - addictive!
What you need
300gram tin chickpeas (drained)
Juice of 2 small lemons
2 cloves of garlic
4 tbs olive oil
a splash of sesame oil
4 jalapeno slices (optional)

How to make
Put everything into food processor and blitz until smooth
Serve with anything crunchy!

I ended up making a second batch of this dip because I ate so much of the first batch, there wasn't enough to fill the bowl for the images!
I also forgot the garlic the second time round (DUH) but am please to announce it still tasted great and full of flavour thanks to the lemon and jalapenos.
Get blending and blitzing this summer!
Vanessa x




10 comments:

  1. Hi Vanessa and Ingrid,

    Lovely to meet you gals today! Look, it's a comment :)

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  2. Ciao ladies, it was great to meet you today, and I am now follower number 50!!!

    Great blog, I'll give you the +1 now for the spread and dip and pics :-)

    Ciao
    Alessandra
    http://alessandrazecchini.blogspot.com/

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  3. PS
    I'll put your link on my NZ blogroll :-)

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  4. Awww you guys are amazing - check the time I am up early, dreamt of foodie stuff all night and now checking everyone out! I am attempting to link in with everyone, add to blogrolls and get making comments - watch this space! Amazing to meet the gang and network.

    Alessandra - I missed getting your NEW book but will hunt it out today - any shop??? Hopefully it will inspire the kids I teach who are the same age as your amazing daughter!

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  5. These look great! Loving the beetroot one. Nice to meet you yesterday!

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  6. Very pretty, definitely a girly dip ;o) Great meeting you both on Sat, keep in touch

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  7. Hummus without tahini (I never buy it either), you're my hero!! The hubs loves hummus and we always seem to have three half-eaten containers of it in the fridge, but if I can get him on to making it himself, there would be more room in there for more important things, like chocolate-covered strawberries! Good to meet you guys this past weekend at the conference!

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  8. very good dips and the photos are beautiful.j love in particular cheese dip

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  9. Love the pretty pink colour of the beetroot dip!

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  10. Thanks for the lovely comments guys, I don't think I will bother buying hummus again its just that easy! Just make sure you have cans of chick peas in your pantry, lemon in the bowl and some sesame oil tucked away when cooking Asian food.

    Lovely to meet the NZ food bloggers last weekend - its opened a whole new world!!!

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