Tag Archives: dip

Spooky Squash Stuffed with Roasted Garlic Hummus

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My Halloween fun continues! I’ve mentioned before that I love hummus. I eat it all the time. And I didn’t even know that it has a low glycemic index. I just found that out this week.

One thing I don’t love in hummus though is an overwhelming amount of garlic. This hummus is mild but has a rich flavor because I roast the garlic first.

Roasted garlic adds so much depth of flavor and you can use the remaining garlic cloves to create a second easy dip for your party (see the instructions under my recipe).

You can make this a day in advance, just be sure to cover the hummus with plastic wrap. Happy Halloween

I served it to company last night and they loved it.

You can make a little sign on a toothpick so guests know what they are eating. I love doing that at parties.

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Spooky Squash Stuffed with Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 small Kabocha Squash

1 head of garlic (you will roast it all, but only use three cloves)

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas

1 1/2 tablespoons of the chickpea liquid reserved from the can

3 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 cloves of roasted garlic (see recipe below)

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt or to taste

To roast the garlic, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take an entire head of garlic and cut off the white tops of the garlic and drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. You are not peeling the garlic, you just want to cut off the tops to expose all the cloves.

Wrap garlic in aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the head of garlic has caramelized (your house will smell incredible). Allow to cool and then squeeze out the garlic cloves.

Before making hummus, reserve some of the liquid from the chickpeas and drain the rest of the can.

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, chickpea liquid, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, roasted garlic, cumin and salt and pulse until smooth. Adjust salt, if desired.

Cut off the top of the Kabocha squash and remove the seeds and any stringy flesh. Use a knife to cut thin slits around the outside of the squash top and even the base, if desired. Stuff plastic spider rings in these crevices or any other creepy ring. Fill the center of the squash with hummus. Serve with pita chips and vegetables.

Tip: Serve the rest of the roasted garlic as a dip. Chop the cloves and add it to ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Warm it slightly (just slightly) on the stove top and add ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon rosemary and 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese, a dash of salt, and serve it with French bread.

I couldn’t decide which way I wanted to style my photos this week. Black background or orange? Spider web or no spider web? Which do you prefer?

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Halloween Party Ideas: Sundried Tomato Spider Web Pesto Dip

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As far as I’m concerned, pre-Halloween planning kicks off the holiday season in our house. Truth be told, this is my Christmas season, too.

I simply relish every day between now and Dec. 26, when I slip into immediate post-holiday depression. But until then, it’s fun, fun, fun

Halloween falls on Saturday this year so celebrations are bound to be big! Spending is expected to top $6.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Adult spending on costumes now outpaces spending on children’s costumes proving I’m not alone in loving this spooky day.

And I am never short of ideas when it comes to Halloween. I plan to post a new recipe or party idea every day this week for Halloween. I am stoked.

This dip isn’t just fun, it is absolutely delicious! Try it. You won’t be sorry.

Sundried Tomato Spider Web Pesto Dip

1 (8-ounce) block of cream cheese, softened

2 ounces feta cheese crumbles

½ cup jarred pesto sauce

Half an (8.5 ounce) jar julienned sundried tomatoes

1 fake spider for the center

French bread to serve

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature on the counter for an hour or so. Then stir it with feta cheese until well combined.

Spread the mixture on a medium-sized round plate. Smooth pesto over the top.

Use a toothpick to draw a spider web into the cream cheese. Slice sundried tomato pieces as uniform as possible to make a web. Then use those slices to craft the web on the pesto.

When done, place a fake spider in the middle of the dip. Serve with French bread to spread this dip.

Mexican Inspired Corn and Bean Dip- easy and delicious

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The inspiration for my warm, kidney bean and corn dip is corn on the cob in Mexico. In Mexico, you’ll see vendors hawking grilled corn on the cob rubbed with mayonnaise and chili powder and a dash of Parmesan. The Parmesan doesn’t seem like it would pair well, but it does.  That slight tang beefs up the flavor in the beans and complements the corn.

In this dip, I add corn, dark kidney beans (you can also substitute pinto), mayonnaise, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, lime, Parmesan and cilantro and warm it on the stovetop for about 3 minutes. Before serving, I add a handful of shredded cheddar. Serve it with tortilla chips. It’s best warm, but is still delicious when it cools.

I’ve served it twice and it’s been a huge hit!

beandip

Mexican Inspired Corn and Bean Dip

1 (15-ounce) can of whole kernel corn

1 (15-ounce) can dark kidney beans or pinto beans

1 cup chopped red onion

1 teaspoon canola oil

½ teaspoon cumin seed

1 (4-ounce) can of chopped green chilies

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chop onion and set aside. Drain the beans and corn and set both of those aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cumin seed and cook 4 minutes. Then pour in the rest of the ingredients and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 3 more minutes until everything has melted together and is well combined. Serve with tortilla chips.

beandip chip

Basil Hummus

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I love just about every type of hummus. When I was 9, I never thought I’d eat it again. My family lived in Sudan for about 8 months and the first two months we lived in a hotel. The hotel had the most limited menu so we eat hummus twice a day. I hated it by the end of that stay. I swore off hummus. It was so strong, too, incredibly heavy on the tahini.

Well, I started eating it again in college and now I can’t get enough. Right now, I literally have homemade basil hummus, olive tapenade hummus, black bean hummus and a regular hummus in the fridge. I am not kidding. My husband eats it like crazy.

Anyway, I came up with this hummus earlier this summer.

This homemade hummus is always popular when I take it to a party. I don’t add fresh garlic to this hummus because I want the basil to shine. If you really love garlic, add one chopped, small clove.

I serve it with warmed garlic Naan, instead of pita bread to add a kick of garlic (but pita works fine, too). It takes minutes to whip this up in the food processor and it keeps for several days, so you can make it ahead of time (which is great when entertaining).

It’s even better the next day. Look how quick and easy this recipe is.

Basil Hummus

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons tahini

¾ teaspoon ground cumin (or more to taste)

1 ½ teaspoons basil paste (in a tube in the produce section)

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Serve with warm pita or garlic Naan, and sliced vegetables.

Green Tomato Salsa

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My  Green Tomato Salsa which uses both tomatoes and tomatillos. It’s delicious with chips and wonderful on fish tacos. It pairs well with sour cream and cream cheese, so you can use it in a layer dip or pour it over a block of cream cheese for a dip and serve with tortilla chips.

When you’re salting it, be sure to taste it with a chip because that will add salt and you may over salt the salsa if you just taste it plain

Green Tomato Salsa

2 cups green tomatoes (cut into quarters)

6 tomatillos

Garlic salt

½ cup chopped red onion

1/3 to ½ bunch of cilantro

1 teaspoon lime juice

½ teaspoon cumin seed

1 jalapeno (or more to taste)

Preheat oven to 425

Place sliced green tomatoes and tomatillos on a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In the meantime, chop red onion, cilantro and deseed and chop your jalapeno. I am a wimp when it comes to spice, so I only use 1 jalapeno, but you can use several.

Add onion and jalapeno to a large bowl.

Place tomatoes and tomatillos in a food processor and chop. Then add the chopped cilantro to the tomatoes and process (you may have to do this in two batches). Pour into the bowl.  Add lime juice and cumin seed and stir. Add garlic salt to taste. The salsa is after 2 hours and even better the next day.

Options: If you want more contrast in flavor, only cook 1 cup of tomatoes and use 1 cup of fresh, finely chopped green tomatoes. It makes it slightly more bitter, but I adore the flavor and texture and it tastes really fresh.

If you want to add some sweetness, add ½ of cooked corn (about 1 ear of fresh corn or you can use canned).

Easy Enchilada Dip

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This dip screams “Make me for the Super Bowl.”

Super Bowl Sunday is America’s second largest food consumption day, after Thanksgiving. So there’s a lot of competition for good food, but this dip will get attention.

If you’re not a good cook, this is the dip for you because it’s so easy!

You can use red or green enchilada sauce, whatever you prefer. Just be sure you use a sauce you like because it will heavily flavor the dip.

I love cumin, so I personally would use cumin seed because when you bite into it, it explodes with flavor, but the ground cumin is probably better for a crowd.

If you don’t like cilantro, you can garnish this with chopped avocado, or buy premade guacamole and drop a pile of that in the center.  You can also add shredded iceberg lettuce in the middle.  Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Leftovers are good warmed in the microwave (but don’t reheat the entire dip, just scoop out what you need).

I love this dip and I hope you will, too.

en

Enchilada Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¾ teaspoon ground cumin (substitute cumin seed if you love cumin)

1 ½ cups refried beans

2 1/3 cups rotisserie chicken

10 ounces red or green enchilada sauce (this recipe works with either; just be sure you like the sauce)

½ cup drained corn

2 cups Mexican shredded cheese (or Taco style cheese)

Cilantro to garnish (optional)

Tortilla chips for serving

Directions:

Set cream cheese on the counter for 30 minutes to soften it and make it easier to spread. If you forget that step, it will still spread, but it’s a little harder.

While cream cheese softens, pull both breasts off the chicken and shred breast and thigh meat. Do not use any skin. Chop chicken, place in a bowl and cover with enchilada sauce and set aside.

Drain corn and set aside.

If you plan to garnish with cilantro, cut off the stems and chop cilantro. I like to use about half a cup and pile it in the center, that way anyone who doesn’t like it can avoid it. If you know everyone likes it, or don’t care, then chop as much as you want.

Preheat oven to 400.

Spread cream cheese into the bottom of a deep dish pie pan. Sprinkle with cumin.

Spread refried beans over that layer. Spread corn over beans. Then spread chicken over that. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 22-25 minutes.

When done, garnish with cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.

ench enchilad