Dips jeg vil prøve...

Ingredients:
3 roasted red peppers
3/4 cup walnuts (toasted)
1/4 cup whole grain bread crumbs
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon aleppo pepper (or chipotle pepper)
1 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Blend everything in a food processor until smooth. Add water to thin if desired.




Hummus is a dip or a spread that is made from chickpeas, lemon, tahini, olive oil and garlic. You can add extras to hummus like spices such as cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, etc. or you can add some herbs or even things like roasted red peppers or sundried tomatoes etc. The possibilities are seemingly endless. Not only is hummus is super easy to make but it is also fairly healthy and it tastes great. I really enjoy the flavour and the creamy texture of hummus and I make it fairly often. I like using hummus as a dip for pitas and vegetables and as a spread on crostini or in sandwiches. This time I made a basic hummus and I served it on whole wheat crostini with some roasted red peppers and balsamic vinegar. I was planning of placing a leaf of basil under the roasted red pepper but I forgot to pick up the basil at the store. How do you use hummus?

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper




After discovering the greatness of roasted garlic I though that I would have to try it in what is one of my favorites snacks, hummus. Hummus is a nice and versatile dip that you can add pretty much any flavour to and I thought that roasted garlic hummus would be a tasty treat. The roasted garlic hummus turned out to be pretty good! The sweetness of the roasted garlic went really well in the creamy hummus. The roasted garlic hummus disappeared quite quickly and I will have to make some more soon.

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
1 head roasted garlic
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Add some water (or more olive oil) to bring it to the consistency that you like.



I have often wondered why refried beans were called refried beans. I guess it is because the dried beans are cooked once to reconstitute them and then cooked a second time, after mashing them, by frying them in lard. It is the frying them in the lard that makes them nice and creamy and full of flavour and good. You don't need to use the lard but it is best if you use some kind of fat. I don't often have lard on hand so I normally use bacon grease and since I am cooking the bacon for the grease anyways I usually throw the the bacon in as well. The source of fat can also be oil for a lighter and healthier or vegetarian version.

Refried beans are normally made with pinto beans but you can use any kind of beans that you want. I often enjoy using black beans instead of pinto beans. Simmering the dried beans to reconstitute them takes a while so I usually use caned beans, which I always have on hand, and that saves a lot of time.

Other than the beans and the fat, refried beans can be as simple or as complex as you like. You could easily leave them there or you can add in extras. For me, it depends on what I am using them for. If I am going to use the refried beans as a side dish or as a filling for burritos I might keep them simple and omit the onions and garlic. If what I am serving them with is already spicy then I might leave out the ground up chilies and cumin. If I am using the refried beans as a dip I would probably use everything in the recipe below and I might even add some tomato and jalapenos. I would also add some water to thin the refried beans out so that they would not break the tortillas chips when scooping. I would also garnish a refried bean dip with some shredded cheese and green onions or maybe some sour cream and cilantro. Refried beans are so versatile!


Refried Beans
(2 as a dip or 4+ as a filling or side)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons lard (or bacon grease or oil etc.)
1 small onion (chopped, optional)
1 clove garlic (chopped, optional)
1 (19 ounce) can pinto beans (drained and rinsed, or black beans, etc.)
1 tablespoon chili powder (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground, optional)
* water (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat the lard in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add the beans, chili powder and cumin and cook until warm.
5. Mash the beans until you get them to the consistency that you want. (If the beans are too thick you can add water to thin them out.)



I am still on my hummus kick. Hummus is such a simple and tasty snack. You can make it plain or you can add whatever extra flavours you want. This time I was inspired by this recipe for olive hummus. I used sun dried olives in mine as they were what I had on hand. This one took a bit more effort as I had to remove the pits from the olives before adding them to the food processor. Add some toasted whole wheat pita triangles for a tasty and fairly healthy snack.

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
1/4 cup sun dried olives (pitted)
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Add some water (or more olive oil) to bring it to the consistency that you like.



It seems that I am on a hummus kick and this week it is roasted red pepper hummus. And why not? It is a tasty and super easy snack. Well, in this case you actually have to roast a red pepper in the oven so it takes a bit longer to make... The farmers market is full of red peppers and I am looking for way to use enjoy them. This time I roasted a jalapeno pepper as well to add a bit of heat. Enjoy with toasted pita wedges or as a spread on crostini.

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
1 roasted red pepper
1 roasted jalapeno pepper (optional)
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Add some water (or more olive oil) to bring it to the consistency that you like.


Hummus is a dip that is made from pureed chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic. It is great in its base form but you can also add other flavours to it. Normally I would make this version with sun dried tomatoes but this time I made it with the oven dried tomatoes that I had left over. It goes well with toasted pitas and makes a great snack.

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
4 sun dried tomatoes (or oven dried tomatoes)
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Add some water (or more olive oil) to bring it to the consistency that you like.



I could not let eggplant season go by without trying this tasty looking recipe for melitzanosalata or Baba Ghanoush an eggplant salad. The base melitzanosalata recipe calls for mashed grilled aubergine, olive oil and lemon juice. This recipe adds some garlic and feta for flavour and some parsley for colour. Unfortunately I do not have a grill so I was forced to broil the eggplant in the oven. It turned out really good. I ate it as a dip with baked pitas and I ended up finishing it all in one sitting. I now have one more tasty eggplant recipe in my collection. I have really been enjoying eggplants so far this summer!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup feta (crumbled, optional)
2 tablespoons of parsley (chopped)

Directions:
1. Broil the eggplant until charred on all sides, about 30 minutes.
2. When the eggplant is cool enough to work with cut it in half and scoop out the inside.
3. Blend the eggplant, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and feta in a food processor.
4. Mix in the parsley.



When I was at the grocery store I asked for 100 grams of feta cheese from the deli section and what I got was more like 400 grams. I thought, no problem I really like feta I will take it anyways. So I needed a recipe to use up some extra feta cheese and I remembered seeing this recipe for htipiti, a Greek feta cheese dip. It has a lot of flavours that I really like, including feta, sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. It also had some things in that I was not so sure about including the green onion and the jalapeno pepper. It was amazing! I finished all of it in one night. The roasted jalapeno pepper left a really nice warmth in the mouth. I think that I might even try increasing the amount of jalapeno the next time that I make this.

Ingredients:
4 ounces feta
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 green onion
2 ounces sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (drained, reserve)
1 roasted red pepper
1 roasted jalapeno pepper

Directions:
1. Mix everything in a food processor. (Add some oil from the sun dried tomatoes if it is too thick.)



Ingredients:
2 large avocados (halved, stoned, peeled and mashed)
1 lime (juice)
1 roma/plum tomato (seeded and chopped)
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and chopped)
1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Mix everything