Dips, Dips And More Dips

We had excess beetroot, pumpkin and kale from the garden that all needed eating. So as a quick easy way of using some of them up I made a trio of dips to enjoy on crackers as a snack.

Beetroot Dip

Ingredients

1 medium beetroot or 2 small beetroot

1 cup of thick natural yoghurt

2 crushed cloves of garlic

a pinch of fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper

toasted cumin seeds to sprinkle on top

Place the whole beetroot (skin and all) in a saucepan and cover with cold water.

Bring the water to boil and simmer until the beetroot is tender.

Once the beetroot is cool enough for you to handle without burning your fingers peel the skin off the beetroot.

Roughly cut the beetroot up and place it in a food processor with all of the other ingredients apart from the cumin seeds.

Blend until you get the consistency you like.

Sprinkle the toasted cumin seeds on top to serve.

Pumpkin and Cashew Dip

Ingredients

half a medium sized pumpkin cut into small cubes

olive oil

salt

1/2 cup of cashew nuts

2 cloves of garlic

2T grated parmesan cheese

Place the pumpkin, oil and salt in a bowl. Toss until the pumpkin is well coated.

Roast the pumpkin in a 180 degree oven until tender.

Place the cashew nuts in a food processor. Blend until you get a texture that you like. If you blend them to a fine mixture you will tend to get a creamier dip, if they are a bit chunkier you will get a more textural dip.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and blend until the pumpkin forms a smooth texture.

Kale Pesto

Ingredients

a handful of kale leaves - middle stem removed

1/4 cup of walnuts - toasted

a clove of garlic

olive oil

juice and zest of one lemon

salt and pepper

Blanch the kale leaves for about 30seconds in boiling water and refresh in ice cold water. 

Attempt to remove as much excess water from the kale as possible.

Add the kale and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until you get a consistency that you like.

Add as much olive oil as you need to get the texture that you want. I used about 1/4 cup. The smoother you want your pesto the more olive oil you will need.

The measurements of the ingredients in these recipes is only a guide. You can play around with them as you please to get the flavours that you want. 

I served my dips as part of a plater with cured fish (see previous post), home grown and brined olives and crackers. It was delicious and healthy!

How to make Labne

Labne with olive oil and sumac

Labne

Labne is strained thick yoghurt. It is one of my favourite things and you can use it in so many ways. I like to keep some in my fridge most of the time. It has a great shelf life, especially if you cover it with a nice olive oil. Or you can keep it in an airtight container and it pretty much keeps as long as your yoghurt would. You can also roll it into balls and roll them in herbs, nuts or seeds. Spread it on toast with fresh tomato on top or use it as a dip. Add it to salads like I did here. Serve it with barbequed meat or roast vegetables. The possibilities are endless!


1kg plain unsweetened yoghurt (don't use low fat!)
1 1/2 tsp table salt
zest of a lemon
a new chux cloth or piece of muslin
sieve
bowl to sit under the sieve

In a bowl mix together the yoghurt, salt, and lemon zest.
Line the sieve with the chux cloth and pour in the yoghurt mix.


Gather the edges of the cloth up and tie in a knot and place the sieve over the bowl. This catches all the liquid that strains out of the yoghurt

Yoghurt straining and ready for the fridge

You want to strain your yoghurt for 24-48 hours. The longer you strain the thicker it gets. I checked it after 6 hours once and there was quite a lot of liquid in the bowl and it had definitely thickened so it is personal preference really.

You can also flavour the labne as you wish before straining or after. Fresh herbs are nice, spices, Harissa, lime instead of lemon. You could fold in toasted nuts before serving too. See! So many possibilities!

Sunflower seed and curly parsley 'pesto'

I always have an abundance of curly parsley. It seems to grow better and faster than its friend Flat leaf or Italian parsley which I also happen to  prefer. You need to cut curly parsley quite fine or it gets stuck in your teeth and it doesn't have a nice texture when roughly chopped. It does have a good flavour so has its place in my kitchen. 

This recipe is great because everything goes in the blender. It makes a good dip or it would be nice with BBQ'd meat or vegetables. Adding rocket or any other soft herbs you have available would make a good variation and you could also thin it out with a bit of water to make a nice dressing.

Sunflower seed and curly parsley pesto

1/2 cup of raw sunflower seeds, soaked in water over night

1 clove garlic

1-2 cups of well packed curly parsley

1/4 -1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 T water

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 1/2 lemons

a good tsp of flaky salt

2 tsp honey

black pepper to taste

pinch of chilli flakes

Place soaked sunflower seeds and remaining ingredients in a blender or small food processor and blend until smooth. Check seasoning and serve as you wish.

Broad Bean Hummus

We have had a decent crop of broad beans this year and so every broad bean recipe known to man has been tried in our household.

After a day at work I got home to a note saying 'harvested the broad beans today and made some hummus' and a couple of containers of the broad bean hummus were waiting for me in the fridge.

So far this is definitely the winner of the broad bean recipe participants! Its made just the same as regular hummus but you replace the chickpeas with blanched, de-skined broad beans instead. Make sure you add lots of lemon juice as it really enhances the broad beaniness. Its delicious on everything!