Summer Dips

In the spring I usually eat a lot of salads as the lettuce is really coming up, but by summer my lettuce just isn't as appealing. Usually it bolts or becomes bitter. I ought to plant more every couple of weeks to keep up a supply, but invariably I don't. Also about now I have a lot of veggies that I can eat as finger foods.

I have lots of turnips, kohlrabi, and peas getting harvested. The radishes were harvested a while back. These are the last of the French Breakfast. As summer goes on I'll get zucchini, cucumbers, and beans. They are all improved by a dip of some kind. I have two favorite dips and the nice thing is that they are healthy too.

One of my favorite dips is hummus. Not only are the vegetables that I dip from the garden, but so is the main part of this. The beans. I didn't use garbonzos, I used a white bean.

White Bean Hummus

• 1 cup dried white beans
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 1/4 c tahini
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 T chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1 t salt

Cook the beans (if you never cooked dried beans before, there are plenty of instructions on the web on how to cook them) and save some of the bean water in case it is needed later. Cool. Blend all the other ingredients until smooth in a pureeing device of your choosing. Add the beans and blend until it is a smooth as you like. If it is too thick add in some of that bean water to thin it out a bit.

My second favorite dip is basically tzatziki without the cucumbers and with whatever herbs I like. It is a yogurt dip. And interestingly enough I usually like it best with the traditional dill. The one above was made with basil, parsley, and chives. Not my best. I think the parsley over powered it too much. Usually I like single herbs, but occasionally I feel like I have to mix it up.

Yogurt Dip

• 7 oz plain Greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic grated
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 T to 1/3 c of chopped herbs of your choice, 2 T of dill would make a nice tzatziki
• 1/4 - 1/2 c grated/diced vegetable - optional, 1/4 c cucumber would make tzatziki, but if I could eat tomatoes I could imagine a tomato based one too, or spicy peppers

I keep thinking about coming up with a honey mustard dip, but I keep stopping myself. The two dips above are pretty healthy as dips go. A honey mustard one wouldn't be. With all that sugar (honey) and mayo - oh it would taste good, but not good for you. Hummus might have a lot of fat in it, but the fats are both very good for you. And some fat isn't bad. Many of the nutrients in your veggies can't be absorbed into your body without a dose of fat.