Ricotta Strawberry Spread

Whenever I am preparing a nice meal, I like to have something for folks to nosh on...because I'm almost always later than expected with serving up a meal. At a recent pot-luck meet up a guy brought this delicious salad that was just ricotta cheese with sliced strawberries. Strawberries are in season now and absolutely delicious! I served it with these yummy whole grain flax seed crackers. This salad is super easy to make, looks pretty and always impresses people because few actually expect this as an appetizer. It's perfect with a glass of white wine. I made this as something for my mom and I as I was making her birthday dinner. It was the perfect snack. The strawberries I picked up at the farmer's market. California has amazing strawberries! 

Ricotta Strawberry Spread

Fresh ricotta cheese

Strawberries, quartered

Mix the two in a bowl. Serve alone or with crackers. 

Variations: If you want to get really fancy you can drizzle on a little lemon olive oil or honey. 

With homemade crackers

Lemon Walnut Parsley Pesto

I was recently given the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and have loved learning all the health benefits to various foods. When I made the flax and almond paleo bread, I wanted a pesto like spread to go with it. Ordinary pesto is made with cheese however this pesto is effectively paleo and vegan. It contains no cheese. I love Italian flat leaf parsley and it comes in bushels in our Eat Well CSA so I decided to make this  a parsley pesto. Raw parsley is one of the best sources of Glutathione. Glutathione acts as a super antioxidant and can inactivate cancer-causing agents, that may otherwise damage cells. It also neutralizes fats that initiate artery clogging build up. Glutathione also protects our eye lens from the destruction caused by ultraviolet light, as such it is an antioxidant that helps protect us against cataracts. 

Lemon Walnut Parsley Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped scallions
2 cups parsley
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 heaping cup walnuts
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you have your desired consistency and taste. Sprinkle in the salt depending on your preference.

Nichole's Garlicky Pesto

My roommate, Nichole, recently made a delicious and very garlicky pesto spread. Delicious with steak, on crackers and certainly far superior to any store bought pesto. I'd love to have this on angel pasta with shrimp and cheese. Nichole's pesto is loosely based on this pesto recipe - with significant substitutions due to ingredient availabilities. Because this pesto has a rather strong garlic under tone, I recommend eating it with a light whipped cheese, sweet tomato slices, avocado or tangerine. I think the pesto was perfect however Nichole did say that if she makes this again, she would add a dash of fresh lemon juice.

Nichole's Garlicky Pesto

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons goat cheese
1/8 cup almonds
Dash of salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency.

Chunky Guacamole

For a Mexican Shabbat dinner I had to whip up some yummy guacamole for the blue corn tortilla chips and whole wheat challah. This guac was delicious and chunky and the corn kernels add a nice little texture and sweetness to offset the citrus lime juice.

Ingredients:

1 large whole avocado

1/4 cup corn kernels, frozen are fine

Juice from 1/2 lime

1/4 cup chopped white onion

1/4 parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Place the avocado in a bowl and mash it with a fork. Mix in the onions and corn and parsley and drizzle the lime juice and mix with a fork just until everything is incorporated.

Hummus with Artichoke, Red Pepper and Sun Dried Tomatoes

While I was making dinner, my boyfriend, The Taste Tester, decided to make some hummus. I only put all the possible hummus ingredients on the counter but he completely did it on his own and I was beyond impressed, actually this batch was definitely my favorite! The texture was perfect too. I have a Kitchen Aid food processor and tend to pulse in very short spurts for hummus but it's really a matter of personal preference. One thing is to make sure that you have a spatula on hand to scoop any spices and juices that aren't getting incorporated.

Hummus with Artichoke, Red Pepper and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 marinate artichoke heart

1/2 roasted red pepper

2 sun dried tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

1 can of garbanzo beans

1/2 cup juice from garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon Sabra's S'chug, hot red pepper mix

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until you have the desired consistency.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

This hummus has hand down been my most successful one! It was the perfect consistency and wonderfully even in ingredients. Fortunatley I made a lot of it and the entire tub was finished by four people over one dinner! This is a no fail recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup of the juice from the chickpea can

12 sundried tomatoes

6 garlic cloves

1/3 cup tahini

a little less than 1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
1. Mince the garlic cloves and sundried tomatos in a food processor. Add all the other ingredients and blend until you have your desired consistancy. YUM!

10 Layer Dip!

My friend, Maxine, and I made this as a party dip recently. This is one of those dips that you can't go wrong with at the party. The only problem was that because it was so deep, you couldn't get all the layers on one chip. Actually, it was quite messy to eat and required one hand to hold the chip and the other as caution for dripping layers. I should disclose that all ten layers are not unique, but rather some are doubled up. There are no rules to this dip and every variation will taste delicious! The layers of lettuce and onion add a lovely crunch to the otherwise creamy texture. Also the contrast between the melted cheese layer and the fresh cheese layer helps tie it all together. Growing up in California, every party I went to had one of these dips there and there was never a "correct" order of layers, it was all about the bean and cheese combo with chips, all the other layers are like extra things to beef it up. Speaking of, I'm sure a shredded beef layer would taste great too!

10 Layer Dip

Ingredients:

1 can black beans
12 oz mixed cheese, grated
16 oz guacamole
8 oz sour cream
Salsa
Lettuce, shredded
Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
Pico de gallo

Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the beans evenly across the bottom of a glass dish. Sprinkle half the cheese on top of the beans. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted.
2. Spread the guacamole on top of the cheese, followed by a layer of sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pico de gallo and lastly the remaining cheese.

Craig Murphey Memorial Hummus Contest

My awesome roommate sent me a link about local food contests and one of the items was a hummus contest! This contest ended up being very humbling and while I didn't win I got to try some fantastic new flavors and meet new foodies! It was put on by the Craig Murphy Memorial Foundation, in honor of the Craig Murphy, the community organizer and activist against poverty. It was at the Hope Lounge in Brooklyn and the rules were simple, bring 3 quarts of a creative hummus with your own dipping items. The judges were friends, family and supporters who came to the event to try all the hummus tubs and judge them based on taste, texture, choice of dip item and originality. The winner was a fantastic pumpkin spice hummus made by Janelle, a lovely aspiring chef with a talent for cooking and presentation! She just started a cooking show so check her out on Facebook fan page or you can subscribe on YouTube. She had rolled individual whole wheat tortilla triangles with the spicy pumpkin hummus and a lettuce leaf. All of it was held together by a cute little fall leaf toothpick. Here is a picture she took at the contest.

Second place went to a Moroccan hummus.

Third place was given to a really tasty Thai style hummus made with coconut milk, lemon grass and some Thai spices. One of my personal favorites was a beet hummus shown below.

Fourth place (just kidding there was no fourth place but I like to think I would have won 4th) went to my Kalamata olive hummus :)  I decided to go with my Kalamata olive hummus.

For a first food contest, it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to more! Thanks so much to everyone who came and supported!

Greek Kalamata Hummus

I had some delicious left over Kalamta  olives that I thought would make a lovely spread for pita bread. Using my standard recipe for hummus, I created this Kalamata version that tastes fantastic on flatbread with some cucumber slices! I always prefer my hummus chunky and with texture but you can definitely smooth it out further in the food processor if you want. I have been using this Kalamata spread in my lunches and it tasted great in a pita sandwich with grilled chicken and parsley. Kalamata olives are from the Kalamata region of Greece and they are large, smooth and have a meatlike taste. I have only ever these tasty purple olives as appetizers or with a salad but I would love to try and cook them with chicken as they have a strong flavor.

Greek Kalamata Hummus

Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves
1/4 Kalamata olives (pitted)
1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 scallion (sliced)
1/4 cup tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons z'atar

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients in a food processer and pulse until you have your desired consistancy. It's a good idea to pulse the mixture and  stop to scrape the sides of the processor with a spatula to make sure you are incorporating all the ingredients.

Spicy Pepper Hummus

I always loved the Sabras brand of hummus but it's much more fun to make your own because you can intensify the flavors to your preference and experiment with additional ingredients. Hummus is one of those dips that is perfect for any sort of fresh bread or pita and tastes delicious with whole grain or corn chips. This picture above is the Hummus family of ingredients.

Ingredients: From left to right:
about 2 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper dried flakes
4 fresh garlic gloves
a little more than 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fire roasted red pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 teaspoon za'atar (can be purchased at Middle Eastern markets)
1/4 cup tahini (also known as sesame paste)

Directions:
1. In a food processer, blend the garlic gloves until they are settled on the bottom of the processor. Then blend the fire roasted red pepper until it too has settled along the sides of the processor.
2. Add in the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, za'atar and red pepper flakes.

3. Pulse processor until you get your desired consistency, pausing to scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula. Taste test it along the way to see if you would like to add more tahini, lemon or any more of the spices.

4. When it is at your desired consistancy, transfer hummus into a tupperwear container and place in the refigerator for at least 20 min. Bring to room temperature before serving

For extra spicyness, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper!