Olive, Bean, and Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

Everyone should have at least one dip under their belts to pull out at various times during the year. Something easy to make and suited to almost every palate. My new-found favorite happens to be one based on three ingredients that I love: beans, olives, and sun-tomatoes. Honestly, how could this go wrong?

It goes fabulously with vegetables (obviously) but also is a mean treat with pita or chips. Oh, and it takes literally 3 seconds to make. Seriously, it's too easy.

Ingredients

2 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
8-10 black olives (pitted)

3-4 sun-dried tomatoes
Oil from jar of sun-dried tomatoes
Assorted crudités
Pita bread, cut into wedges

Method

Puree beans, olive oil, the olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and oil from the tomatoes in processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. 

Drizzle with any leftover tomato oil and a few drops of vinegar. 

Serve with crudités and pita wedges.

Ground Coriander and Cilantro Flatbreads with Indian Raita

I have already waxed lyrical on this blog about the double-edged sword that is making bread.
Sure, it's amazing. But it takes forever. Who has that kind of time?
Kneading. Rising. Proofing. Baking.
Bah.
I rarely have the willpower for even the unrivaled glories that are fresh-baked loaves straight from the oven.

But that's the glory of bread. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and most importantly, requirements expected of the would-be baker.
Behold: the flatbread.
No stupid yeast to deal with. No needing to let it rise. No hours waiting by the oven. These things are deliciously instantly gratifying. Mix some flour with baking power and soda, throw in a few ingredients. Stir. Roll out. Throw in the pan. Wait 3 minutes.
Presto: fresh baked flatbreads.
Soft, warm, heaven on earth.

I couldn't believe how easy and delicious this recipe was. I went website-diving in search of flatbread recipes when my local flatbread supplier, a woman who literally makes my Saturday at the weekly farmer's market, ran out unexpectedly. This has potentially disastrous consequences. Without my usual supplier to my flatbread fix, I turned to the internet in desperation. I never had an idea that the recipe I stumbled upon (provided by the geniuses at Bon Appetit) would become an instant classic. Combine it with Indian raita (recipe follows the flatbread recipe) they had as an accompaniment?
I may never need the flatbread lady ever again.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour 
• 3 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 cup (or more) plain whole-milk yogurt
• Olive oil (for frying)

Method

Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Stir in cilantro. Add yogurt and stir with fork until small clumps form. Knead mixture in bowl just until dough holds together, adding more flour or yogurt by tablespoonfuls for soft and slightly sticky dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead just until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into ball, then roll each dough piece out on floured surface to 4 1/2-inch round. Brush large nonstick skillet generously with olive oil; heat over medium heat. Working in batches, add 3 dough rounds to skillet; cook until golden brown and puffed, adjusting heat to medium-high as needed to brown evenly, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer flatbreads to platter; serve warm.

Traditional Indian Raita

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped seeded English hothouse cucumber
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons chopped green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Method
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Chill raita, covered, until ready to serve.

Baba Ghanoush

 You may have noticed a preponderance of eggplant/aubergine recipes. I can only blame the abundance of the farmer's market. Well, that and the fact that every time I go, my roommate goes as well at a different time. We both arrive home to realize that we have each purchased 3 eggplants. Which makes a total of 6 to get through. Which results in massive eggplant-related recipes. I've been wanting to make this one  for a while and it came out beautifully. The entire bowl of this was gone in 2 hours or less.
So maybe using up all those eggplants wasn't as much of a chore as I thought...

Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients

3 medium eggplants (about 4 pounds)

3 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 ½ tbsp lime juice

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

1 spring onion, chopped

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp harissa

½ tsp cayenne

½ cup Greek yogurt

Optional:

1 tbsp white truffle oil

2 tbsp sesame seed salad dressing

Preparation

Preheat an oven grill. With a paring knife, pierce the eggplants in several places. Place on a medium baking sheet and roast until skins are dark mahogany in color and flesh feels soft, about 50 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Split the eggplants, scoop the flesh into a colander, and press to extract excess liquid.

Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir or use a food processor to pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust the lime juice and salt.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with warm pita bread.

Shrimp Salsa

Because I was holding a party that would involve several noted pescetarians, I wanted to provide something as a substantial meatless dish. Behold, the shrimp salsa. I'm not quite on the bandwagon yet with calling everything that is cold and has a few chilies in it "salsa" (I mean, what's the difference between this and a salad?) but regardless this was a good treat and went down well with the non-meat eaters of our group.

Due to continuing ripeness issues with avocados, for this recipe, I made it a few hours early just so that the avocados might soften a bit as they sat in the lime juice. Worked like a charm. 

Ingredients

2 limes, halved
about 30-35 cooked shrimp
1/4 teaspoon achiote powder (optional)
2 cups seeded and diced tomatoes
1/3 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos, or to taste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
Ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Use 1/4 cup of the lime juice and the achiote powder to soak the shrimp for about 1-2 hours if you want a really zesty salsa. Otherwise just skip to the next step.

In a large bowl, mix the shrimp with the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocado, lime juice, jalapeno, herbs, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more lime juice, salt, or pepper.

Note: This dish can be made and refrigerated up to 3 hours before serving. It should be made the day it is served. Although it doesn't go bad, the vegetables become waters, and it isn't as good the next day.

Middle Eastern/Mexican Avocado Dip

Trying to make guacamole in England is a lesson in perpetual frustration. It is case in point why Mexican food has never really, well, flourished here.

It's a simple question of ingredients. The humble avocado, needing the warm watery environs of places like California or Mexico, does not do well in the land of fish and chips. Avocados are not happy here. The ones offered at the grocery store are small green rocks. Even if you try and ripen these bad boys at home, most of your efforts will be in vain. They will go from rock to mush with about a 5 second window of "perfectly ripe". As such, making anything that requires the beautiful soft texture of a ripe avocado is foolhardy. To avoid said foolhardiness but still wanting an avocado-based dip, I found this recipe that requires a thoroughly mashed avocado, thus bypassing the texture issue altogether. It also involved tahini, a new-found love of mine.

This dip was gone in minutes, literally. Have it with tortilla chips in appreciation of its Mexican side, pita chips for its Middle Eastern side, or  raw veggies if you want to go the healthy way.

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, cut in half, green shoots removed

Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste

2 ripe avocados

3 tablespoons sesame tahini

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or lime juice, if you want more of a hint of Mexican flavors)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground (to taste) (or simply ground cumin)

Preparation

1. Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and mash to a smooth paste. Cut the avocados in half, pit them and scoop out from the skins. Add to the mortar and pestle, and mash together with the garlic until the mixture is smooth. Work in the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin and additional salt to taste.

2. Scrape into a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, setting the wrap right on top of the avocado. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Yield: Makes about 1 cup