Quick Dips: Cheesy Artichoke Dip and Cannellini Bean Dip

It looks like a busy week. I'm not going to have much time to write, but I'll try to at least post a recipe each day. Two today since I missed yesterday...

Cheesy Artichoke Dip  PRINTABLE RECIPE

2 canned artichoke hearts - finely chopped
1 green onion - finely chopped
1 small garlic clove - minced
1 Tbsp mayonnaise (low-fat or fat-free is acceptable)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 oz jack cheese - cubed
1 tsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine everything except the cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and stir together. Add the cheese and cook on high in the microwave for 1-1/2 minutes. Stir. Cook for 1 minute more or until the cheese is completely melted and bubbly. Stir one more time and serve immediately with tortilla chips or crackers.

Cannellini Bean Dip  PRINTABLE RECIPE
This one's great for parties because you can make it ahead or make it at the last minute, and it can sit out for quite awhile.

19 oz can cannellini beans - drained & rinsed
1 small garlic clove - minced
3 green onions (white & light green parts only) - chopped
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 oz prosciutto - chopped into 1/2" pieces

Stir everything together. Serve with baguette slices.

Salsa Diet (with two salsa recipes!)

I guess it’s time I told you: I’m on a diet. I know – great time to start a food blog! Have you ever noticed though, when you’re on a diet, you kind of get obsessed with food? Well, I’m on this team at work – we call ourselves “Slim Jeans” (no laughing!) – and we’re competing with others to lose the most weight in sixteen weeks. By the way, we’re not calling it a weight loss contest, but a Health Challenge Throwdown – whatever!

Anyway, it’s going really well for me: I’ve lost a few pounds; I’m exercising (a little) more; I’m eating my Lean Cuisines for lunch; and preparing Cooking Light recipes for dinner. It’s working, but I find myself thinking about food way more than I did before the diet. So, here I am, blogging about food. It makes sense really, doesn’t it?

Don’t worry. I know most of you have no interest in boring diet recipes. If I decide to share any “light” recipes, it’ll be because they’re really good, and I won’t even mention that they’re low-fat ‘cause that’s not what this blog is about.

Luckily for me, one of my favorite things is salsa. It goes well with lots of foods, adds mucho flavor, and even on a diet, I can pretty much eat all I want. As with many things, I’m a snob when it comes to salsa. There aren’t many commercial salsas I like, though I’d recommend Native Kjalii Foods Fire Roasted Green Salsa (with tomatillo and avocado). Several Mexican restaurants I’ve tried have good salsa too. One of my favorites is the spicy salsa at El Sombrero on NE Sandy. I won’t claim that my homemade salsa beats either of those two, but it's easy to make and there are all kinds of ways to mix it up, so it never gets boring.

Fresh, chopped salsa is super easy and one of my husband’s favorites. I like the buzz – that rush of heat – from the habañero in this recipe, but please, make it your own way – less pepper, more onion – whatever makes you happy. The quantities are just approximations. I never measure when I make salsa. It's all about what I'm in the mood for at the time. Diced avocado is a great addition to this salsa. Or, try mixing in some chopped tomatillo.

Salsa Fresca  PRINTABLE RECIPE

4 medium-size ripe tomatoes - diced
½ cup peeled, diced cucumber
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
½ to 1 habañero pepper (or jalapeño or other) – seeded and very finely minced
1 small garlic clove – minced
1 Tbsp lime juice
½ tsp kosher salt

Mix everything together in a bowl. It’s best if you let it sit in the refrigerator, covered, for an hour or so, then taste it and adjust the ingredients as needed. Keep in mind, you can add, but you can’t take away, so go light on the salt and the hot pepper to start. Also, chile peppers vary greatly in heat intensity, and you can’t tell how hot they are until you taste them. So, be cautious. Use this fresh salsa within a day or two max.

Blended salsa using canned tomatoes is also good. I make this one more frequently in the fall and winter. A teaspoon or so of oregano is an interesting addition to this recipe. Another idea is to take a dried New Mexico (or Anaheim) chile and place it in a lightly oiled hot sauté pan. Turn it occasionally until it starts to blacken and smoke a little. Then add it to the food processor with everything else. I do this for my mom (another salsa lover) and leave out the onion as she prefers.

Salsa Mexicana  PRINTABLE RECIPE

28 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
4 green onions - chopped into quarters (or 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion or other)
¼ cup jarred jalapeño slices (I like Mezzetta brand)
1 small garlic clove
½ tsp kosher salt

Combine everything in a food processor and blend until mostly smooth or slightly chunky. Taste, adjust your ingredients as needed, and enjoy! Use this salsa within a week.

Summer Shrimp (Grilled Shrimp Skewers)

I hope you’re not anxiously awaiting my report on the shrimp and butternut squash. It was disappointing. We ate it; it was fine, but I don’t think I’d make it again. There are too many new things to try to bother with that recipe one more time. Instead, I’ll share another shrimp recipe...

It’s supposed to be nice in Portland this weekend, so get your grill ready to go, invite some friends over, and try out these grilled shrimp skewers. One tip: If you use wooden skewers, be sure to soak them before use! I completely forgot to do this the first time I made these, and the skewers just burned away (still tasted good though, by the way).

PRINTABLE RECIPE 

2 Lbs peeled & deveined large shrimp (tails OK)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 to 3 garlic cloves – minced
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
lemon halves or wedges

1. Rinse and drain the shrimp and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix to coat and place in refrigerator for one hour to marinate.
2. Thread shrimp onto soaked wooden or metal skewers by piercing through the shrimp, first near the tail, and then near the head of each shrimp. (It’ll look like a C-shaped shrimp.) Thread as few or as many shrimp onto each skewer as you like. (I like to do just two shrimp at one end and leave a long length of skewer. It's a nice way to serve them as an appetizer.)
3. Set skewers on oiled grill over high heat and close the lid. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then turn. Continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes more until they're pink and opaque. Be careful not to overcook.
4. Place skewers on a platter. Squeeze lemon juice over the shrimp and serve immediately.

The Guacamole Experiment

I admit, it wasn’t much of an experiment. I mean, it was pretty much basic guacamole, which in my opinion, is the best kind - fresh avocado, with limited additional ingredients, chopped or mashed, and that’s all you really need for a wonderful guacamole. If you’re one of those people who buys pre-made guacamole dip at the grocery store, stop. I’ve yet to try one that’s anywhere near as good as the homemade stuff, and it’s so easy to make – I mean, why?

So anyway, this weekend my husband (I’ll call him Dave) and I were in the mood for guacamole burgers (or, in our case, garden burgers). We felt like something spicy, so I decided to make habañero guacamole. Now, as I’m sure you know, habañeros are pretty high on the Scoville scale. I love hot and spicy food, but nothing so extreme that I can no longer taste the food. I thought if I heated the pepper through and let it char just a little on the outside, it might mellow the heat a bit, so I lightly sprayed a small sauté pan with cooking oil and dropped the whole pepper into the hot pan, turned it a few times, then pulled it from the pan and set it aside to cool.

Just a little pepper juice or pepper oil had collected in the pan, and I didn’t want that distinct habañero flavor to go to waste. So, I thinly sliced some red onion, put that in the pan, and sautéed it until it was soft and just starting to turn brown.

Meanwhile, I combined an avocado with some red onion, cilantro, and lime juice. Then I seeded the habañero, finely chopped it, added it to the avocado, and mashed everything together with a fork.

We topped our burgers with the guacamole and caramelized onions, and wow! They were fantastic! I added some cheese to mine too ‘cause I love cheese with everything, but I have to say, this is one time when the cheese really wasn’t needed. I was too busy enjoying my delicious burger to notice what other toppings, if any, Dave added. We had lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard – all the standard stuff on hand. With or without all that, these were damn good burgers. A little on the spicy side, but the avocado balanced the heat well. I have no idea if cooking the habañero made any difference at all, but when I do this again, I‘ll do the exact same thing. It was too good!

Habañero Guacamole  PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 ripe avocado
2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsps chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime wedge (about 1/2 tsp)
1 lightly charred habanero – seeded and finely chopped

Cut the avocado in half, remove and discard the seed, scoop avocado out of the the peel, and discard the peel too. Combine avocado and other ingredients. Mash everything together with a fork. That’s it!

Serve with tortilla chips, burgers, or any Mexican dish.

Marinated Feta

Just a little something different for your next wine and cheese gathering. It's easy and delicious! Once you've tried it, I'm sure you'll think of all sorts of possible variations (olives, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes...)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

8 oz block feta cheese
4 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
1/2 tsp dried Greek oregano
6 small dried red chiles
2 Tbsp black peppercorns
extra virgin olive oil

1. Rinse and drain the feta. If the block is more than about 1-1/2 inches thick, slice it in half to make two thinner pieces. Place the block(s) in a small shallow serving bowl.

2. Sprinkle garlic, oregano, whole chiles, and whole peppercorns over the feta. Then pour enough olive oil over the top to just about cover.

3. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight or longer. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to return to room temperature before serving.

Serve with baguette slices or crackers.

Note: As the oil is absorbed by the cheese, pour a little more over the top.