Greek Salad Dip

Who doesn’t love a dip? Dips are perfect for entertaining but don’t just save this recipe for Greek Salad Dip for company! Enjoy this yourself!

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Baba Ganoush

As with Hummus, there are so many recipes for Baba Ganoush & I pretty much like all of them. Some are made with mayonnaise which I really like but the one that I have been making lately uses tahini.  Very quick & simple, delicious & healthy. If you can not eat tahini, add mayonnaise in its place. If I am using mayo I add enough to get the colour I like. I know that is not very exact, but somehow it works. I like the baba ganoush to be a medium grey colour if that helps!!

Here is the recipe

Baba Ganoush with Tahini

! medium size eggplant

1 lemon, squeezed *** discard lemon

1 clove of garlic, minced  *** tip if using a food processor, you can drop a peeled clove of garlic into the food processor while it is running & it will get minced!!

1 -2 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp tahini *** if you want to make this for Passover, use mayo!

Method

  1. Line a cookie sheet with foil
  2. Wash the eggplant & prick it with a fork in a few places. Put it on the cookie sheet & bake in a 350 oven for an hour or until it is very soft. ***I put on an oven glove and squish it to see how done it is & when it is very soft & the skin is wrinkled, it is done  ***alternately cut the eggplant in half, spray the foil with non-stick spray, put the eggplant cut side down, bake until soft
  3. Let the eggplant cool
  4. Cut off the stem end of the eggplant & cut it into chunks
  5. Place the eggplant into a food processor or blender. add the lemon juice, minced garlic, salt & olive oil, process until you have the consistency your like  *** I like mine smooth

Enjoy!

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Hummus & Baked Pita Chips

There are so many recipes for Hummus & so many options to buy it ready-made in the grocery stores. But..I like making it myself. It is fast, easy & I can have it on a whim. I started making my own over 25 years ago and have come up with a recipe that we love. Lemony & smooth.If you don’t like yours lemony, just add the lemon juice gradually and taste as you go! Eat it with pita, fresh or baked, crackers, vegetables, on toast or just with a spoon!  I toasted some pita in the oven which I had frozen when we had too much one time and it is great!

Here is my recipe for Hummus

 

Hummus

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed  *** some people peel them to get a smoother hummus but I never want to spend the time doing that!

1 tsp garlic paste  ***or 1 clove of garlic minced

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice  *** juice from a whole smallish lemon

1 tsp Kosher salt ***regular table salt is fine

4 Tbsp olive oil

3 heaping tbsp Tahini paste

2 Tbsp water

Method

  1. Put the chickpeas in a food processor and process until they are smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides *** be careful not to cut the spatula on the blade..I have done that many times!
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
  3. Serve in a bowl with a bit of olive oil drizzled on top if you would like!

 

Baked Pita Chips   

Preheat oven to 400F ***I just turned my oven on while I was preparing the pitas, so it wasn’t quite at 400 degrees yet

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Ingredients

I pkg of large pita pockets

olive oil

kosher salt

dried parsley

Method

  1. Split pitas in half
  2. Using a pastry brush, brush on some olive oil all over the inside part of the spit pitas
  3. Sprinkle with kosher salt & any herbs you might like. I like house salt only & some dried partly flakes
  4. Cut the pitas in triangles…cut in half then half again…or once more to make smaller triangles  if you prefer
  5. Place the triangles on a lined baking sheet, not layered. & put into the oven
  6. Check after 5 minutes and keep your eye on them as they can burn quickly.

 

Hummus

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