Dips for Dinner – Babaganoush, Capsicum and Macadamia, and Hummus

by Linda on April 17, 2012

And why not?

Just because they look like party food doesn’t mean they can’t be really healthy, low fat, midweek dinner food. And I love the social aspect of all just sitting round the table sharing one platter, rather than individual plates. Everyone has their own favourites. Conversation flows. It’s nice.

Half an hour? OK, well, I cheated.   I made the sourdough pita on the weekend and just freshened it up by wrapping in a clean moist tea towel and steaming in the oven for a few minutes.  And though it came together in half an hour at the end, but there was a bit of pre-thinking in it, so it fits the Tuesday Night Vego Challenge rules only with a (fair) bit of creative license!

Charring the Eggplant and Capsicum

The main part of this meal is charring the eggplant and capsicum.  I do this sometimes directly over the flame on my gas oven:

But it is nicer, faster and easier over the wood fired Japanese Hibachi.

Whichever way, the aim is a large eggplant and a large capsicum (or equivalent smaller ones) and three or four cloves of garlic with blackened, charred skin.

Put them straight away into a container with a lid and allow to cool in their own steam until cool enough to handle.

Then gently peel off the blackened skin.  You needn’t stress about getting every little bit – a bit left on doesn’t hurt – it adds to the flavour.  But you want to remove most.

This is the only really laborious part of the whole dinner, and the charring does totally change the flavours, making them sweet and complex and  delicious.

Babaganoush

Blend together:

  • 1 eggplant, roasted and skinned
  • a clove of roasted skinned garlic
  • 3 dsp tahini
  • 50 ml lemon juice
  • salt to taste

Roasted Capsicum and Macadamia Dip

Blend together:

  • 1 large capsicum, roasted and skinned
  • 1 skinned tomato (dunk in boiling water and the skin will come off easily)
  • a clove of roasted skinned garlic
  • ¹/3 cup macadamia kernels (or substitute whatever nut is in season in your part of the world)
  • a little swig of olive oil
  • salt to taste

Hummus

This is basically the same recipe I posted for pea hummus a few months ago, but using chick peas (garbanzos) instead of peas.  I put the peas on to soak overnight, pressure cooked them for 15 minutes in the morning, turned them off just before I left for work, and left them in the closed pressure cooker for the day.  Then it was just a matter of blending:

  • 1 cup of cooked chick peas (garbanzos)
  • good pinch of salt
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 50 ml lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
  • 2 big dessertspoons tahini
  • enough water to make a smooth dip consistency

I served the three dips with a little tomato and basil salad and pita bread.

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Chickpea and Silverbeet Lemon Soup

by Linda on October 10, 2010

This is an easy, but long slow recipe. Perfect for a wet day at home with the fire going.  Chickpeas and silver beet, livened up with lemons and olives – the nice part about it is that it is the kind of filling, low fat, very yummy soup you can snack on all day and feel good in all sorts of ways.

First, cook your Chickpeas

Soak two cups of chickpeas in water for a few hours or overnight.  Drain off the water, add clean water and a good pinch of salt, and simmer for about an hour or pressure cook for about half an hour until they are quite soft.  The time will vary depending on your chickpeas.

At the same time, make your stock

Every vegetable stock is different, depending on the vegies you have to hand.  For this one, I used the green tops of a large leek, several stems and leaves of celery, a diced carrot, silver beet stems, a broccoli stem, some amaranth, some nasturtium leaves (for their peppery-ness), a big handful of rocket leaves, a couple of chillies, a couple of bay leaves, a good pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper.

Mostly it is the parts of vegetables that would normally be discarded. Add 6 cups of water, cover with a lid,  and simmer for an hour or so.  Then strain out the vegetables and discard them.  Taste the stock and add salt (or soy sauce) to taste.

Assembling:

Saute 5 or 6 garlic cloves and a diced onion in olive oil.

Add 6 cups of vegetable stock, and 4 cups of cooked mashed chick peas.  You have a few choices with the mashing.  The aim is to break them up but not to blend them smooth.  You can add a little of the stock to the peas and use a potato masher or fork.  Or you can add half  the stock to the peas and use an egg beater. Or you can add all of the stock and (careful not to overdo it) use a stick blender.

Add 20 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped.

Bring up to the boil then add about 10 large silver beet leaves, stripped from the stem and chopped into spoon sized pieces.

Simmer for just a few minutes until silver beet is wilted.  Then add ¼ cup lemon juice.  Taste and add salt or soy sauce to taste.

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