White Bean Dip With Feta And Black Olives

A very good dip, and pretty healthy too. We ate it with raw carrots, snap peas, and red pepper strips.

From Choosy Beggars

White Bean Dip with Feta and Black Olives
Makes appx 1 3/4 cups

• 1 can (19 0z) navy beans
• 1 large clove garlic
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 smallish lemon
• 1 small sprig fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 cup feta cheese
• 1/2 cup oil packed sundried black olives (or kalamata olives)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

-- Drain and rinse your can of beans.  Put the beans into a food processor and add the garlic clove and olive oil.  Crumble in the feta cheese and squeeze in the juice of one whole smallish lemon, or the better part of a large one.

-- Scrape the flavorful needles off your rosemary and add them to the beans, discarding the stalk.   There should be about 3/4 tsp of fresh rosemary.   Season the mixture generously with a good grinding of fresh black pepper.

-- Whiz the mixture up in your food processor until it is smooth and no chunks of bean or feta remain.

-- Add the olives to the mix and pulse the mixture 5 or 6 times until the olive is coarsely chopped but not blended.

-- Drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on the top, and you’re laughing.

Becky's Black Bean and Corn Salsa

This is a famous recipe from my sister Becky, healthy and delicious! It also appeared in the Memare cookbook, a collection of family recipes.

Becky's Black Bean and Corn Salsa

-- 2 cans diced tomatoes, drained (or 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes)
-- 2 cans black beans, drained
-- 1 can corn, drained
-- 1 large purple onion, chopped small
-- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
-- juice of 1 lime
-- 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped small

Combine everything together and let set for at least 1 hour before serving, if possible.

The best hummus

This is another recipe I was searching for for a long time. I wanted restaurant-quality hummus, and finally I found a recipe that makes it. I often bring this to parties, I like it because it's healthier than most party dips. Whenever I bring it anywhere someone almost always asks me for the recipe, now when they do I can tell them to check my blog!

Hummus
originally from Allrecipes.com

2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained (roughly 1 can)
1/3 cup tahini (this is fermented sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley (I almost never put this in)

1.  Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic in
a blender or food processor, blend until smooth, adding a little water
if necessary (I usually have to add about a half cup of water in)

2.  Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.  Make a well in the center
with a spoon, drizzle olive oil in the center and sprinkle paprika and
parsley around the outside.  Makes 2 cups.

Disappearing Buffalo Chicken Dip

The title says it all. And they aren't lyin.


Disappearing Buffalo Chicken Dip
from Best Foods & Bobby Flay

Makes 3 cups
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken -- I use the chicken off of about 6 chicken thighs, or you can get 2 cans of canned cooked chicken meant
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot Sauce--the best!)
1 cup Mayonnaise -- use a fairly bland mayonnaise here, I used fancy mayo and it is a bit too strong
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toss chicken with cayenne pepper sauce. Stir in remaining ingredients except blue cheese. Turn into 1 1/2-quart shallow casserole, then sprinkle with the blue cheese.

*Cover and refrigerate here if making ahead*

Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until bubbling. Serve, if desired, with celery and/or your favorite dippers.


TO COOK CHICKEN:

Put chicken in pot along with 2 onions, 3 carrots, 3 stalks celery chunked up, salt and pepper and one bay leaf. Add in water so it covers stuff plus one inch. Boil for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken thighs are cooked all the way through. Make sure to strain and save your homemade chicken broth!