Dips are popular at parties being a really easy way to make crisps, crackers, bread and vegetables come to life and stretch further. They are also easy to prepare and can look really striking on a feast table, being less fiddly than many other finger foods to assemble. These are very different to the predictable supermarket versions.
All the recipes make enough for a large bowl but multiply the quantities for larger portions.
Greek Dip with Black Olives, Feta and Mint:
This is a chunky, filling dip full of summer flavor whether eaten at that time of year or simply used to bring back sunny memories.
It goes especially well with raw crudites including peppers, cherry tomatoes, celery, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli and sugar snap peas. It is also a great topping for toasted bread slices. Tasting best chilled, make this a little in advance and keep it refrigerated until needed.
Make the dip in a food processor or blender for speed, but this can be made by hand if without kitchen equipment.
- 500ml Greek yogurt
- 200ml sour cream
- 300g Feta cheese
- Juice of a lemon
- 200g pitted black olives, finely sliced
- 1 sprig of fresh mint
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 1tbsp toasted sunflower seeds
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Chop the mint finely or blend in a food processor then set aside.
- Crumble and mash the feta with a fork, or again in a food processor until all crumbled but not yet a smooth paste.
- Fold the feta and mint in to the Greek yogurt, blending in the sour cream, crushed garlic, lemon juice and one tablespoon of the oil.
- Add the chopped olives and mix thoroughly, checking seasoning and adding salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve this heaped in a bowl, sprinkled with toasted sunflower seeds and drizzled with the remaining oil.
For really special presentation save a few olive slices and use these to dress the dip as well, along with a few extra lemon slices.
Bean Dip:
Bean dip is a smooth and creamy treat which is also suitable for vegans yet fairly inexpensive to make. It tastes fabulous with bread sticks, warm asparagus, little gem lettuce leaves used as scoops, crackers, crisps, warm pita slices and even hot potato wedges.
Use plenty of garlic and lemon as the beans tend to soak up flavors well. The best beans to use are dried ones as they retain all their texture and taste as well as being cheaper to buy in bulk. However this can involve a little preparation as the beans need to be soaked and cooked in a particular way. Canned beans are suitable to use in a hurry but try to get them canned without salt and sugar.
Serve this warm or cold but make fresh for the best flavor.
- 800g cooked Cannellini beans
- 300ml extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 2 lemons and extra lemon wedges to serve
- 4 - 5 garlic cloves to taste
- 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- If using dried beans then soak these overnight in plenty of water. The next day, drain and rinse the beans before placing in a large pan of fresh water. Make sure that they are very well covered as they will be cooking for a long time. Bring this to a vigorous boil and keep it boiling fast for at least 15 minutes. These steps are extremely important as beans are poisonous otherwise.
- Once the beans have boiled vigorously for the allotted time, reduce the heat a little and continue boiling until soft and cooked. This usually takes up to 45 minutes. Drain before using for the dip and leave to cool a little.
- When the beans are cooling, gently heat the garlic and olive oil. The idea is to just warm these and let the garlic infuse, rather than to fry anything.
- To make the dip, blend the beans and the garlicky oil in a food processor or with an electric hand mixer. If using a food processor be careful to only use warm rather than hot ingredients.
- Once the dip has become a smooth oily paste, blend in the lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste.
- Before serving mix though a little of the chopped parsley and garnish with the remainder plus lemon wedges and extra olive oil if desired.
Serve immediately or leave to cool and serve cold at room temperature rather than refrigerated.
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