Vegan Dips
I used to always think that dips were just for the adults at parties i went to when i was little. they seemed to love dip. the women with the double-denim and too-dark-for-them bob haircuts were always chatting, laughing, and slapping each other's thigh when a joke was told all with a jatz cracker in their hand topped with french onion dip. well it was the 90's. anyway after experiencing that for years, i never really ventured into dips. maybe hummus if it was on a kebab from sydney rd. maybe.
i thought i could make hummus but i feel like everyone's been there and done that. i'm a bit late to the game in terms of food blogging. i figured if chickpeas could be blended so could beans and i had a can of butter beans that i got for a bargain of 60c in the pantry. i then proceeded to refer to my 'flavour thesaurus' book (written by the amazing niki segnit) and decided rosemary would be a good match especially since i've got in the garden and i just whack a good slurp of olive oil into everything anyway.
the flavour thesaurus also led me to the eggplant and cumin combo which i just love. two eggplants that had already begun walking the road to veggie heaven were in the fridge so it seemed like fate.
both of these vegan dips are so damn versatile. i spread them on toast, mix them with some natural yoghurt to put on homemade wraps and kebabs, mix with yoghurt again and marinade chicken in it then bake it, or actually use them as dips! they taste beautiful and are far nicer for you than the ones in the supermarket with weird numbers in them. mine are number-free, and will be featuring at the next dinner party i'm invited to.
Vegan Dips
White Bean and Rosemary Dip Ingredients
1 x 400g tin of butter beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp of fresh rosemary
1 tbs olive oil
3 little garlic cloves or 2 larger ones
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place everything into a food processor and blend until smooth
Serve with a little more olive oil and rosemary on top
Eggplant Dip Ingredients
2 eggplants, chopped and roasted
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika j
Juice of half a lemon
2 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Again, put everything into the food processor and blend until mostly smooth
Serve with some sprinkles of paprika
