Healthy Hummus

An experiment of sorts. Not healthy eating, but getting my son to eat healthy. I was recommended a great book; Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. A must read for any moms out there who are having trouble getting veggies in your kids. This woman puts vegetable puree in everything. Spinach in brownies???

One of the great ideas I did take away from the book was to put out a healthy dip and veggies an hour or so before dinner. That way when your kids come running to the fridge for a snack you can direct them there. A brilliant idea for my snack crazy kid. I really didn't think it would work...

Luckily my Mom thinks she is Greek, so my son and nephew have been exposed to a lot of Greek flavors. Hummus being one of them. I thought this would be the perfect dip to start off with. A healthy version of course.

I sort of have a love hate relationship with my food processor. I mean the work it can do at such a quick speed is unsurpassed, but look at all those parts to clean!!! One or two minutes of work and you have a whole sink full of dishes.

I prefer to serve this dip with raw veggies (my fave way to eat them anyway). My son however prefers little cheddar bunnies.

As a compromise, he earned one bunny for every piece of "veggable" he ate! I also made his veggie sticks quite small so it wasn't such a large commitment for him. This idea really did work. He would either eat the "veggables" or quit asking for a snack. Plus, I enjoyed nibbling as I cooked dinner!!

Healthy Hummus

1 can each chickpeas and chopped artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup reduced-fat maynnaise

2 tbsp grated parmesan

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed

1 tsp dried or fresh parsley

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp chili powder or to taste

1/8 tsp onion pepper

In a food processor, process the chickpeas until chopped. Add the artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic and seasonings. Blend until pureed. Note: This dip tastes best when it is made the day before serving.

Opa!

CC

Spicy Yogurt Dip

During one of my "what's for dinner" conversations in my head, I got stuck on quesadillas. We don't typically have these, tacos are the usual Mexican fare around here. It wasn't so much the quesadilla that I wanted but rather the spicy yogurt dip I have had a few times in restaurants. See I am not much of a salsa girl, and I don't like sour cream - but every once in awhile I am served a dip I can't refuse. I thought it would be much easier to find a recipe than it was, I really had to do some hunting - but boy am I glad I did!!

Be sure to use Greek Yogurt for this dish. I am sure a plain yogurt would work too - but this is the nice thick stuff and it tastes good too. One of my new favorite ingredients is tomato paste in a tube. Whoever would have thought I would have that stocked in my pantry (non-tomato lover)? In the past, I rarely bought the stuff as most recipes just call for a tablespoon or so. I always felt bad throwing away most of the tin. Since I started adding a little to our mac and cheese (hidden veggies are good kids!) I found it so helpful to have on hand!

What I loved about this recipe is that I had all the ingredients on hand but the yogurt and the chipotle powder. Now, I have chili powder, and cayenne pepper, and chili sauce, diced jalapenos - but I did not have chipotle powder. You need this, they all taste different and this one needs the chipotle. Now that I have it, I can make years and years worth of spicy yogurt dip!!

The dip was awesome. I did half the amount of chipotle powder than called for as my husband can't take a lot of spice. Oddly, I was still satisfied with this but may occasionally divide the dip and add some extra spice to mine. I also substituted the cilantro for some dried parsley - sorry either you like it or you don't - and I definitely don't!! My brave 3 year old son even had 3 or 4 mouthfuls of dip before deciding against it. I am so proud of his palate, haha.

I plan on serving this tomorrow with home made perogies, and will be making it again and again in the future. I hope you will too. Here is the recipe.

Enjoy

CC