Veggies and assorted dips

This always happens...when I cook yummy meals (besides the old standbys), I don't craft. Or if I'm crafting, I'm not really into putting forth the extra effort to crank out some interesting dishes. Can I have some balance, please? I haven't stepped into the craft room all week but I've been cooking some yummy stuff. Here's what we had for dinner the other evening. The weather wasn't too miserably hot so we ate outside.

Celery, carrots, cucumber, & cauliflower
with
Clockwise: white bean dip (w/ basil on top), roasted
carrot and garbanzo bean dip, and eggplant tapenade

The white bean dip was a recipe I found on a blog and it came out super bland so I doctored it up by adding salsa, fresh basil and added the rosemary into the dip, not on top. It actually turned out delicious! Here's the recipe:

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 15.5 oz cans white beans (cannellini, navy, great northern - which I used) drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
2 TB fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 TB basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup or more black bean and corn salsa (add to your liking)

In a medium pan, heat oil and add onion. Cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, stirring, and cook one minute. In a food processor, pulse together everything except the salsa. After it's the texture of your liking, pour into bowl and mix in salsa.

I goofed on Just Bento's roasted carrot dip so I had to fix it and it actually came out really good. The addition of the beans makes it more nutritious but I still do love the original (w/ half the sweetener) which I make on a regular basis. I modified the ingredients slightly as follows:

2 large carrots
4 TB tahini
1 TB olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 TB raw cane or light brown sugar, or to taste (I don't like mine too sweet)
1 tsp. ground cumin
Pinch red chili pepper powder, or to taste (I left this out for Boo)
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F. Wash two carrots, cut them up roughly, sprinkle with a little salt, and wrap them loosely in kitchen parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, until soft. Open the paper up for the last few minutes to evaporate any accumulated moisture.

Let cool a bit, and put the pieces in the bowl of a food processor with the other ingredients. Drizzle some water to help the blender along. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

I've made Karina's Kitchen's eggplant tapenade several times and it's oh so delicious! I follow the recipe exactly. I have some left over so I'm going to shred zucchini like spaghetti and toss it in with the tapenade and call it lunch.

All these dips with veggies make for a light meal on a hot day or you can serve them as an appetizer. I like to cut up extra veggies so they make for an easy and quick snack. I find if everything is prepped and ready to eat, well, I'll eat them. Boo ate all the dips but said she preferred the original carrot dip. I was actually surprised she ate the white bean dip because it had a kick to it from the salsa. She ate the tapenade but didn't say anything about it.

I have a recipe I'm going to make tomorrow for Father's Day dinner. I've never made it so I'm hoping it'll turn out. It sounds good on paper. If it's a winner, I'll definitely blog about it. Have a good day tomorrow!!!