Follow the Ruels

Mediterranean Seven Layer Dip

If you came here expecting to find your classic, Mexican-inspired, Super Bowl party seven layer dip you will be sorely dissapointed. This is not that. It’s better than the calorie bomb that is seven layer dip. Okay, maybe not better (who doesn’t love refried beans topped with guac, sour cream, cheese, etc?), but it’s different. In a good way. A much healthier way.

Instead of the refried beans, guac, sour cream,  and salsa, this dip is layered with hummus, baba ghanoush, Greek yogurt,  and Israeli salad. It’s almost like each layer of the classic seven layer dip is replaced with it’s Mediterranean/Middle Eastern counterpart.

Layer 1 (or 7, depending on which direction you count them) is the hummus. I just used my favorite store-bought brand, but you can knock yourself with your homemade stuff.

Layer 2 is the sliced roasted red peppers.

Layer 3 is either Greek yogurt or tzatziki. I made mine with tzatziki, but I don’t know that it was worth the extra effort to make tzatziki. Once the dip was on the chip, it just tasted like creamy Greek yogurt.

Layer 4 is baba ghanoush, my favorite of all the layers (you can read about my love affair with baba ghanoush here). Again you can use store bought or homemade. In this case I would advocate for homemade because it is just soooo good.

Layer 5 is the Israeli salad, which is just a mixture of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, parsley, and lemon juice. I made mine just a few minutes before assembling the whole thing.

Layer 6 is a healthy sprinkling of feta cheese.

And finally, Layer 7 is some olives, my least favorite of all the layers. Full disclosure, I only included the olives so that I could have seven layers. When I make this again, olives will be nowhere near this dip! But if you like olives…knock yourself out!

I layered everything together in the smallest clear dish I had available so that I could see all of the layers. Then I served it up with some pita chips and veggies.

One recommendation I would make is to keep it small. Even if you want to serve this to a bunch of people, just serve it in several smaller dishes. And that’s a recommendation for all layer dips. You don’t want people wondering what they are eating once all the layers and just blend into one another.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. But after all that work making each of the seven layers, I would want them tonstay that way!

[yumprint-recipe id=’118′]

Easy Shrimp Ceviche

Since returning home from Hawaii, I have been on a bit of a seafood kick (exhibit A). If you know me, you know I have never been on a seafood kick ever in my life. But I am embracing it with open arms. Unfortunately, due to my lack of experience with seafood, I am not the best at cooking it. Which is why I am drawn to recipes where I don’t have do too much cooking (again, see exhibit A). 

Some shrimp ceviche recipes that you may see around the internet don’t actually the cook the shrimp AT ALL. Which is great if you don’t feel like cooking or don’t have access to a heat source. 

However, I did have access to a heat source and I had no desire to use raw shrimp (and am a bit of a wuss), so I quickly cooked my shrimp in some boiling water before making my ceviche. 

HOW I MADE IT

If you want to try your hand at “cooking” raw shrimp with lime juice, be my guest. Instead I “marinated” my already cooked and chopped shrimp in lime juice for about 15 minutes so I still had the limey-citrus flavor.

While the shrimp soaked in the lime juice, I chopped up an avocado, tomato, red onion, and jalapeno. Then I mixed all of those ingredients in with the shrimp. 

It’s almost like making a chunky shrimp salsa. 

And that’s exactly how we ate it! On it’s own with tortilla chips!

If you love shrimp and hate to cook, you will love this recipe. Just chop up a bunch of stuff and let it sit in some lime juice and you’ve got yourself a snack, an appetizer, or a meal!

It actually made a really nice, light dinner all on it’s own. But you could also eat the shrimp ceviche on a tortilla (like a taco), in a lettuce wrap; or on a cracker. 

But I’m partial to the tortilla chips, because they make this dish that much easier!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:165]

Basil Pesto Hummus Recipe

Hummus is one of my favorite snacks. I pack it with my lunch along with some carrots and celery sticks for a healthy afternoon snack. Sometimes when my husband is out of town, I will just eat carrots and hummus for dinner. Don’t judge, guys. Sometimes even I don’t feel like cooking dinner! And carrots and hummus is a lot healthier than eating a carton of ice cream.

Which I have definitely never done. (She says as she looks around the room nervously.)

I buy so much hummus, sometimes I forget how easy it is to make at home. One of my favorite “flavors” to make at home is pesto hummus. I love pesto. I love hummus. Why not put the two together!?

One of the tricks I have picked up over the years of making my own hummus is microwaving the chickpeas in a little bit of the canning liquid before you blend them. It just makes the hummus so much more creamy! 

Also, can someone remind me next time I am taking picture in the kitchen to not wear a pink or red shirt. Geez! That pink glare is terrible!

Once the chickpeas are nice and toasty from the microwave, add them to a food processor then in the rest of the party- chickpeas, tahini, garlic, basil, and a bit of Parmesan. Then turn on your food processor and let that bad boy do the work for you. 

In seconds you will have delicious basil pesto hummus!

Of course this pesto hummus would make a great dip – pairing perfectly with pita chips and veggies! It would also be a great spread for sandwiches and wraps, or you can just put a big dollop on your salad. 

But I am just happy eating this delicious basil-chickpea dip with a big bad full of carrots. 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:141]

The Best Baba Ghanoush Recipe

Ok guys, confession time. I have this weird obsession with baba ghanoush. I love the stuff. This love affair started several years ago after trying the creamy eggplant dip at a Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas and was reignited during my experience on the Whole 30 diet last year. 

Recently it has reached a whole new level thanks to our new favorite restaurant here in Charlotte, Yafo Kitchen. They make the best baba ghanoush I have ever had. The stuff is practically addicting. I will order an extra large side of the stuff just so I can take it home and eat it throughout the week. I also try and find new and creative ways of trying to trick the staff at the restaurant what their secret ingredient is. So far, no one has given it up.

But lucky for all of us, I think I figured it out on my own. Now I can make the best GD baba ghanoush anytime I want, and so can you! 

Start with two good sized eggplant and stab them all over with a knife. Unless you want them to blow up in the oven, that’s your call. 

Broil them until they are completely charred and wrinkled, but also totally soft inside. 

Cut the eggplants open and spoon out all the delicious flesh. 

Now here’s the fun part! Put all that flesh into a salad spinner (it’s not just for salad anymore, guys!) and give it a good spin to get out all that extra moisture. Then throw all of it into the food processor. 

[Big thanks to Serious Eats for that tip!]

Too the egg plant, add some good tahini. How do I know if it’s good tahini? The less English there is on the bottle, the better! But the stuff from Trader Joe’s will also work just fine. 

Now here is where this stuff goes from good, to great. Add in some sumac (probably not something you have lying around your spice cabinet, but I highly recommend getting yourself some if you like Middle Eastern food) and smoked paprika.

The smoked paprika is the kicker. It gives the baba ghanoush this mildly sweet and smokey flavor that is just heavenly. You can skip the sumac. Do not skip the smoked paprika. 

We aren’t done yet. The last step is adding the garlic. However, I do not recommend adding a whole clove of garlic to the food processor. It will make the garlic flavor very harsh and almost spicy. 

I recommend mincing it very finely then “pureeing” it with the side of a knife. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the garlic, then run blade of the knife at about a 75 degree angle over the garlic. Then mix it into the baba ghanoush at the very end. 

Don’t you just want to stick your fave right into that work bowl? Just me? 

You may change your mind after trying this baba ghanoush. I don’t care if you don’t really like eggplant. Or even if you have tried the dip before and didn’t like it. Try this one and I will almost guarantee that you will like it. I forced my husband to try it, even though he isn’t a fan of eggplant, and he actually liked it.

Actually, what he said was “I think this is better than Yafo’s”. Sure he might be biased and only said that to get in my pants, but let’s just pretend that it’s true, okay. 

At the very least, it is so good that I licked the bowl clean, an honor I only reserve for cake batter and cookie dough. 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:137]

Lightened Up Buckeye Dip

Do you like peanut butter and chocolate? Yes?! Okay, we can be friends. I can think of no other flavor combination I love more! Reese’s peanut butter cups, Tagalong cookies, and Buckeye balls are some of my favorite foods ever. Which is why I could not wait to make this Buckeye Dip!

I made this particular dip for a Super Bowl party a couple weeks ago. It was a huge hit with the crowd, but especially with this girl. I took the rest of the dip home, eating it for the rest of the week until I was scrapping that last of it from the bowl with a spoon. I had run out of graham crackers and apple slices but couldn’t bare to let it go to waste. Hence the spoon. Don’t judge.

I didn’t really feel all that guilty about stuffing my face  snacking on this buckeye dip because I cut out a lot of fat, calories, and sugar compared to some of the other recipes I have seen online. 

Don’t believe me?

I compared my recipe to one of the most popular recipes out there (according to Google) and ran them both through MyFitnessPal’s handy dandy recipe calculator. Using the same serving size, this recipe cuts out 24 grams of fat (that’s HALF the fat of the original recipe), 10 grams of sugar, and 250 calories per serving!

So what’s the secret to making this dip a little bit lighter? Well, I have a couple. First, instead of butter I used Greek yogurt. I used fat free, but if you are worried about the tartness of the Greek yogurt coming through, I would recommend using 2% or full fat Greek yogurt, which has a much milder flavor.

The second secret is peanut butter powder! I have been using peanut butter powder in a lot of recipes lately because it is just so easy to work into baked goods. It also cuts out a lot of the fat without compromising flavor.  

I threw everything except the chocolate chips into a bowl and whipped it up until nice and fluffy. Then I mixed in some chocolate chips and also drizzled in some melted chocolate. 

To make the presentation a bit more fun, I drizzled some chocolate around the inside of a glass bowl and then popped it in the fridge until the chocolate had hardened. Then I spooned the peanut butter dip right on top. I also like to mix in some melted chocolate along with the chocolate chips. I spooned about a third of the dip into the bowl then drizzled on some melted chocolate before adding in more dip. Then I topped the whole thing off with more chocolate drizzle and a chocolate chips.

I recommend serving this buckeye dip along with some graham crackers, chocolate cookies, and/or apple slices. Just make sure to bring enough, because if you run out, your friends may resort to eating this with their fingers. 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:126]

PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

PRODUCTS USED:

 [show_shopthepost_widget id=”2436899″]

Creamy Bacon Onion Dip

A lot of times I like to find healthy alternatives for my recipes. Such as swapping butter or sour cream for Greek yogurt. Or sugar for apple sauce. Well…this is not one of those recipes, my friends. There is literally nothing healthy about this Bacon Onion dip. Except maybe the onions…

But man is this bacon onion dip worth all those calories!

I saw this recipe for Bacon Onion dip on Food Network a while ago and I was pretty much drooling by the end or the episode. How could anything with bacon and caramelized onions be bad? I’m pretty sure it’s scientifically impossible.

I tried out the recipe for our game night last weekend. It turned out to be such a huge hit (mainly with my husband), that I made it again the next day for our Small Group. It actually gave me an opportunity to make a couple tweaks, and, in my humble opinion, make it even better!

This dip starts with a base of cream cheese and mayonnaise (told you it was unhealthy!). To that I added some smoked paprika, a smidge of Dijon mustard, and a pinch of cayenne. Then I mixed the whole thing up with my hand mixer until it was nice and fluffy.

But before I did all that, I caramelized some diced onions. Dicing the onions not only makes this process a bit quicker, but it’s much easier to eat in the dip than having strands of onion. Then I added the onions to the cream cheese mixture.

But that is not all I added. I also added some mozzarella and Paremsan cheese as well as some chopped up bacon that I just microwaved until crispy. After the whole gang was in the bowl, I gave the dip a good stir. I wanted to make sure every bite had a bit of onion, bacon, and cheese.

But to make sure that everyone got a bit of bacon, I added some more cheese and bacon on top.

Once this dip came out of the oven, we couldn’t keep our hands off of it. Or really, our crackers out of it. I would love to describe it to you, but literally the only thing I can think of is “creamy, bacony and oniony”, which is probably everything you assumed it would be from the title. Just trust me…it’s really, really good.

And you know what this dip would be perfect for? The Super Bowl! I am pretty sure that every Super Bowl party requires some sort of awesome dip. So you should make this one and thank me later.

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:123]

Baba Ganoush

Baba-Ganoush-Title

One of the hardest parts about this Whole 30 Challenge are the snack options. If I were following the book to the letter, I wouldn’t be snacking much at all. But that’s just now how I function. I need a few snacks to get me through the day. 

Typically I would reach for some Greek yogurt, string cheese, or carrots and hummus for a healthy snack option. Unfortunately all of those are strictly forbidden on the Whole 30. Instead I have been turning to almonds and apples with almond butter as my snack, but honestly that is getting SO old. I needed to spice it up a bit. 

Babaganoush-4

Enter, baba ganoush! “What the F&#$ is baba ganoush?” you ask? Well, I had no idea what it was until a couple years ago. After my first taste I was totally hooked! It is a roasted eggplant dip that is creamy and savory like hummus, but has this added sweetness since it is made from eggplant. 

Babaganoush-2

If you are like me, eggplant totally intimidates you. Every time I try to cook with it, the eggplant ends up rubbery and tasteless. But baba ganoush is very different because you don’t have to do much with the eggplant. All you have to do is roast it either on the grill or under the broiler until it is totally shriveled and soft. I was trying to save a bit of time, so I sliced my eggplant then roasted it, and it worked just fine. You are just aiming to get the eggplant to be totally soft and caramelized

Babaganoush-3

Once the eggplant is roasted, the rest is as simple as tossing all the ingredients into a food processor and processing until nice and smooth. Easy enough, right?!

Baba ganoush has been a wonderful change of pace to my apples and almond butter. Now I can add veggies and baba ganoush to my list of allowable snack options! Trust me, I will take all that I can get!

Babaganoush-7

[yumprint-recipe id=’94’]

Lightened Up Kale Artichoke Dip

Kale Artichoke Dip-1

I personally love spinach artichoke dip, but have you seen some of  the ingredients in it? Mayonnaise, sour cream, and tons of cheese. No wonder it is so delicious.It is terrible for you! But that is what inspired me to make something a bit healthier for our college football watch parties (Sic ‘Em Bears!). I decided to make a kale artichoke dip that is lightened up with Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese. 

Kale Artichoke Dip-5

I was fully prepared to make this dip with spinach, but I had a lot of left over kale so I thought I would give that a shot (but this recipe can easily be used with spinach instead). I sauteed the kale in a bit of olive oil with some garlic and salt. I added the kale and artichokes to a food processor to chop up a bit. I then used the food processor to help me mix in the Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spices. That way I don’t have to dirty another bowl. 
Kale Artichoke Dip 3

I transferred the mix to a small cast iron skillet (or you can use any baking dish) and topped with a bit of cheese just for the cheesiness that makes spinach artichoke dip so wonderful. 

Kale Artichoke Dip-9

After baking just long enough to get all the flavors to meld together and the cheese to get ooey and gooey (about 20 minutes), I served it to my eager husband (after taking pictures, of course) with some pretzel chips. My husband LOVED this dip and could not tell that it was “healthy” or lightened up. He was not excited about the substitution of kale, but in the end, he could barely tell the difference. Honestly, if I didn’t tell you there was kale in it, you would never know. It tastes just like your favorite spinach artichoke dip, but with a thicker consistency. 

Kale Artichoke Dip 1

I hope you try this and love it as much as we do!

[yumprint-recipe id=’68’]

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Pumpkin Pie Dip-4

If you are attending any sort of gathering (football watch party, Halloween party, book club, girls night, etc) I have the recipe for you! This pumpkin pie dip is extremely easy and quick to make and uses a lot of items that you may already have in your fridge. I was looking for something to whip up for friends and this totally hit the spot! 

This dip recipe only calls for a few ingredients: pumpkin puree, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. I bet you already have a few of those around already, don’t you!

Simply whisk together all the ingredients and transfer to a bowl and serve a long with your favorite cookie. I definitely prefer Graham crackers for a dip like this because they are sweet but not too sweet and they don’t upstage the dip.

Pumpkin Pie Dip-6

Enjoy!

[yumprint-recipe id=’66’]

Theme by 17th Avenue · Powered by WordPress & Genesis