My fun run through 15 days of healthy, simple and quick dips and healthy and semi-healthy dippers. For te minth of December I will post new healthy dip recipe every 2 days, tune in!
Happy New Year’s Eve 2013!
Add this tasty shrimp cocktail to your menu!
Mix 1, 6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Dash hot sauce
Dash Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs. Prepared Horseradish
Mix well, refrigerate to blend flavors.
Serve with shrimp.
We all know that black beans are healthy, they offer fiber for our digestive tract health and plant protein for healthy muscles, blood sugar regulation, heart health and they are virtually fat-free like all other beans. Beans of all kinds are extremely versatile.
This black bean salsa dip is easy, fast and tasty!
1, 15 oz. can low or no sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. lime juice
small handful parsley or cilantro or both
1/2 -1 jalapeno pepper seeded if less heat is preferred
1 cup freshly prepared salsa (or 1 small can petite diced tomatoes)
*add extra hot sauce of desired
Add beans, oil, parsley/cilantro, lime juice and 1/2 (or full cup if you want a completely smooth dip) of salsa or tomatoes to a food processor bowl and process until smooth and creamy.
Serve as is or mix remaining half cup into the mixture by hand for a chunky black bean dip. Serve with tortilla chips.
This hummus like many is earthy tasting. It’s all natural and healthy of course and goes well with a variety of vegetables or crackers.
1 – 15 oz. can chickpeas rinsed and drained
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter (it can be found in the peanut butter aisle)
4-5 Tbs. olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
small handful of fresh parsley
2-3 Tbs. lemon juice
Paprika
Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy adding more olive oil if needed. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle paprika over top, cover and chill several hours or overnight to let flavors blend.
Enjoy!
Sometimes I want to splurge a little because it brings back happier times and so I allow myself a little freedom. Allowing yourself freedoms every so often is healthy as long as you stay within reason and when you stay focused and pull yourself back into your healthy lifestyle.
One of my favorite dips is sour cream & vegetable dip, the kind that was around when I was younger and made with Knorr Vegetable soup dry mix. Since I’m no longer a fan of processed foods and chemicals in my food I needed to come up with one that is as good or better without the chemicals.
The following recipe was made with sour cream and a spoonful of mayo but for an even healthier dip you can use organic plain Greek yogurt or even a soft white bean instead of sour cream. (Sour cream was my real freedom and I’m proud to say, I only had a little bit and was fully satisfied)
1- 16 oz container sour cream
1 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 large peeled carrot, grated
1/2 small onion or 3 scallions chopped fine
8 cherry tomatoes, chopped fine (or for a tangy flavor, 8 sundried tomatoes)
1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
1/8 tsp salt, paprika, chili powder, onion powder & garlic powder
small handful chopped parsley and cilantro
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl – chill overnight to let flavors blend.
Serve with chips or assorted vegetables.
If you get a craving for something sweet during the day at work or at night but want to stick with your intentions of cutting out junk foods and sugar, this is the dip for you! It’s simple to make and as with most of my healthy dips promoted here, it’s easy to pack in your lunch and go.
The recipe:
4 large carrots, peeled & cut into halves or thirds
salt
Olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Parsley
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Basil
Wrap carrots in foil, sprinkle with salt, drizzle with olive oil and bake until soft-about 40 minutes
Remove from oven and cool. Mash by hand or in a blender with a bit more olive oil, black pepper & thyme. Pour into bowl, add basil and parsley, mix well. Divide among several small mason jars with cut veggies or add entire dip to a serving bowl and serve with a variety of veggies for guests.
This is simple to make ahead of time and refrigerate for a week of healthy snacking!
Need a snack? Make it a healthy one with this fast fix.
-1 cup organic smooth or crunchy peanut butter at room temperature
– 3 Tablespoons local honey
-1 Tablespoon organic un-sulfured molasses
-1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
Bring peanut butter to room temperature.
Mix all ingredients well and serve with fruit or celery sticks.
*if you prefer it thinner, add a small amount of water to desired consistency
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
1, 15-oz far roasted red peppers (or you can roast your own 2-3 large red peppers, de-seeded/cut in half)
1, 15 oz can white beans or chickpeas
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp celery seed
dash chili powder
dash paprika
dash salt & pepper
splash olive oil
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If mixture looks too thin you can thicken it with chickpea flower or as I did 1/4 cup ground flax-seed meal.
Chill for at least an hour to overnight. Serve with assorted vegetables, crackers, pita chips or toasted baguette slices.
Who needs Red Velvet cake when you can have this savory, beautiful, garnet red dip with fresh, healthy vegetables…and quite festive too!
Beets are very healthy for you, garlic & beans are too. This dip is almost fat-free; the fat that is in it, comes from the olive oil which is good for you as well.
This is another simple recipe, after baking the beets for 45 minutes, the dip only took me 10 minutes to pull together.
This recipe will serve 4-6 people so if you have a larger crowd be sure to double it.
Roasted Beet & Garlic Dip
3 fresh beets, about the size of a plum though any size will do
2-3 cloves garlic unpeeled and roasted along with the beets (you may need to remove them from the oven sooner than the beets though)
enough olive oil to coat beets in roasting pan
sprinkle of salt (I always use Himalayan pink salt for the 84 essential minerals it offers)
1/4 tsp. sage
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp rosemary
a few grinds or dash of black pepper
1 cup white beans (I used cannellini – it adds creaminess without dairy or fat)
a few tablespoons olive oil added during blending
Oven – 400°
Wash beets, cut ends off, cut beets into quarters, toss in baking pan with enough olive oil to coat, sprinkle with salt-add garlic cloves.
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove garlic cloves if they get dark, set aside to cool.
Remove beets, let cool 10 minutes.
Add beets and remaining ingredients a few at a time, leaving beans until last, to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Put into bowl, cover and chill at least an hour. Serve with fresh vegetables such as peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli & cauliflower crowns or any other favorite veggies.
While this one isn’t completely healthy, it is a comfort food sort of dip that has been a local hit for as long as I can remember. I’m dedicating this one to my brother who was mentioning recently that he couldn’t find it in stores anymore. While this might not be the healthiest of dips I’ve been sharing, this homemade version is definitely more healthy that a store-bought brand.
I wasn’t brave enough to create my own version so I searched and found one closest to what we’re familiar with out of the Yankee Magazine site. There are only two things I’d do differently which is add a second can of clams (or another 6 oz. if you’re using fresh) and cut the lemon juice back to 1 TBS. instead of 2. I also didn’t have onion juice, though I wonder how easy it is to make?, so I used 1 TBS. onion powder with 2 TBS. clam juice since I saved it in a bowl until I was done mixing.
Here’s the recipe from yankeemagazine.com
Drain the clams, reserving some of the liquid, and mash into the softened cream cheese. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
If a thinner dip is preferred, use 1 or 2 tablespoons of the reserved clam liquid to thin the mixture.
Serve with corn chips or potato chips.
Initiate Wellness 