Queso Dip

There are tons of variations on queso dip - here's the one I usually make if I'm not doing the slightly less classy but very delicious Velvetta and salsa version! If you want to mix it up, you can add corn, black beans, chopped jalapeños or different types of salsa or hot sauce.

Queso Dip

5 oz cream cheese, chopped into 1" pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (pretty much any mild cheese will be good)

1/4 cup tomatillo salsa

1/4 cup milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp veg oil

In a medium saucepan, fry up the garlic and cumin in the vegetable oil until fragrant. Drop in the cream cheese and let it soften a little before adding in the cheese, salsa and milk. Keep stirring until it's all integrated and smooth. I keep mine pretty thick but you can add more milk or salsa to thin it out.

I don't usually top it with anything, but you can see in the picture that this time I spooned some more salsa and a few roasted cherry tomatoes on top. You can also throw some cilantro on there, 

Bitchin' Sauce + Bowl

This sauce is amazing. Like really. I have been putting it on everything lately. Sweet potatoes, Bitchin bowls, empanadas. Additional ideas for dipping include raw or steamed veggies or chips. This sauce tastes like an awesome queso. The ingredient list looks ridiculous but these are probably all things you have in your kitchen already.

This recipe originates from the Fauxmartha and the San Diego farmer's market. Hopefully the next time I'm in California, I can check it out!

The sauce:

3/4 c. + 2 tbsp water

1/2 c. + 2 tbsp grapeseed oil

1/2 c. raw almonds, soaked overnight 

1/4 c. + 2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp tamari 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp raw honey

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 chipotles in adobo sauce

1 tsp adobo sauce 

1/4 cup diced red onion 

Rinse almonds after soaking. Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until super smooth. 

Keeps in fridge for a week or so. 

Back in college a couple of my good friends always had beans and rice for a quick dinner. With fried egg on top. The first time I ever had rice and beans was on a mission trip to Louisiana. Yum! This is like a step up.

Bitchin bowl:

Brown rice

Black beans or chickpeas

Sautéed onion plus cumin

Steamed greens (kale or spinach)
Sautéed mushrooms

Pickled red cabbage (I made my own but this one is similar)

Goat cheese Brie

Salsa 

I should have probably added a fried egg

And obviously cover the entire bowl with sauce.

Guacamole

Mexican food! We've been eating lots of it in California and surprisingly in Manila. Currently we're at the airport waiting to head out to Saigon.

As soon as we got to Manila we were exhausted, and therefore were perfect targets for the taxi drivers to rip us off. I have to say that was our only barely negative experience. I say that because we had no idea we were being overcharged by 1000% (not exaggerating) until today. So we were blissfully ignorant. Otherwise we've been perfectly happy. Everyone has been very kind to us and a lot of people here speak English which makes it easy. In fact, all of the signs are in English. I think the American occupation had a large impact on the country.

We rented an apartment in a high rise right near a park and overlooking the Manila Bay. Right by our apartment was Starbucks, Seven Eleven, McDonalds, etc. I couldn't believe the amount of chains around us but they're pretty popular here. We did our research and found some great Filipino food (also spaghetti is popular here) which is similar to Vietnamese cuisine. You can basically find whatever food (like cupcakes and Mexican food) you want here at any hour of the day since it is the 5th largest metropolitan area in the world. This also means traffic all the time.

Guacamole, at last!

3 ripe avocados
1/4 red onion
1 small tomato
1 lime
1 clove garlic
1 pinch cumin
1 jalapeño
1 small handful cilantro

Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the flesh using a spoon. Reserve one of the pits for storage (I once heard it helps keep the avocados from browning). Mash the avocados using a fork until they meet your desired consistency. Then juice the lime and add half the juice to the mashed avocados. Then dice the onion, tomato, garlic, jalapeño, and cilantro. Add to the avocado and season with more lime, salt, and pepper.

Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper Dip)

I came across this recipe while reading food blogs (no surprise there). I can't remember the exact place where I found it, but I found a similar recipe on the The Bojon Gourmet. We spread this dip on eggplant, bagels, jalapeno bread, etc. There are endless ways to consume it and it has such a unique flavor.

3 roasted red peppers

1 hot pepper, seeds removed (I used a Ho Chi Minh pepper and my hands are still burning)

1/2 cup lightly toasted walnuts
1 scant cup breadcrumbs
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pinch cayenne powder
1 tsp za'atar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

To roast your own red peppers: Halve the peppers and remove the seeds. Place the peppers, cut side down, on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until the peel is blackened and the peppers are softened. After they are done baking, place them immediately into a ceramic bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. In about 5-10 minutes when the peppers are cool enough to handle, pull off the thin, papery peel. (Directions courtesy of Laura who taught Brit and me how to do this)

To make the dip: Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Then add the olive oil slowly until you reach the desired consistency.

This is my breakfast of a bagel, some muhammara, a fried egg, and some jalapeno hot sauce (while reading Game of Thrones).

Za'tar Spiced Beet Dip

When Janice and I were in San Francisco, we ate at this little Greek restaurant after yoga one day. We ordered a creamy, lemony beet dip that I took a picture of so I could remember to re-create it. I picked up some heirloom beets at the East Liberty farmer's market in the pouring rain and made 2 versions of this recipe. The raw version (made with 5 raw beets and regular plain yogurt) is more liquidy and not as sweet as the roasted beet one but still wonderful. The recipe is from Food and Wine.

For the dip:

6 medium beets

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small jalapeno, seeded

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp za'tar

Trim the greens off the beets. Since I got fresh beets, the skins were thin so I left them on. Roast the beets in a shallow pan filled with 1/2 inch water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until a fork can easily pierce the center of the beet. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, roughly chop them and place in a blender. Puree the beets until smooth. Then add the rest of the ingredients except for the yogurt and blend. Add the yogurt and blend until incorporated.

Za'tar:

2 tsp sumac (found at Whole Foods)

3 tbsp fresh thyme

2 tbsp fresh oregano

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Grind the sumac and sesame seeds together in a mortar and pestle. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Store in an airtight container. Sprinkle over everything! I just put it on my eggs this morning with some pesto.

Toppings:

1/4 cup roated hazelnuts, chopped

2 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled

2 scallions, green and white parts thinly sliced

fresh mint

Sprinkle over the dip. I served this next to hummus with a loaf of fresh multigrain bread. It doesn't get any better than that!

Fresh Herb Cheese (+ Ligonier Farmer's Market!)

Between settling into a new kitchen, not having internet and never feeling like cooking when it's hot outside, I’ve been MIA from the Pittsburgh Kitchen for a while! This recipe for herby cheese is a very simple two-minute spread that tastes so nice and fresh. All you do is mix fresh herbs, garlic, onion and olive oil into ricotta. It’s from a recipe in one of my very favorite cookbooks by my very favorite cookbook author, Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.

You can serve the herb cheese with fresh veggies (she says it’s especially good with radishes!), crackers or bread. Ms. Greenspan recommends stuffing fresh cherry tomatoes with the herb cheese, which sounds amazing. I’ve roasted ricotta-stuffed grape tomatoes topped with Romano, and it was delicious.

Below the recipe I'm posting some pics from the Ligonier Farmer's Market, which is definitely worth a drive if you feel like a rural PA mini-roadtrip some Saturday! It's about an hour east of Pgh.

Also, side note: somebody (Brittany? one of the many Kates?) should post pictures of the wedding! I didn't take any.

ANDDD check out Julia's guest post on A Nerd Cooks: Granny Smith Apple Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

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“Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese (aka Boursin’s mama)”

Adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups fromage blanc or ricotta (I used ricotta)

½ shallot, minced, rinsed and patted dry (I used a quarter of a white onion)

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

About 2 tbsp snipped fresh chives

About 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley

About 1 tsp minced fresh tarragon

(I used parsley, thyme and rosemary from our herb garden!)

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste