Madhu Knits and Cooks

Five-Minute Mexican-Inspired Layer Dip

I love dips.  I particlarly love bean-based dips, no matter what they are comprised of - white/cannelini beans, chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, etc.  And so for our small Super Bowl get together, I knew I would make a dip - the only question was which one.

In preparation for our pre-game trip to the grocery store, I decided I would make a Mexican-inspired layer dip (not a surprise for the Super Bowl!).  My usual go-to layer dip recipe is from a many-years-old Cooking Light magazine, and it calls for baking the dip for a warm served result.  I thought a baked dip would be a bit iffy for the Super Bowl though, both because the dip would get cold relatively quickly during this multi-hour event and because the I haven't quite figured out how to bake the sour cream without it getting an unpleasing consistency.  

I ultimately decided to forge my own way with the dip, and made some game time decisions at the grocery store (pun intended).  I purchased a can of vegetarian refried black beans, jarred organic salsa on sale, light sour cream, scallions, cilantro, and a block of cheddar cheese.  To make the dip itself, I mixed the black beans with a bit of chile powder and minced garlic, and made this mixture the first layer.  I then added some sour cream to make it at least appear as a coherent layer, did the same with the salsa, cheddar cheese, and sprinkled some cilantro on top.  I added the chopped scallions as a side addition to the dish because one of our guests does not like scallions, but that would have otherwise gone on top of the dip as well.

The dip turned out as one would expect - rich, flavorful and maybe a bit acidic because of the jarred salsa.  In the future, I will probably spend an extra five minutes to make a fresh pico de gallo salsa to reduce both the acidity of the dip and create a more fresh, light taste.  Otherwise though, I think this is the perfect five-minute dip to throw into an otherwise busy party preparation process.

Simple Preparation and Sadly Simple Flavor - Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

The final dish featuring the 5.5 pound butternut squash was a fettucine with pureed butternut squash sauce, inspired by butternut squash-filled raviolis.  Because I wanted to rely on ingredients I already had on hand, I decided to opt for one of the simpler online recipes I had found - interestingly enough, the "Simply Recipes" version.

I ended up using about 1/2 of the squash called for in the recipe (what I had on hand), though kept the onion and spices amounts from the original recipe intact.  I also microwaved the squash, covered, for approximately 13 minutes instead of roasting it to both speed up the process and account for my pre-cut squash chunks instead of a whole squash.  

Ultimately, I found the sauce to have a one-note flavor and thought it could have benefited from more fresh herbs - particularly sage which pairs very well with butternut squash.  In addition, I should have used more water to thin the sauce because as I added the sauce to the pasta, it was a little too thick for my preference.  That being said, my dinner guests really enjoyed the sauce so I think it's a good recipe base from which to make alterations for a quick, healthy weeknight meal.

Roasted Chickpeas - Healthy, Extremely Cheap Snack, Though Perhaps Too Laborious for Party Preparation?

While searching for Super Bowl and Downton Abbey watch party snack recipes, I came across the James Beard Foundation's website, which I never had realized had so many fantastic recipes (thanks @beardfoundation on Twitter).  I immediately "pinned" the Roasted Chickpeas recipe by Allison Tozzi Liu because of it's apparent ease and use of ingredients I almost always have in my cupboard (dried chickpeas, olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, and salt - yup, that's it!).  

As I started to prepare the dish though, and began putting thought into how to prepare it simultaneously with the other dishes I was planning on making for the party, I began realizing how much work it was taking for a relatively simple snack.  Not only did I need to cook the dried chickpeas, let them cool down and dry, but I also needed to stir the chickpeas every 10 minutes while they were taking up my oven from other dishes I wanted to bake.  The chickpeas took about 50 minutes - 1 hour to roast in the oven (instead of the 40 minutes called for in the recipe).

The chickpeas were ultimately a fine party snack - light, crunchy, salty and healthy.  But given the amount of work that went into preparing them, I think I'll probably not make this dish again.

Another White Bean Dip and More Lessons Learned

With a small party coming up, some leftover dried cannelini beans in the cupboard, and lots of fresh herbs in the fridge, I naturally decided to make a white bean dip a few weekends ago.  Instead of defaulting to the white bean dip recipes I have relied on this past though, including the Giada de Laurentiis version and the Cook's Illustrated rosemary white bean spread, I decided to try to find a new version that would make use of those plentiful herbs - fresh cilantro, parsley, chives, thyme AND rosemary - in my fridge.  

I found the David Lebovitz version online, and both the ease and flexibility of the recipe appealed to me.  However, in loosely following the recipe instructions, I failed to heed the first, and most important, piece of advice Lebovitz had for his readers - use good beans!  The leftover cannelini beans in my cupboard have been there for...I don't remember how long.  That should have been sign number one to go buy some fresh beans.  Sign number two was when the beans took at least 3 - 4 hours to cook, and still didn't have the right consistency. 

"Oh well," I thought to myself as I drained the beans and added them to the food processor with parsley, chives, rosemary and other accompaniments.  I also added 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid to the food processor without first trying to process the beans a bit to see how much liquid the dip would need for a good, dipping consistency.  Sign number three I had a problem was when after giving the ingredients a whirl in the processor, it was clear the dip was too watery.  

Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to still serve the bean dish with store-bought pita chips.  The dip was actually pretty tasty in terms of flavor, but the texture was too watery for my preference and the beans didn't quite taste right, even pureed.  My guests also enjoyed the dip flavor, and somehow didn't seem to mind the texture issues that I had with the dish, which I guess could be considered an inadvertent success?

I have learned my lesson though - use good beans and puree the beans first before adding more liquid!