Trio of dips!
Ingredients:
Spicy Mexican Bean:1 tin 4 bean mix
1 tin red kidney beans
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
2 red chili peppers, chopped (depending on how spicy you want it to be!)
1/3 green capsicum pepper, chopped
1/3 red capsicum pepper, chopped
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt,pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1tbsp hot paprika (optional)
-----------------------------
Black Pepper & Lime Hummus:
1 tin chick peas
5 cloves garlic
1.5 tablespoons Tahini paste (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
cracked black pepper (go crazy)
juice of 1 lime
-----------------------------
Roasted Pumpkin, garlic and cashew Hummus:
1/2 butternut pumpkin (cut down the middle lengthways)
1tbsp olive oil
1 whole garlic bulb
About 2 large handfulls cashew nuts (sorry I don't tend to weigh ingredients, doesn't have to be exact!)
salt, pepper
Directions:
Spicy Mexican Bean Dip1)Fry the onion slowly in the olive oil until soft, add the chopped garlic and chilies and fry for another 2 mins.
2)Add both tins of beans with the juice from one tin, the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and paprika. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat until it thickens and most of the liquid evaporates. If it is not thickened in around 20 mins, increase the heat and stir regularly- this will speed up the process!
3)Add both colours of capsicum and simmer for another 5 minutes.
4)Take out half of the mixture and process in a blender until smooth, then add back to the other half and mix together. This gives you the bean paste with some whole chunky bits still left in for a bit of texture. Feel free to blend up the whole thing if you prefer a smooth dip!
-----------------------------------
Black Pepper and Lime Hummus
1)Put everything into a blender and blend! It's that easy. The more you blend it the smoother it will be. I prefer not to blend for too long as I like some whole chickpeas in the mix.
------------------------------------
Roasted Pumpkin, Garlic, and Cashew Dip
1)Place the pumpkin skin side down on a baking tray, season with salt and pepper. Place the garlic bulb in the tray next to it, skin still on, and roast both in a 200 degree C oven for about 1 to 1.5 hours.You want it to caramalise but not burn.
2)When the pumpkin is cooked through and caramalised, sprinkle the cashews onto the tray with it and return to the oven for around 10 minutes. Be aware that nuts can burn very easily so pay close attention to this part. When the cashews have started to brown on the outside, remove tray from oven.
3)Leave to cool for 10 minutes, and then scoop out the pumpkin from the skin with a spoon and add to your blender. Gently squeeze the garlic cloves from their skin with your fingers- they should come out easily, and add to the pumpkin, along with the cashews.
4)Blend it all up and if too thick add a tablespoon of olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper.
---------------------------------
I would recommend serving these dips with veggies (ie cucumber, carrot, celery and capsicum sticks) rather than with crackers for the nutritional value. However a couple of crackers can also be nice with them! Try going for wholegrain or seeded crackers or breadsticks.
