Healthy Dips and Purées

Dips and purées
serve with crudités or corn chips

Let’s start with hummus, a bean purée from Israel.

Chick peas are soaked overnight, drained and simmered in fresh water until soft. You then pound them to a pulp or put them in the food processor with a little of their cooking water and blend until you have a thick cream.

Then you add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and spices to taste. Popular spices are ground cumin, fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped red chilli or cayenne pepper. For hummus bi tahina, you add tahina paste, which is a sesame paste. You can buy it in the UK in jars - also called Tahini.

However, it is much easier to use tinned chick peas. For a bowl-full of healthy dip for 4- 6 people, use one 400 g tin of cooked chick- peas. This is the approx. equivalent of 75 g of dried and then cooked.

Blend until creamy and season well with salt and black pepper. Add other spices to taste, if you wish, especially if you missed out the tahina.

Put in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with cayenne pepper or paprika. Or garnish with chopped parsley or coriander leaves and a dribble of olive oil.

Hummus is packed with iron and minerals, which support the metabolic process and chickpeas are also a good source of protein and help to stabilise blood sugar.

I think these healthy dips are particularly tasty when they are served with some really good olives, as well as crudités, pitta bread or corn chips.

This is basically mashed avocado and one of the easiest healthy dips to make. To peel an avocado, cut in it half lengthwise and remove the stone with a teaspoon or by hitting it with a sharp knife blade - but be careful! Then cut each half in half lengthwise and peel off the skin.

You can then either mash it with a fork or blend it in a processor.

Note: An avocado makes an easy and colourful sauce for poached salmon if you blend it with a tablespoon of sherry vinegar or lemon juice and 100 grams of crème fraiche or soured cream.

To continue with this healthy dip dip, add a finely chopped green chilli, the juice of a lime, and salt and pepper to taste.

The lime juice (or you can use lemon) will stop the avocado dip from turning black too soon. However, make this healthy dip as near to the time of departure for the picnic as possible. Then cover with cling film and keep cool.

In the picture I've served it with guacamole flavoured corn chips from Marks & Spencer. A bit too green do you think?! Nice though!

There are other things you can add to vary this healthy dip. My favourite is to use a blender and on top of the peeled avocado, lime juice and chilli, throw in a small clove of garlic, a bunch of coriander and a couple of skinned tomatoes. Blend in sharp bursts until mixed but still with some texture.

To skin the tomatoes, put in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave for a minute or two and then remove by sticking a fork in them! The skin should peel off easily.

No chillis to hand? Then just use a drop or two of Tabasco in this healthy dip. No garlic? Then substitute a spring onion or two, or a quarter of a small red onion. I’ve even been known to use a spoonful or two of tomato ketchup instead of skinned tomatoes – so you see how easy this dip is to make if you’re in a hurry!

If you don’t have, or don’t like coriander (or cilantro as it’s called in the USA – this is for you Cathy!) try using a bunch of basil instead and making it more Italian, instead of the Mexican dip that guacamole traditionally is.

This is the easiest healthy dip to make and a perfect partner for crisps, nachos and crudités. Just mix these ingredients together and keep cool.

250 ml thick natural yoghurt (Greek is good)
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 desertspoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chilli paste, or a small green chilli chopped, or a few drops of hot pepper sauce or Tabasco
half a teaspoon of celery salt
freshly ground black pepper

Finely chop the following ingredients or put in food processor and blitz quickly to keep a fairly rough texture to the mixture.

You may need to add a little more oil if it's too dry. You can also add a few sprigs of herbs such as thyme or oragano if you have some to hand.

175 g of stoned black olives
a 50 g can of salted anchovies, drained of oil, but keep oil and make up to
120 ml with extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of capers
finely grated rind of a lemon and half its juice
freshly ground black pepper – but NO salt as the anchovies and their oil are salty enough

This is particularly good with crudités such as blanched green beans, tiny boiled new potatoes and baby carrots. It’s also good served on toasted bread and with quails’ eggs. I also like it tossed in pasta or served with barbecued chicken.

Allow the boiled or blanched vegetables to cool before packing in an airtight food container. Pack separately from the tapenade. If using with pasta, it can be mixed and then packed when cool.

This is a great low-fat, healthy dip, which is also a good way of eating your daily quota of vegetables.

2 aubergines
2 red peppers
oil for brushing
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
half a teaspoon of ground cumin
half a teaspoon of paprika or pimenton
handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves
150 ml of plain yoghurt

Chop the stem from the aubergines and cut in half lengthwise. Do the same with the peppers and remove seeds and membrane. Brush all over with oil. Put under a hot grill skin side up, until black and charred. Turn the aubergines over and cook more gently until tender (do not allow the aubergine flesh to blacken).

Put the hot blackened peppers into a plastic food bag (make sure it is a food or freezer bag because I once did it with an ordinary plastic bag and the peppers melted it!). Seal the bag and leave to cool. The steam will loosen the charred skin of the peppers, making them easy to remove.

When the aubergines are tender and cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a food processor and discard the skins. Peel the charred skin off the peppers and add the flesh to the processor.

Add the garlic, lemon juice, cumin and paprika and blitz to a purée. Add the coriander and yoghurt and blitz briefly to mix.

A tangy, healthy dip for those who like the taste of the sea.

A slice of white bread, without crusts
4 tablespoons of olive oil
a large clove of garlic
225 grams smoked cod’s roe
a small potato, cooked
lemon juice
a sprig or two of parsley
cold water
salt and pepper

Soak the bread in a little cold water. Squeeze dry. Put into a food processor or blender with the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Thin with cold water if necessary to create a soft, creamy consistency. Pour into an airtight container and chill. Serve with lemon wedges and pitta bread.

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