Grilled Guacamole Dip

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
There were avocados on sale when I went grocery shopping over the Fourth of July weekend and I thought I would try something different with the avocados. I am a huge fan of guacamole and saw something quick on the food channel about grilling avocados. I decided to experiment and try grilling all my vegetables and created this amazing dip. I am thinking that next time, I will grill a couple of Jalapeno peppers and add it to the dip to give it some pop instead of using Tabasco sauce. This recipe is so delicious!

Grilled Guacamole Dip, created 07/06/2010

(2) Roma Tomatoes, sliced thick
(3) Avocados, cut in half and pitted
(1) Lemon, sliced thick
(1) Onion, sliced thick
(2-3) Tablespoons Olive Oil (approximately)
(2) Corn on the Cob (fresh or already cooked)
Tabasco Sauce
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Prep and Grilling the Vegetables:
Cut tomatoes, onion, and lemon into thick slices. Cut the avocados in half and remove the seed. Preheat a grill pan or if you are barbequing that day, you can barbeque these items on the grill. Brush all the vegetables lightly with olive oil except for the lemon and the hard green part of the avocado shell. Place the avocado halved side down on the grill along with the sliced onions. Lightly season the sliced onion with salt and pepper. Grill the avocado and onion until you have good grill marks – will be about 4 to 5 minutes for the avocados and maybe 6 to 7 minutes for the onion. Remove from the grill and place the sliced tomato and lemon on the grill. The tomatoes will take no more than a minute and half and the lemon slices about 3 to 4 minutes. Grill the corn on the cob until the corn is light brown all the way around the cob, brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. This may take a good ten to fifteen minutes depends on your oven or grill.

To Make the Guacamole:
With a large spoon, gently run the spoon around the avocado shell and remove the inside of the avocado and put in a bowl. Chop into small pieces the grilled onion and place in the bowl. Chop up the grilled tomatoes and put aside. Run a sharp knife down each side of the cob to remove the corn.

Mash the avocados to the desired consistency you prefer and add the tomatoes and the corn. Squeeze the lemon slices to extract the juices and mix all the ingredients well. Add about 15 to 20 drops of Tabasco sauce and lightly season with salt and pepper. Mix lightly one more time and serve with vegetables, crackers, or chips. Enjoy!

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Roasted Garlic and Cannellini Bean Hummus

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I love any kind of hummus and have been experimenting more and more on different varieties of beans and what I can do with them. I love hummus made with garbanzo beans or chickpeas and do not get me wrong it is my all time favorite, but I really wanted to try something different. This was inspired by the restaurant California Pizza Kitchen’s Cannellini Bean hummus appetizer but with a different twist. The dip was made on Memorial weekend and got rave reviews from my guests. Now I am excited to try different varieties I might make a hummus with black beans next.

Roasted Garlic and Cannellini Bean Hummus, created on 5/30/2010

2 cans of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed well
3 heads of garlic – I used all the 3 heads the flavor was incredible
¼ to ½ cup Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley

Cut the top of the garlic heads off exposing some of the garlic – do not break the garlic apart. In a small stone, place the cut garlic head up and sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake the garlic until roasted. You can also do this with aluminum foil, put the exposed garlic in the foil and close up the foil. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45. Let the garlic cool, and then break the heads apart and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the cloves. This is like pure gold when cooking and flavoring food. The garlic becomes very sweet and has such a nice flavor to compliment the food.

In a food processor, put the beans, roasted garlic and olive oil and pulse until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse the beans until you reach the desired consistency or texture you want. Add olive oil as needed. Be careful not to put too much you can always add a little bit at a time but you cannot take out the excess oil once you pour it in the hummus mixture.

If you want a little or a lot of kick to the hummus, you can add your favorite hot sauce, again be careful of how much you put in. Serve with toasted French bread, vegetables or your favorite crackers. Enjoy!

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Yummy Hummus!

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
This is another one of my recipes that I make all the time and do not feel guilty with the calories. Yummy hummus is a healthy recipe, loaded with protein and an excellent dip to use in sandwiches. I keep the hummus in the refrigerator ready and available with cut up carrot or celery sticks so that if someone wants to munch on something that does not have a lot of calories, they can do that. Yummy Hummus is such an easy recipe to make with dried beans cooked or if pressed for time, canned garbanzo (a.k.a. chick peas).

Yummy Hummus!  

Recipe created on 12/09/2007

Hummus

1 – 2 garlic glove – peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup good tasting olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water, depending on smoothness of hummus
16 oz canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans – rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Tahnini – make sure the Tahnini is stirred well a lot of it settles on the bottom of the jar

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth and has the desired flavor you want. Add salt, scrape the sides of food processor as needed. And attack with food!

I made a parsley oil – 1/4 cup olive oil with 2 Tablespoons of fresh parsley and dolloped that on top of hummus with roasted pine nuts.
Can be refrigerated up to 3 days

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Pam’s Guacamole

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
Guacamole is one of my favorite dips. I like to serve this dip because it is healthy and a good fat and I am not worried about the calorie content as much as the other dips. I make it all the time for just Mexican dishes or when I have people over. I serve it with corn tortilla chips or black bean chips – there never is any left. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Pam’s Guacamole Dip  

Recipe created on 02/16/2010

Guacamole

2 large Haas ripe avocados (the avocados I pick are firm and a little bit on the dark green side and when you press the avocado; there is a tiny dent on both sides from your fingers)

1 large Roma tomato

2 Tablespoons of lime juice (the one I used Santa Cruz Organic Lime Juice)

1-2 Tablespoons of freshly chopped cilantro

2 small garlic cloves

2 – 3 Tablespoons of Fage Greek Yogurt (you can use 2% or fat free)

Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 cracks of fresh pepper)

Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed by whacking the seed with a knife. Slightly twist the seed and remove. Scoop out the flesh part of the avocado with a large spoon and put into a bowl. Mash the meat of the avocado with a fork until you have the right texture you want. Add the lime juice, diced tomato, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and greek yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

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