Cheesy Veggie Dip

Oh my gosh! This is a FABULOUS snack. Imagine a homemade white cheddar cheese creamy dip with chopped spinach, scallions, and asparagus. It is topped with crumbled goat cheese and baked until bubbly and golden. YUM! We served it with tortilla chips, but it would be equally good with bread or fresh veggies.

LESSON LEARNED: Use any veggie you have on hand to make this dip.

Recipe for Cheesy Veggie Dip

Hummus with Whole Wheat Flatbreads

This dish would make the perfect light lunch or snack. I've been experimenting with mixing up different homemade dips and healthy snack foods, so this recipe fits right in.

I started with dried white beans (I couldn't find dried chickpeas in my store, but I probably didn't look hard enough!), soaked them overnight, and cooked them the next morning. That's the hard way to do things, but you could easily use canned beans.

I was most impressed with my whole wheat flatbread. I let the dough rest for 30 minutes, so I was able to roll out the dough pretty thin. I cooked the flatbread in a dry cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. They cook up super quickly and can burn (the smoke detectors in my house might have gone off!), so watch them carefully. However, the brown spots on the bread really add a TON of flavor!

The bean dip is smooth, lemony, and slightly smokey from a bit of cumin. The flatbreads are soft and nutty from using whole wheat flour. YUMMY! We decided that they would make the perfect appetizer by adding a halved cherry tomato on top.

 LESSON LEARNED: These flatbreads cook up quickly in a dry cast iron pan!

Recipe for Hummus with Whole Wheat Flatbreads

Pretzel Dogs

These little guys are perfect for a snack or lunch. My husband saw this recipe online last weekend and emailed me the link as a "hint, hint, want to try and make these?". I don't think I would have picked this recipe myself, but they were mighty yummy!

You begin by making a homemade pretzel dough and wrapping it tightly around pieces of hotdog (I cut each hotdog into thirds). Each piece of pretzel wrapped hotdog gets a quick bath in a baking soda/boiling water hot tub (i.e. large pot), brushed with egg wash, and sprinkled with salt & pepper. They are then baked until golden brown.

There were two major lessons I learned while making this recipe. First, I experience cognitive dissonance while buying hotdogs (a nod to my training in social psychology!). I needed to buy hotdogs for the recipe, but they are typically not an item I would buy since I stay away from processed, pre-packaged food. I ended up buying an all beef, organic, no hormones added hotdog figuring they were at least a higher quality of ground-up meat. Second, if you make these, wrap and seal the dough very securely around the hotdogs. If you don't the dough will unwind when they bake. It's really no big deal because they taste the same, but they won't look as pretty.

LESSON LEARNED: These will freeze well too! Just heat in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until warm.

Recipe for Pretzel Dogs