The last few weeks in our house have been wonderfully hectic... Mother's Day, my sweet mama visiting, my birthday, dear friends in town, Memorial Day... and insane work. But my dear boys love me and treated me SO well for all the celebration days, and we got a wonderful bit of time at the Oregon coast with our friends who came in from out of town. It's been a glorious few weeks!
Anyway, my sweet husband got me a Cooking Light anthology for my birthday - Antoinette and I both love CL and a lot of our recipes, and inspirations start there. One of the very first recipes in the new book is for a Green Goddess Dip - I read it through and HAD to have it. Like had to eat it right away. I took most of this batch down to the beach and our group gobbled it up!
Green Goddess Dip - from Cooking Light
Makes plenty for 6 people; even better day 2.
2 cups watercress
6 oz Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
5 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
This is barely a recipe. All you do is put all of this good stuff in a food processor and blend until smooth-ish. It's not really cooking, but it is creating, especially if you tweak the flavors to suit your preferences (or what's left in your fridge, or what's growing in your herb garden.)
The original recipe calls for a lot more basil and no tarragon. I love the lemony spice of tarragon, and definitely wanted some of that zip in this.
The original also called for anchovy paste. I didn't have any, don't really like it, and wasn't going to buy it for one recipe. I think it overpowers with fishy flavor. It's just not for me. So out it goes.
This also called for some red pepper flakes, but we had two toddlers in our group and I wanted to make sure this would be nice for them, so I left it out and didn't miss it.
The last change I made was to swap the quantities of yogurt and mayo. Why not have more of the healthier yogurt? Done.
So that's it. Just blend it up and enjoy! It definitely improves with a little resting time. And the next day it was even better than the first. We ate this with veggies and crackers and it was a great, light snack.
A few things about this recipe...
I think this would be just as good without the mayo, and I'd feel a lot safer having this out at a BBQ having just used yogurt.
Also, watercress is a peppery, sturdy little green. If you want something else, baby spinach would also work, but the dip would be milder.
Things made this time last year...
Strawberry Mint Lemonade
Mango Guacamole and Homemade Salsa
I have never taken off time during Spring Break, but this year I did and it was great!! I went home-home and had an awesome reunion with some women I grew up with, our kiddos and our mamas. It was wonderful - time filled with scooters, wading pools, lots and lots of rock throwing (my mom's driveway is pebbled and my son LOVES to throw rocks at her fence. It's awesome) and delicious food! While sitting around watching the babies play, one of the grammies got an All Recipes email and we all had to have the featured Black Bean and Quinoa Salad. The minute I got home I had to make it again... it's the taste of vacation!
Black Bean and Quinoa Salad with Lime Vinaigrette - from All Recipes
For the Salad
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups water
10 oz halved cherry tomatoes - about 2 cups
15 oz rinsed black beans - 1 can
5 green onions, chopped - about 1 cup
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
2 limes, juiced - about 3/4 cup
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper
First cook the quinoa. Boil the quinoa in the water, cover and turn down to a simmer. Simmer covered for 25 minutes, or until tender and the little "tails" are released from the grain.
Next chop tomatoes and green onion and drain beans. Add these to a large bowl. Chop the cilantro, and set it aside.
When the quinoa is done cooking, spread it on a plate to help cool it. This salad is great served at room temperature, so no need to chill the quinoa, but if it's really hot, it will wilt the veggies.
While the quinoa cools, make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper (I used about an 1/8 teaspoon of ground pepper and just a dash of salt.)
Add the cooled quinoa to the veggies in the large bowl and stir to combine. Add in the cilantro and stir a bit more to combine.
Eat at room temp, or chill and serve cold. Both are delicious and the left overs are wonderful! I think this vinaigrette would make a great marinade for lighter meats, or as a dressing for fish tacos.
Here are a couple of my other favorite quinoa salads...
Ginger Miso Quinoa Salad
Quinoa Tabbouleh
