My lovely friend Meredith (of Zephaniah Wine) made this amazing black bean and corn salad/dip thing one weekend, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. It’s super-easy to make, and ridiculously good. Sure, it’s all veggies, with nary a meat or cheese in sight, but I stand by its deliciousness enough to confidently say that you can bring it to a Super Bowl party this weekend and you won’t get thrown out of the building.

Generally canned vegetables freak me out, but it’s winter, so good corn on the cob is going to be hard to come by. Plus, frozen corn really won’t work for this unless you want to put a lot more time in it that is required. This dip should be served room temperature or cold, so you’d have to cook the corn and cool it before you’re ready to put it in — and that’s just crazy talk.

I also didn’t get the recipe from Meredith, I basically recreated it from the dreams I had about this dip every night since she made it. I asked her later, and it turns out I got pretty close. So without further ado. …

Black Bean Corn Salad/Dip

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans (I use the reduced sodium kind)
• 1 can corn (I use the kind without salt. There’s certainly a theme here)
• 1 large avocado
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (don’t pack it down or anything ridiculous like that — you don’t need a ton.)
• 2 tbs malt vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

The reason I love this recipe so much is because it’s ridiculously quick and easy. Drain the black beans and the corn and  put them in a large salad bowl. Chop up the avocado and the tomatoes and add them to the bowl. I actually only used 1/4 of the onion because I don’t really like them. I also chopped them as finely as I could, but that’s really dependent on your own personal onion groove.

At this point, you have the base of the dip in place:

Now you’re just bringing it all together. Squeeze your 1/2 lime into the bowl, add the cilantro and the vinegar. You’ll probably have to play around with the vinegar and salt and pepper to get it to the exact taste you want. It also serves as a nice excuse to eat a bunch of it before you relinquish it to your guests. Stir it all up, and you’re ready to go!

Like Nathan Fillion’s bean dip, you’re going to need a sturdy chip for this bad boy. Mission Rounds are good, as are the Archer Farms blue corn tortilla chips that I grabbed from Target.

If you’re not bringing a dessert tray everywhere you go this season, then maybe you’re the designated appetizer bringer. Sometimes, it’s really fun to make one-bite appetizers that impress — and a post on those will follow. This time of year, I admit that I get lazy and opt for a dip.

I love a traditional hummus (I’ve even got my perfect recipe for hummus, though I suspect I add more lemon now than I did when I wrote that recipe) but this recipe for Moroccan bean dip caught my eye. It’s chick peas and yogurt, with spices and seasonings (like cumin) that sound scrumptious to me.

Back to hummus for a moment — if it’s too passe for you, try dressing it up with these ideas for hummus to impress, or make my favorite recipe for black bean hummus.

It doesn’t get a lot easier than this herbed goat cheese dip — fresh herbs and sun-dried tomatoes stirred into goat chevre … that’s it.

Sometimes, I don’t want a brown rice cracker or vegetables as my dipper … I crave a corn chip. That’s how I discovered Nigella Lawson’s red kidney bean dip, which I love and make often. I’ve yet to make this chipotle black bean dip, but they even give a recipe for your own (healthier!) corn chips as an accompaniment. It’s on my list for sure.

Or if you want to scoop up some dip with potato chips, try this caramelized onion dip (thank you, Heidi Swanson) that my brother made this weekend. The amount of dairy in it nearly sent me to the hospital, but it was so delicious. Why would anyone use a packet of onion soup mix when this four-ingredient recipe tastes so much better?

The layered Mexican dip has been done to death (um … ’cause it’s delicious), so in the interest of a new twist on a classic, this eight-layer Mediterranean dip will shake things up. Hummus, artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, yogurt, spinach, feta, roasted red peppers and green onions … yes, I’m drooling just a little.

Sweet pea guacamole is not a healthy substitute for the gift from the gods that is an avocado guacamole, as some may try to convince you. It is a different dip altogether, but it is addictingly delicious and you’ll not want to cease scooping this into your mouth.

White beans can become anything — a white bean roasted red pepper dip, a white bean dip with garlic and fresh herbs, even six easier than sin white bean dips, including pesto white bean dip and Caesar white bean dip. Please tell me a can of white beans (or two … or seven) is a staple in your pantry.

Black-eyed peas aren’t a common dip ingredient, which is why this black-eyed pea pate with pickled onions caught my eye. It’s suggested that you serve it on flatbreads, but I’d present it as a dip with crackers and veggie rounds and let my guests have at it.

I love this mayo-free recipe for shrimp dip — Neufchatel cheese, plain yogurt, scallions and a few other easy ingredients make the dip appealing to mayophobes like me.

If you didn’t find a recipe here, well, you’ve got a problem … but you could always check these nineteen easy and festive appetizer ideas to secure your position in the dip-obsessed fan club. I’m a charter member.

Is it wrong to be tired of black bean dip and hummus? OK, I guess I really love hummus, but I just didn’t feel like making it when I knew I’d be entertaining this weekend. What can I say — I longed for a different legume.

I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d do with a kidney bean dip, so it was Nigella Lawson to the rescue, and boy did she win the medal of honor for most heroic dip save of May 2010. Her red kidney bean dip was exactly what I was looking for — not Middle Eastern, not Italian and not Mexican, this dip had a personality all its own.

And not only was the taste perfect, but the recipe was perfection in and of itself. I didn’t change a thing (which never happens) and I made a couple of batches at different times and they both came out divine. I was tempted to take a shortcut and just use lime juice and skip the zest — you really, really don’t want to do that. The zest adds such a perfect finish to the dip, it’s worth the trip to the store to buy real limes.

The thing is, it’s a really simple recipe with very few ingredients. I don’t admit this often, but this time, it’s all about technique. Most dips, I just chuck everything into the food processor, blend and serve. Instead, this recipe has you cook the onions, garlic and eventually add the beans and spices as well. The cooked onions add a hint of sweetness, when coupled with the cinnamon and the lime juice almost trick you into thinking you added sugar or the like.

The one thing her recipe doesn’t specify is what to serve it with, but I chose organic yellow and blue corn chips and scored. Not sure that crackers, veggies or bread would make the perfect pair that this dip and corn chips did. The salty corn chips play off the pseudo-sweetness of the dip and you wouldn’t want it any other way.

It was a hit with both crowds that I served it to, and the only reason I had to make the second batch was because I couldn’t keep the husband and child out of it to save it for the next day. When a five-year-old emphatically proclaims, “This is so delicious!” then you know you’ve got a good thing going.

Thanks Nigella, for a simple, innovative dip that wasn’t made with chick peas or black beans.

Passover sucks.

I’m never sure how many people are familiar with Judaism in the world outside of my little urban-suburban East Coast super-Jewish bubble, but to recap, Passover is a week-long festival. During Passover Jews celebrate being freed as slaves from Egypt (though then we went and wandered in the gosh-darn desert for forty years, so I’m not sure it was much of an upgrade).

It’s celebrated by having a seder which is a big, traditional meal that, in a truly Jewish fashion, involves you sitting around and talking about how much your ancestors suffered so you could sit here and eat brisket. That’s not why it sucks. I like that part. I can listen to some stories of suffering if it means I get potato kugel at the end of it. No, the part that sucks is that on Passover, you cannot eat anything that is leavened, or has risen at all. Basically, does it have flour in it? You’re probably not allowed to have it. And this means that every food that has ever made you happy is pretty much cut from your diet for a week. Bread? No. Pasta? Nope. Rice? It depends on where you come from, but most Jews say nuh-uh. No cereal. No crackers. No chips (except potato chips). No pizza. Nothing with a breaded crust. No baked goods. Pretty much all desserts are gonzo.

Fear not, though, because Jews have a (really, really terrible) solution known as matzah. It’s basically a giant, crumbly cracker that’s used in various states of being ground up, and it pretty much instantly dries out everything, including your mouth. Also, if you eat too much of it, it gives you constipation something fierce.

This holiday has always seemed a bit weird to me. It’s never seemed very Jewish to me to limit one’s eating capabilities. The only reasoning I can possibly come up with is that if there’s one thing Jews like more than eating, it’s complaining about how hard we’ve got it, and this holiday ensures that no matter how cushy your life is, once a year, you and the rest of your people will be sitting on the toilet pissed off, or with your nose pressed against a bakery window, or staring at food blogs showing off baked Easter goods like a giant, cosmic middle finger.  At least once a year you will on some level understand the pain and suffering of those less fortunate than you, because you are deeply sympathetic to the feeling of literally being willing to kill someone for some freaking bread.

Every family, though, has various solutions to dealing with this. There are certain desserts every family has and certain recipes (usually involving lots of potatoes and cream or chocolate to mask the taste of matzah) that the use to get them through the week. My mother, for example, whose birthday often falls during Passover, has a truly decadent chocolate nut cake with the world’s best, fudgiest frosting. Since, sadly however, you can’t sit around eating chocolate-covered raisins the entire week (woe), my personal favorite family recipe is one my mother got from a friend about eleventy bajillion years ago that makes what we call Passover Rolls. And these suckers are amazing. They’re not really bread, but they’re so much like bread that by eating them you almost feel like maybe, just maybe, you’re not going to die constipated, bitter, and without good food in your stomach.  They take about twenty minutes and even if you’re not keeping kosher for Passover, I suggest you try them. They’re delicious.

Magical Matzah Rolls
(Makes eight medium-sized rolls)

1 cup matzah meal
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup oil or melted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. sugar
3 eggs

1. Boil together water, oil, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
2. When the mixture comes to a boil, immediately take off the flame and mix in the matzah meal. You should mix until your dough is firm and comes away from the sides of your pot, then let it cool for a few minutes.
3. Add and mix in eggs to your dough one at a time — the mixture should be very loose. If it’s too loose and liquid, refrigerate the dough until it’s solidified to a more ideal texture.
4. Heat oven to 400°.  Either grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper. Scoop out about a tablespoon of your dough and place them on the sheet about two inches apart from each other.
5. Put in oven and let bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the oven down to 300° and let the rolls cook for five to ten more minutes, or until they’re brown. Rolls keep well, but are best when they’re fresh.

Just picture this: Seven children up to their elbows in pretzel dough, creating strange and deviant-shaped pretzels and loving every minute of it. That was my Saturday night when it was our turn to host the monthly parents’ night out for our moms’ group.

Contrary to my fraught-with-procrastination personality, I actually prepared for this ahead of time. It was a good thing too, because the plan was to make chocolate pretzels. Mothering, you’ve let me way, way down because this recipe was useless. The dough never became dough and we ended up tossing it and finding another easy homemade pretzel recipe that was perfect. Perhaps it was the lack of yeast that made the chocolate pretzels one giant fail but there was no way that dough would roll into snakes to shape into pretzels.

Regular pretzels worked amazingly well and it was fun to see the difference between regular flour and the spelt dough we used for Owen. They both came out perfect but very different. One thing they had in common was their addictiveness: we were making another batch less than 24 hours later.

Spelt Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 1 1/8 teaspoons yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of sprouted spelt flour (or regular)
• 1 egg, beaten
• sea salt or kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350º.

Measure warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle on yeast and stir until soft. Add salt, sugar, and flour. Mix and knead dough with hands. Roll and twist into any desired shapes. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Tricks and tips:

• When you paint on the egg, be generous. Although these won’t get super-browned (the regular flour version didn’t either), the egg does help.
• Also don’t be shy with the salt. We were with the first batch and they really needed more. The second batch was perfect.

It was seriously fun to make these pretzels and the instant gratification with the yeast product was something that spoke to my heart.

Bob might be obsessed with Whole Foods Market, but I’m starting to think I’m developing a little obsession myself. I’ve really been making a lot of dips, and the more I make, the more I dig ‘em. They are the perfect munchy appetizer for entertaining, a great way to get your kid to eat his veggies and a yummy alternative to a boring sandwich for lunch. I admit it: I’m officially dip-obsessed.

So when we invited my parents to dinner last weekend, the first thing that sprang to mind as an appetizer was — you guessed it! — dip. Rather than make my go-to perfect hummus recipe or the white bean dip I created for Christmas Eve, my taste buds led me to something with roasted red peppers.

After a little digging around in the fridge and the pantry, I managed to wrangle up a dip that even won compliments from dear ol’ Dad, which is not an easy feat. Even he couldn’t resist the combination of white beans, roasted red peppers, garlic, capers, fresh basil, miso and lemon juice.

Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Dip

Ingredients:

• 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 ounces roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons miso (I used Hearty Brown Rice Miso)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
• lots of freshly ground black pepper

Add first five ingredients to your food processor and blend until smooth. Add capers, basil and black pepper and pulse until coarsely blended. Serve with crostini, pita chips, brown rice crackers or your favorite vehicle for dip.

If I’m dip-obsessed, does that make me dippy? Probably I was that long ago….

Join Debbie as she raves about whole foods, rants about chemicals and generally celebrates cooking and eating with fresh, local, nutritious foods. And sometimes she might get a little feisty….

Maybe you didn’t quite make a New Year’s resolution out of it like Jeff did, but it’s there, in the back of your mind: “I’m going to start eating healthier and consume less calories.” One way to reach that goal would be to eat healthier snacks.

I feel compelled to confess to you that I as type this, I’m eating chocolate chips and pretzels. That’s because I had a freakishly healthy dinner of salmon, buttercup squash and broccoli. I’m convinced that my body — anyone’s body — needs a certain amount of calories to subsist happily (and that’s more than programs like Lose It! tell you to eat), and so I suggest eating healthy snacks often. Because if you don’t, you may very well binge on chocolate chips and pretzels.

Did you ever think about buying the pre-packaged 100-calorie snacks? Honestly, I’ve been tempted and I’m actually glad that wheat makes me feel crummy, or I would have fallen for the ease of a handy little snack with little to no nutritional value. They may be low-calorie and even low-fat, but that’s about it and that’s just not me.

I decided to measure out the calories of some of my favorite snacks, and I was surprised at how easy it is to make your own 100-calorie snacks.

The 100-Calorie Healthy Snacks

• 7 baby carrots (five calories each)
• 2 tsp. all-natural almond butter or peanut butter (about 66 calories)

• 1/2 c. strawberries (25 calories)
• 1/2 c. plain whole milk yogurt (75 calories)

• small fruit salad
• 1 TB slivered almonds (33 calories)

• 2 TB hummus (50 calories)
• 5 baby carrots
• as many cucumber and celery sticks as you’d like

• 1 medium apple (75 calories)
• 1 TB cheese chunks or slices (25 calories)

• 1/2 medium banana (55 calories)
• 1-2 TB shredded coconut (for dipping!) (30 calories)

• 1 TB grain-sweetened chocolate chips (35 calories)
• 10 spelt pretzels (60 calories)

Hey, how’d that snack get in there? Well, I guess it’s semi-healthy.

• 1 rice cake (35 calories)
• 2 tsp. almond butter

• nearly unlimited veggies sticks if they are green (cucumbers, peppers, celery)
• 1 TB Goddess dressing for dipping (basically Italian dressing with lemon and tahini)

I used Calorie Count to get the approximate amount of calories for these foods when I didn’t have a package label to check. Don’t forget to package these snacks in reusable containers instead of disposable plastic bags. You’ve now saved some money, saved the environment, and saved yourself a larger waistline. Now that’s worth not buying those nutritionless pre-packaged jobs, wouldn’t you say?

If you share your 100-calorie snacks with us, we’ll have more snacks to create ourselves, so add your faves to the comments.

I was working last night, and I decided I needed a snack. I opened the fridge and saw this huge leftover bag of baby carrots that needed to be eaten soon, so I grabbed it. I wanted something to dip it in, but wanted to at least pretend to be somewhat healthy, so I didn’t want to grab the Ranch dressing. So instead, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter (it has protein, see?) and went back into my office.

A few minutes later, Luke comes in to ask me something, and recoils as if I were hunched over my laptop, spooning the contents of the garbage can into my gaping maw. Instead, I was crunching on baby carrots and peanut butter. “What are you eating?” he asked me, disgusted. I thought it was pretty self-evident, but I answered him anyway. His response? “Ew. That’s like… weird gross.”

Weird gross? Really? Baby carrots and peanut butter are weird gross?

I was very confused, so I did what I usually do what I’m confused, and I asked Twitter. I got some responses along the lines of, “Do you mean peanut butter and celery?,” which made me laugh, because, yes. I just got confused between the tiny orange thing and the big stalky green thing. Luckily, Keith was on my side and informed me that Owen eats it. Facebook, however, was not as kind.

Some of my responses included, “NO. No they are not. Freak.,” “Not really…PEAS and carrots, PB and celery. Pb and apple…,” and the worst one of all, “Kona, Kinda sounds like you are w/child again?” Aaand, cut to me on my knees, screaming at the sky, “Nooooooooooooo!” Bob, however, agreed with me, making my CliqueClack Food respondents 2/2 in my favor, which is heartening.

I also got some interesting ideas. One friend suggested that I “try PB, carrots and honey with a little red chili powder in the food processor.” It sounds intriguing, but what do I do then? Put it on a cracker, scoop it out and eat it with my bare hands? Slather it all over my face for a rejuvenating mask? The possibilities are endless! My cousin even reminded me that our grandmother used to love peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, which always terrified me as a child.

So my question to you is two-fold: One, am I completely crazy for thinking that peanut butter and carrots are a snack? And, what’s your favorite peanut butter-based snack?

I confess I have a problem with snacks.  I love them.  Don’t you?  Like many people, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to eat better, so my snack routine could snag my newest healthy habit pretty hard.

Enter the butterless biscotti.  I know, I was skeptical too – until I tasted the biscotti.  Besides being absolutely delicious, the crunch from the cornmeal, nutty taste of the chopped almonds and sugar shot from the white chocolate will send your taste buds into Olympic overdrive!  The texture and taste of this Lemon, white chocolate, and almond biscotti will totally satisfy your sweet tooth – at least for a while!

Lemon, white chocolate and almond biscotti

(based on Giada De Laurentis’ Almond and Lemon Biscotti dipped in white chocolate recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from between 3-4 lemons)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds (use regular almonds if you don’t have blanched)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer ’til light yellow, about 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, then the flour, and mix just until blended (sticky dough is normal at this point). Mix in the almonds and white chocolate chips.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal parts, and place on one baking sheet.  Form each dough mound into 2 (9×13) logs. Bake for 35 minutes; biscotti will be lightly browned.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Use a serrated knife to cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch thick diagonal slices.  Lay the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheets.  If you use two baking sheets like I did, take the bottom baking sheet out five minutes ahead of the one on top.  Bake until biscotti is golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.  Store in an airtight container.

Serve biscotti with a hot drink such as coffee or tea, and enjoy dipping and eating your biscotti. These won’t last long if you have snackers in your house!

This biscotti recipe is one of the easiest ones I have made.  Let me know what you think.  Do you love biscotti, or another type of snack to munch on in the afternoon?

Is there anyone who doesn’t love cheese? OK, I’m not talking to you vegans, unless you count that fake soy cheese as remotely edible. But the rest of us love cheese. You don’t know how happy I was when I got pregnant and my lactose intolerance mysteriously disappeared. Owen’s birthday marked a day much more special than just becoming a mom — I could eat cheese again!

Many of us entertain to celebrate the New Year, and I’ve already given you nineteen ideas for easy and festive appetizers you can prepare. Now, the CliqueClack Food staff has banded together to give you some of our favorite cheese platters. After all, everyone should have a little Clique in their New Year.

Bob says, “I really like serving jelly with cheese. In particular there is a hot pepper cranberry jelly that is amazing with both brie (or St. Andre, another favorite) and extremely sharp cheddar. I also like to serve a selection of hard cheeses (Gruyere, Manchego, etc) with some paté.”

Keith loves meat with cheese too, like assorted hard cheeses (some spicy!) with cured meats, like salami, gourmet sausages and prosciutto.

Cate says in Portugal, where she lives, “people like to serve cheese with plain cakes, like an un-iced pound cake — sounds really weird but it’s totally delicious. It’s especially good with super-soft buttery cheeses. It’s that sweet/salty combination that makes it work, like Bob’s cheese and jelly or that feta with peppered honey. Other than that they pretty much just do a basic antipasto platter — cubes of cheese, slices or chunks of prosciutto, olives, fresh crusty bread, and lots of wine!”

Back to the jelly with cheese: my brother has been serving brie with apple butter to great raves, and two favorites of mine are Manchego with fig jam and Gouda with roasted onion and garlic jam.

Kona says, “I like to have an assortment of hard and soft cheeses with fruit, like grapes and Granny Smith apples. Blue cheese and granny smiths are great together. I also always make sure to have goat cheese and Dubliner on hand.”

Since Owen and I don’t eat wheat, we’ll use rice crackers, but like Kona, fruit works best. Here are some of my favorite combinations:

• figs and feta
• Gala apples and gouda
• red grapes and gorgonzola
• strawberries with goat cheese

Kelly, the new kid on the block here at CliqueClack, loves to serve Alouette garlic and herb spread with crackers. Her family also loves Cabot extra sharp cheddar, and they will accept no substitute.

Jen‘s got some cheese and bread pairings for us (but why would we expect anything different from the genius behind the “Let’s Get Baked” column): “We like to pair Camembert with a good crusty Italian bread, sliced pears, and OLIVES!  But gorgonzola melted onto bread slices under the broiler is always a great favorite, especially paired with a nice Shiraz.”

A few other super combinations that are easy to put together for guests:

• Manchego, Marcona almonds and raw honey (you could also do a fried goat cheese with this combo)
• Goat cheese, olives and roasted red pepper
• fresh mozzarella with sun-dried tomato tapenade

Even Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself, got together with us to share some of her cheese platter ideas. OK, not really, but the link is out there for the world to see and I had you there for a minute, didn’t I?

If you’re serving wine with your cheese appetizers, we’ve discovered several rosé Cote du Rhones that go amazingly well with cheese. You also can’t miss with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

There are no rules for the cheese platter, but we hope that some of our favorites will make your New Year’s gathering even more special. Happy New Year from CliqueClack Food, and be sure to share your favorite combinations in the comments!

Every Christmas Eve, my family throws a giant party with all of the aunts, uncles and cousins. Everyone brings an appetizer or dessert and we munch and mingle the night away. In the past we’ve brought our butternut squash sage pizza, chicken wings, and a variety of dips and one-bite appetizers.

One thing I always try to bring is something I know Owen can eat, since he’s got lots of food allergies. And in fine five-year-old form, he’ll refuse to eat anything at a party that can’t be scooped up easily, grabbed and eaten on the run. If there’s a fork involved, all bets are off.

A few weeks ago, I was playing with a white bean dip recipe which we ended up using inside quesadillas. Yesterday, I stepped it up a bit and perfected it and that’s what I’m bringing tonight, along with these recipes for Alton Brown’s olive tapenade and sun-dried tomato tapenade (can’t stop eating this one … hope it makes it to the party!). They go so well together and when it’s a bigger gathering, I feel cheesy just bringing a little bowl of dip, so classing it up and presenting it as a “dip trio” made me feel better about myself.

White Bean Dip with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

• 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 2-3 large cloves of garlic (or more!)
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on how lemony you like it
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted in hot water, then drained
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• pinch sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

To roast the garlic: Cut the tops of the garlic cloves off, but leave them in their skins. Drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap loosely in foil. Cook at 400 degrees convection roast (or 425 normal) for about 30 minutes.

Puree beans and sun dried tomatoes until smooth, adding lemon juice and olive oil until smooth and of desired consistency. Adjust, then add the garlic and puree again.

Add all other ingredients and pulse until just blended. If you blend too long, the basil will become pureed and make the dip an ugly color, so please pulse. Serve with baguette rounds drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated cheese (we used pecorino romano) and baked at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes. Rice crackers and pita chips are also perfect with these three dips.

What would you do if you were expected at a party with something snacky in 15 minutes, and the cantaloupe you were planning on bringing had molded in your fruit basket? Yeah, I’d make white bean dip too, but someone was already bringing that, so I turned to my fridge — and the internet — for some speedy inspiration.

I found it in this recipe for tahini miso dip. Believe it or not, I managed to follow this four-ingredient recipe fairly closely, somewhat of a miracle for me. Instead of using red miso, though, I just used the brown rice miso I had here at home, and plain old water (I wonder what the carbonated water would do for the recipe? Make it a fluffier dip maybe?).

I dug around the fridge a bit more and found some carrot and celery to slice up into bite-sized sticks and I had myself a bringable snack.

The dip was a big hit, and the salty miso and the nutty tahini blend together so nicely. There were red pepper sticks and sesame crackers at the party that complemented the dip well, and I just know it would be perfect with snap peas.

So there you have it: a new recipe for you that has been tried and tested, and a new go-to for me to bring to parties in a pinch.

It’s almost Halloween! I love this holiday so much that I’ve actually visited two pumpkin patches so far, and bought more pumpkins than I honestly know what to do with. Maybe it’s because this is the first fall in several years that I haven’t spent in New York City, but I am obsessed with everything fall right now. Because guys, I’m in Virginia right now, and it is pretty.

Anyway, I recently massacred a pumpkin in a very Dexter-like fashion, so I’ve been (literally, at times) up to my elbows in the Halloween mascot. When Elizabeth and I were committing said pumpkin murder, one of the things we did was save the seeds, so we would have something to snack on during the next 80 hours we were spending pureeing the monster pumpkin I bought.

So while the food processor was working overtime, we made some addictive, delicious roasted pumpkin seeds, and it couldn’t have been easier.

The fun thing about pumpkin seeds is that they can basically be any flavor you want them to be. I had had roasted pumpkin seeds once before, when a roommate made them in college, and she just put salt and pepper on them. They were fine, but they didn’t exactly knock my socks off. This time, I wanted to go crazy.

We got a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, put the rinsed and dried pumpkin seeds inside, and just started throwing things in. We started with some olive oil, then added, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then we just started going through all of the spices in my kitchen and adding them. I think we ended up with cumin, some chili powder, and some white pepper.

We shook it all up in the bag so the seeds were nice and coated, then put it all in a single layer on a cookie sheet. We baked at 375 and checked on them periodically. More salt and pepper was added during the baking process because you really need a lot of flavor for it to show up on the pumpkin seeds. After about a half an hour, they were crisp and roasted to perfection. They were also gone by about 8:00 that night.

One of my favorite meats is Steak-umm’s. These are pre-packaged sliced steaks that are thin and quick to cook. You can go straight from the freezer to the frying pan and have dinner in just a few minutes. You can put them on a bun and eat them like a burger, or make Philly cheese steak sandwiches out of them. They are great for tacos, spaghetti, or in a chef’s salad. Anything you can make with ground beef you can make with Steak-umm. One of my favorite ways to use them is to make jerky. This is a quick and simple snack to make that you can take with you on a hike or you can snack on it while watching football.

You can use Steak-umms with your favorite Jerky recipe. If you don’ already have a favorite jerky recipe then check out this page to see if you can find one that works for you. There are a great many web sites that offer other recipes so search around and try some different recipes.

One of my favorite simple recipes is to combine 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce, ½ cup of water, and 1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Then take 4 to 6 frozen Steak-umms and break or slice them into strips.

Add the strips to the marinade and place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to marinate. The longer you let them marinate the better the flavor will be.

After the jerky has had time to soak up the marinade, take the bowl out and lay the strips out on a paper towel and pat dry.

There are two ways you can dry the jerky now. You can use either the oven set at about 150 degrees, or use a dehydrator. I prefer to use the dehydrator.

Leave the jerky strips in the the dehydrator for 4 to 6 hours, or until the jerky strips are completely dry.

Store them in a plastic bag in the fridge for a quick snack anytime.

Whenever I go out in the woods to go hunting, fishing or hiking, I take along my back pack. I have everything I need in my pack to spend a night or two in the woods should something happen. It is a good idea that everyone do this when they venture out into the woods. Sudden storms or a wrong turn on a trail can put you in a position where you aren’t able to get out of the woods before dark and have to.

For the food I carry in my pack, I like to keep things that are light, take up very little space and will keep without going bad. I will carry a few energy bars, granola bars, Jerky, or meat snacks.

Some of my favorite meat snacks are from Pop’s Authentic. These are high protein, low fat meat snacks that are smoky, spicy, juicy and meaty. They are a great snack for kids and adults on the go.

Pop’s Authentic is a small family owned business located in New Franklin, Missouri. New Franklin — situated equidistant between Kansas City and St. Louis.

Pop’s offers their meat snacks in four flavors: Original, Peppered, Habanero, and Bacon. All flavors offer a unique and delicious snack. They are filling and will give you enough energy to make it to the top of the next ridge or to make it through the night.

The Original meat snack is seasoned with a special mix of spices that give it a mild flavor that brings out the taste of the blend of beef and pork. These taste kind of like a good hot dog.

The Bacon snacks are 100% pork and have a very good smoky bacon flavor. These are sure to be a hit with everyone. They would go well with some fried eggs or biscuits and gravy.

The Peppered snacks have a rich cracked black pepper flavor that is sure to please those that like their meat snacks to have just a little kick to them. These are not going to burn your mouth, but they do have a mildly spicy kick to them.

If you are the five alarm chili type then you will find the Habanero snack sticks pretty mild too. If you are like me and prefer two alarm chili then these will be perfect for you. There is enough heat and hot pepper flavor to really bring out the flavor of the blend of beef and pork and leave you with a mild burn in your mouth for a while after, but you will not be trying to drink the nearest lake or river dry to put out the fire.

All of the different flavors can be purchased individually packaged in a 12 count box as shown, a master case (12 – 12 ct boxes), or in 8oz. bulk packages. The snack sticks sell for about $1.00 a piece.

Pop’s is also working on bringing out Beef Jerky and Beef Nuggets soon.

You almost need nothing but a big, juicy slice of watermelon, dripping down your chin as you slurp it down, on this list. My only regret is that seedless watermelon has rendered the seed-spitting contests of my youth obsolete.

Sometimes, though, I just feel the need to get creative. Yeah, I know you’ve figured that out by now. There are some really fun and easy things you can do with watermelon that not only enhance the flavor, but keep you from getting bored.

1. Paula Deen’s watermelon salad has intrigued me from the moment I first saw the recipe: it seems as though it’s perfect. How can anything with fresh mint, feta, a delicate and simple vinaigrette and sweet onion be anything less? Well, you combine all that with a sweet fruit. I know I shouldn’t be a doubter, but it just seems a little strange to me, and the moment I try this recipe, my hot little fingers will type out a report to you.

2. Chop it into chunks and serve it in a bowl with a fork. I know that seems a little lame to count as a number on my list, but if you’ve got a kid, you will save countless shirts by avoiding the whole slice slurp. Trust me — the summer of age two-and-a-half is marked with watermelon-stained memories. You’re welcome.

3. Perhaps Paula Deen has a watermelon fetish, because she’s also got a great recipe for a watermelon cooler, blended with lemon sorbet. Personally, I don’t think watermelon needs any added sugar, so this watermelon cooler recipe with fresh mint and optional honey appeals more to me.

4. How about a creamy dip for watermelon and lemon skewers? The rich dip balanced by the light fruit seems as though it would be a delightful combination.

5. Rachael Ray has a great recipe for watermelon sorbet, except for the fact that she adds a whopping 1/2 cup of light corn syrup to the mix. Um… yuck! Instead, add raw organic agave syrup. It’s got to be better than that processed corn goo, even though there are mixed reports on the healthy aspects of agave.

6. These prosciutto-wrapped watermelon and brie fingers are so simple, yet so elegant. The salty prosciutto with the sweet and juicy watermelon is a perfect pairing, don’t you think?

OK, see anything there to curb your boredom?

Far be it from me to ever assume that northern New Hampshire wouldn’t have any good restaurants to choose from. Granted, they are few and far between, but isn’t everything up there? You have to drive 20 miles just to find a gas station, let alone a gourmet restaurant.

There are a couple of gems that we’ve enjoyed for years, though, in Glen and North Conway: Margarita Grill and Moat Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery.

Every year when we go to Bretton Woods, we try to make it to at least one of these. In the past, we’ve always made it to both, but this year, since Margarita Grill was on our way home from Story Land, it won. Every year, I forget that Margarita Grill is not just your average Mexican restaurant. Everything they make has a unique flair and although the cuisine is scrumptious, the service is so fast that they get you out before your kid melts down, so it’s a win-win.

Join me as I re-create the meal I enjoyed so thoroughly it was nearly embarrassing: blackened tilapia with red grape and currant pica de gallo with roasted vegetable salad and honey rum black beans.

Blackened Tilapia
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This one’s easy: mix a little cumin, sage and brown sugar in a small bowl and add some salt and pepper to taste. Me? I’d go heavy on everything but the sugar and salt. Dredge your fish in it and pan fry until done.

Red grape and Currant Pica de Gallo

Ingredients:

• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 3 tablespoons dried currants
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• balsamic vinegar

Combine first six ingredients, then lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Serve with blackened tilapia.

Honey Rum Black Beans

This one’s even easier, since Bobby Flay’s got a recipe for honey rum black beans. Leave out the chorizo and it will be just like the recipe used at Margarita Grill, or so my taste buds tell me.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

This is easy too: greens, roasted veggies, cumin and fresh cilantro vinaigrette. Here’s the catch, though — they don’t use the veggies you’d typically think of. Roasted onions and carrots were on my salad, as well as pumpkin seeds sauteed with cumin, salt and brown sugar.

Sound amazing? Oh yeah, and it’s pretty easy to recreate — what are you waiting for?

A while back, during a rare spring heatwave here in the northeast, I posted a recipe for a healthy snow cone that we make here at our house, using frozen orange juice concentrate. Even though it has been anything but hot and sunny here lately, my son and his friend have been relishing a new snow cone recipe that they helped create.

When I say addictive, I’m not kidding. They each had three snow cones in a row one day, and we’re talking an overcast, 60-something degree day. Yeah, it’s been a fun June here in Massachusetts. Regardless of the weather, these new snow cones are a huge hit, both with the kid who is used to getting healthy things stuffed down his throat, and with the neighbor friend who is used to getting sugary treats.

These snow cones have no sugar in them — none! They are sweetened only with agave syrup which has been touted to be healthy enough for diabetics to use. The juices used are all detoxifying, purifying juices, great for your liver, bladder and digestion.

Lime Rickey Snow Cones
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If you were addicted to raspberry Lime Rickies like I was as  teen, you’ll be eating a snow cone right along with your kids. All measurements are approximate; this is really a “to taste” recipes — you can’t go wrong!

Ingredients:

• about 8 ice cubes
• squirt of agave syrup (about a teaspoon)
• squirt of lemon juice (less than a tablespoon)
• squirt of lime juice (more than a tablespoon)
• splash of unsweetened 100% cranberry juice (more than a tablespoon)

First, grind the ice cubes in your blender until snowy. Then add all of the other ingredients, and mix in with a spatula. You can try using the blender to mix, but it ends up a weird texture for me, almost foamy. This makes 2 snow cones.

What are you waiting for? You’ve got to stock your pantry, fridge and freezer with crazy things like frozen mango, fresh herbs, lemon juice and sugar snap peas. Keep up! I know we seem to have weird things in our kitchen, but if you keep versatile foods like these on hand, you can whip up easy, healthy foods at a moment’s notice.

Like crunchy mango salsa, for instance. Keith was highly disturbed one evening when I was going to serve him orange roughy — gasp! — broiled with a bit of seasoning. Even the best of us are uninspired some nights (read: try cooking a gourmet meal with a four-year-old breathing down your neck).

Being the devoted wife, I set out to whip up something to make the fish palatable to my hard-working husband. A fruit salsa came to mind, and since I always have frozen mango in my freezer (thanks to Trader Joe’s and my penchant for mango cherry smoothies) this was an easy fix. I’ve since made this salsa many times, a little bit different each time. I’ll include my variations:

Crunchy Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup fresh snap peas, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped (or a mix of red, green, yellow or orange, but red looks the prettiest)
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped (or sliced scallions, chives or shallots)
• 1 cup frozen mango, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (or basil, or parsley)
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• a splash of cider vinegar (optional)
• a pinch of sea salt (optional)

You may want to cook the onions for 30 seconds or so in a bit of oil in the microwave to take the edge off. You are going to be very tempted to try lime juice, but don’t do it — it doesn’t bring out the other flavors like the lemon juice does and your salsa will end up bland.

Now mix all ingredients together and serve over fish, chicken, with corn chips, rice crackers or a spoon!

On a whim the other day, I bought a package of fresh pomegranate seeds. When I say whim, what I really mean is that my four-year-old was absolutely dying to try them (yeah, I’ve got a neat kid) so I really didn’t have a choice but to bring them home. I figured we’d toss them into salads or sauces, or if push came to shove, we’d just eat them with a spoon — or our fingers — right out of the container.

Then, being me, I got to thinking … I’m sure there are other things to make with pomegranate seeds that will be delicious and a little more innovative. So my search began, and I found some very, very fun recipes.

We are shameless guacamole lovers in our house, so when I saw this recipe for guacamole with pear and pomegranate seeds, I knew I had just died and gone to Epicurious heaven. It’s pretty much guacamole, but instead of tomatoes and cilantro, it’s got pears, grapes and pomegranate seeds, which will provide some delightful crunch.

This one’s for you, Molly — it’s got barley! This recipe for barley and wild rice pilaf with pomegranate seeds is so easy, but adds a touch of class to your meal. Pine nuts, parsley and lemon zest round out the textures and flavors in this recipe.

Garbanzo salad with pomegranate seeds … now there’s a combination I never would have thought of. I’m a sucker for any type of chick pea salad, and this one is really traditional except for the addition of the pomegranate seeds. That luscious sweetness and moist crunch would be a great match!

There are about 9,467 recipes online for salads, soups and sauces using pomegranate seeds that are nothing to sneeze at … they all look amazing. The three that I highlighted above were winners for the most unique use of the pomegranate seeds.

Do you have a favorite pomegranate seed recipe? I know Bob recommends them covered in chocolate. How about you?

Okay, first off, I should say I’m a liar. I literally didn’t even lay eyes on the grill; there was definitely no “we” about it. The actual set-up was much better: I stayed in the house and grazed on the different appetizers we had laid out, while Luke went down and grilled food, and a third person acted as the intermediary and delivered it to my food-hole. God Bless America.

When Luke broke my heart at Costco, it wasn’t because he bought meat, if you guys have ever read this column before, you know I don’t have a problem with that. What made me sad is that he dropped this giant tube of red meat into the cart and the price tag said … $60. Sixty dollars for a bull leg or whatever. It was insane. He looked at me all proud and said, “this is a really great price.” $60 for a tube of meat is not a great price! It is a TUBE OF MEAT.

In fairness, I should probably mention that it was a fillet. Of beef? A beef fillet? Is that a thing? I don’t know, but if backstrap is a real thing, surely beef fillet is, right? All I do know is the people who ate it said it was delicious and the GIANT TUBE OF MEAT is just about gone now (and for what it’s worth, it was most definitely on the pinker side of medium-rare). It’s just so disheartening when you leave Costco having spent $175 and all you have to show for it is a tube of meat, some coffee, and like, half a dozen avocados.

Anyway, back to the menu: Other than the fillet, everything else was vegetarian. We had chips and salsa, including some banana salsa that I picked up from my farmer’s market. Banana salsa, by the way, is quite good, despite the fact that it sounds disgusting. It was pretty spicy, but the banana flavor was an interesting touch. Luke also made his homemade guacamole in both spicy and non-spicy versions.

As far as the grill went, we kept it pretty simple for the vegetarians: we had Morningstar Grillers with Dubliner cheese melted on them. We also grilled some portobello caps that are as ridiculously good as they are easy to make. All you do is take the caps and marinate them for fifteen minutes in balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and throw them on the grill.

My friend Elizabeth, she of the boozy chocolate cake and the quinoa-stuffed zucchini, contributed her amazing fruit salsa, the secret ingredient of which is crack. Or heroin. I’m no drug expert, but I’m pretty confident that one of those two substances adorns this dish in abundance.

My sole contribution to the proceedings (other than my appetite) was my potato salad. I’ll do a post on it soon, but it’s great. It’s a super simple and easy recipe, but for whatever reason, people go completely nuts over it. While it does include mayonnaise, I put in as little as possible.

So that was my Memorial Day cookout. It pretty much ended up being a veggie feast (there was also a green bean casserole and veggies with dip involved). What did you guys eat this weekend? Did any of you have meat tubes? Do tell.

Before making my journey I had been eating Indian food for years.  My mother, who is my culinary inspiration, learned to cook Indian food when we were just children.  So, a couple of times a month, we could expect lovely curries and Basmati rice at dinnertime.  In the last five years or so, I’ve also learned to make some of my favorite dishes from this spicy continent’s wide array of gastronomic wonders.  One I have not learned to make however,  is Masala Dosa.

Masala Dosa was invented in the state of Karnataka in southern India. It originated as street food in the temples.  First, let me explain what dosa means.  A dosa is like a crepe that’s made from rice and black lentils, which are mixed with water and then made into a batter.  The batter is ladled into an oiled pan and formed into thin round discs, resembling  micro thin pancakes.   Dosas were originally served with a simple potato curry which was eaten out of a separate container. But a potato shortage forced its inventors to get creative.  They began mixing the potatoes with onions and lots of lovely spices, and filling the dosas with them.  The reason for this change in how the dish was served had to do with religion of all things.  Hindus and Jains did not eat onions, so by mixing them with potatoes, and hiding them inside the dosas, no one knew the better.  It quickly became popular and the name got changed to Masala Dosa, because Masala means “sauteing of spices.” Centuries later, this Indian staple has maintained its popularity and is served with a variation of fillings.

Masala Dosas should be eaten hot and are usually served along side red garlic chutney.  Chutney is to India as Salsa is to Latin America.  It’s a sweet, yet spicy condiment that is often made with fruit.  Check out this site for a terrific Masala Dosa recipe.  If you’re wondering how to make chutney, there are many kinds.  Here is a link to one made with mangoes and pineapple.  Indian food is not as complex to make as one might think.  However, it’s worth getting a good book, like An Invitation to Indian Cooking.  The author, Madhur Jaffrey is an authority on the subject, and her book is a great way to get  acquainted with just how easy, delicious and varied Indian cooking is.

Yes, it’s that good. I’ve been making hummus from scratch for years and years, never using a recipe and never measuring ingredients. Me and hummus, we’ve come to a certain understanding, the understanding that no matter what I dump into that food processor that it will come out tasting amazing.

Or should I say perfect….

OK, now that my hummus ego has let loose all over this post, I’ll say that it is my perfect hummus recipe, exactly the way I like hummus. Consider it your basic recipe (of course I’ll provide variations) and alter it to make it your perfect hummus recipe.

Perfect Hummus

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Ingredients:

• 1 15-oz can organic chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup tahini (it’s great with any brand, roasted or raw)
• 1-2 cloves raw garlic
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• water to taste

Dump the chick peas and garlic into the food processor and run until chopped. Add tahini, lemon juice, and olive oil. Blend until smooth. Slowly add water as the processor is running until you reach your desired consistency. One thing to remember: if you refrigerate before serving, the olive oil will cause the hummus to thicken, so add just a little more water than you’d like if you’re not serving the hummus right away.

For serving, I like to spoon the hummus into a shallow dish, sprinkle with paprika and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh parsley and Kalamata olives. Pita is the traditional accompaniment, but I like raw veggies (carrots, snap peas, broccoli, red pepper) and rice crackers (gluten-free).

Variations

• Roasted Garlic Hummus: Roast 2-4 cloves of garlic and omit the raw.
• Black Bean Hummus: Use black beans instead of chick peas and add a dash of cumin and some chopped cilantro.
• Substitute 2 – 3 tablespoons of flavored vinegar for a different taste … try raspberry, champagne, or herbed.
• Blend in any fresh herb, about 2 -4 tablespoons.

Obviously, I like my hummus lemony with just enough garlic. If even one clove of raw garlic is too much for you, try mincing the garlic and microwaving it in a bit of olive oil for 30 seconds. It takes the edge off.

How do you like your hummus? Share your favorite recipe or serving suggestion with us.

UPDATE: I tried it and I’m hooked. Don’t use water in your hummus recipe — use the gooey can juices as Bob recommended in the comments. Or you could always just add more lemon, as I seem to be doing there days.

I admit it — I’ve got a bit of a girl crush on Heidi Swanson. It’s not physical; in fact, I barely know what she looks like (well, before watching this video anyway). I love Heidi for her mind and her palate. Thanks Bob, for introducing me to the world of Heidi Swanson via her cookbook, Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways To Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients into Your Cooking – a great Christmas gift!

Naturally, I have since devoured her blog, 101 Cookbooks, in addition to the cookbook.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a video — yeah, a video! — on Heidi’s blog, demonstrating how to make Big Sur power bars. I’m always on the lookout for a good power bar recipe, for a number of reasons:

• Most store-bought power bars use isolated soy protein as an ingredient, and I don’t make it a habit to eat unfermented soy regularly, for health reasons.
• Owen, the four-year-old, has multiple food allergies, and finding a store-bought power bar without wheat, certain nuts and said soy protein is a tall order.
• Added sugar is just plain unnecessary when you’re talking about good, wholesome ingredients blended together, and so many store-bought power bars are full of the stuff.
• Hydrogenated wha…?

Anyway, you get the point. Although Heidi’s recipe wasn’t perfect, it inspired me, and the inspiration is all about the video. I have a confession to make: although I’ve been collecting power bar recipes, I’ve never made one, because they look like such a huge undertaking. I could never quite get up the nerve to try it.

Watching Heidi’s video has shown me that making your own power bars is probably one of the simplest things you can do. What was I waiting for, a hand-engraved invitation? No, but apparently a how-to video needed to come my way….

I really don’t want to get into the global warming thing with all of you, but suffice it to say that I sit here, at the end of April in New England, sweating brain cells out of my pores. It’s in the 90s and since it’s normally in the 60s right about now, air conditioners weren’t really on our minds, pools aren’t opened and I look really dorky running under the sprinkler with my four-year-old.

I’m hot.

So I did what any self-respecting adult would do: I made a snow cone. I’m not talking about one of the sicky-sweet syrupy snow cones that cause a sugar rush akin to 15 four-year-olds pumped full of birthday cake. My tongue didn’t even turn a strange shade of blue (or red, or green…) after enjoying my snow cone.

Healthy Snow Cone

Ingredients:

• ice (about 6-8 cubes)
• 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
• about 4 tablespoons of water

Toss all ingredients into your Vita-Mix (or blender if your a plebe) and grind away until you’ve got orange snow. Easy, healthy and cooling, definitely cooling.

Now I’m contemplating the adult version of this Shirley Temple Snow Cone… what would you say to adding a splash of champagne? The Mimosa Snow Cone. A little vodka? The Screwdriver Snow Cone. What are the ingredients ina Cosmopolitan again? Oh yeah, I’m lovin’ this….