Dips

Tzatziki Sauce
Traditional Greek Tzatziki sauce. This recipe is from a family friend who lives in Greece. My mother visited them and they got her hooked. They even gave her some olive oil to bring home made from their own olive trees! They sent a second batch a while ago and I still have a bit left. It is so wonderful in this recipe. This recipe is also a great way to get SCD yogurt without any added honey or fruit sugars. I use this dip with meatballs, plain meats, and sauteed veggies.

1 cup dripped yogurt
1/2 cup grated cucumber, water squeezed out
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Keeps well in fridge for a couple weeks.

Olive Oil Mayonnaise
This mayo works great in the artichoke dip below. It’s a fruity, flavourful mayonnaise perfect for dressings and dips.

1 whole egg
1 yolk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup olive oil

Place egg in the bottom of a tall jar or stick blender container. Add spices and lemon juice over it. Gently pour oil over and wait a few seconds for everything to resettle. The oil will be separated on top of the other ingredients.

Place a stick blender to the bottom of the container and turn it on. Mix as much as you can and then slowly lift the stick blender out to blend the rest. If not fully blended, return the stick blender to the bottom, turn it on and slowly work it towards the top of the mayonnaise.

Artichoke Dip
My friend brought this to a girl’s pig-out night and it was fabulous! So easy to make.

8-10 artichoke hearts (I buy them in a jar)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise
4 cloves garlic, minced

Grate the Parmesan cheese. Cut up the artichoke hearts. Mush everything in a bowl. Spread into a pan or pie plate and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Superbowl Taco Beef Dip
Serves 8
This dip was the hit of the party. I went with a layered-dip theme but everything I looked up had beans and rice in it. So I decided to make it a taco beef base with a few layers on top. For taco seasoning for the beef, please see Naturally Knocked Up’s Taco Seasoning. I did serve this with nacho chips, but didn’t eat them myself.

1-2 lb beef
4 tbsp taco seasoning
butter
1 onion
1 red pepper
1/2 cup dripped yogurt
3/4 cup homemade fermented salsa
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup monterey jack cheese, grated
4-5 green onions chopped
1 pickled jalapeno pepper, chopped
a few garlic-stuffed olives, sliced

In a hot fry pan, fully cook beef + seasoning in a bit of butter. Spread out into a glass baking dish. Turn the heat down a bit, add more butter, and lightly saute the onion and red pepper. Spread them over the beef. Spread yogurt over evenly. Spread salsa over evenly. Sprinkle cheese to cover the top (as much as you’d like). Sprinkle green onion, jalapeno and olives on top. Turn oven to broil, 425F and leave for 5-10 minutes or until cheese has melted and browned. Don’t leave it too long on broil!

For fermented salsa, I use the recipe in Nourishing Traditions.