I once told you I’m not very good with savory recipes…What I actually meant was, I’m not good with main courses. I feel very comfortable with everything around that… appetizers, snacks, salads, soups, dessert, dessert, dessert. Okay, now you know. I other thing that I love to make are dips. Sauces. Dressings. Salsas. Relish. Spread. Toppings. I’ll stop now. Just call it whatever you want, I adore to make them cause I adoooreee to eat them. My meals normally consist of all the sauces and toppings I can get my hands on (in huge amounts) and then a little of the thing I’m supposed to put the toppings to. Take for example, ketchup. I eat it alone. Please don’t leave me, I had to get that out. The stuff is heaven to me.

That’s a jiraffe-shaped wood knife! is my mom’s and is AMAZING.

 

I believe is what makes the food. What’s a burger without sauces? and pasta? A sundae without fudge? NO! is a sin! So I might as well use massive amounts right? 😉 Anyway…let me get to this…I made a really delicious Arabian Red Bell Pepper Dip. I love Arabian food, is full of dips and sauces! and this one is my favorite along with hummus. Is slightly sweet and spicy. And is sooo easy to make, everyone will love it. I was a bad host and didn’t have any pita bread to offer you here, but I love it just as much with whole grain crackers and veggies! Is all about the dip remember?

I had to say it…I LOVE this shot.

 

Ideally, you would burn the red bell peppers on a grill or directly on the flame of your stove. But I have an electric kitchen. So I placed them under the broiler and watched them carefully, turning them to burn all the way. You really want them to turn black here. They would look completely burned and that’s a good thing! That is going to give them a wonderfully smoked flavor that is the star here. And you MUST toast your nuts here, otherwise your life won’t be worth it anymore. I wish I was kidding. I never kid when it comes to dips.

I might have eaten most of this myself in one day. I did offer a little and everyone loved it, but it was MINE. I love my dips. spreads. sauces.

Oh, I should tell you this is usually made with walnuts, but I only had almonds. It worked perfectly! So you can experiment here and tell me how it goes (;

Red Bell Pepper Dip

Adapted from a Spanish Recipe somewhere in the internet. I really can’t remember.

4 red bell pepper

2 garlic cloves (I used 3 cause I like excess)

1 teaspoon of paprika

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of red wine or balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup of toasted walnuts or other nut you like.

Salt and pepper to season

You need to burn the peppers, for the broiler method, place them on a baking sheet in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes. Keep and eye on them and turn them to turn black on all sides. When that is done, take them out and let them sit on a plate for a couple of minutes. Now grab a ziplock bag or similar, and placed them all in it, closing the bag. They will sweat, making it easier for us to remove the skin and unleash the wonderfulness that’s under.

Meanwhile you can toast your nuts. Watch them carefull, we don’t want this ones burn, just fragrant and crunchy.

After a couple of more  minutes, take the peppers out of the bag and make sure they’re not so hot so you can handle them. Peel out the burnt skin with your hands. It should be really easy. Continue all around, discarding the black bits. I would recommend not rinse them cause some of the great flavor would go down the sink. A few black bits are okay, you don’t have to get it perfect. Now cut off the top and slice them open and scrape all the seeds and veins out (yes, vegetables have veins)

Noe get your food processor, or blender, or hand blender (like me) and get all the ingredients in there. Process everything together and taste for seasonings. Serve on a plate and decorate with a little more chopped nuts, coarse sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

You’re done! Wasn’t it fun?

I would normally give you a song to go along with this but I’m in a huge Green Day kick and I already offered you Green Day. Still, if you’d like to hear some more, I highly recommend Jesus of Suburbia (oh the video, the lyrics. Be my heart still, this might as well by on my top 3 favorite songs) Basket Case (a classic.) and Homecoming (a true masterpiece, so touching)  among others…I love them all. Amazing musicians. Listen to the lyrics.

Thanks for reading you all. Thank you SO much 🙂

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October 19, 2010

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