pomegranate, roasted red pepper & walnut dip
It definitely feels like spring is in the air today and it feels great! The sun is shining, the snow is melting and the days are longer, lighter and warmer. Yipeee! Almost four years ago, I took a trip to Greece with my family in May. It was a very memorable trip and I have been thinking a lot about it this past week. Hence the inspiration for this week’s recipe. Not being able to travel has resulted in lots of thinking about where my family and I want to travel next. Greece is definitely on the list (although England is first so that I can be reunited with my family!). This recipe comes from the The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet by Amy Riolo. If you want to increase your daily servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains then the Mediterranean Diet (more like a style of eating rather than diet) is a great place to start. I’ll share more info on this style of eating next week so stay tuned.
This dip is tangy and sweet and according to Amy Rioli has its roots in Persian culture. I love it with crackers, spread on bread or as a dip for vegetables. I halved the recipe and it was plenty for 1 to 2 people for a couple of lunches. I didn’t have any pomegranate molasses so I replaced it with a little pomegranate juice and maple syrup which worked fine. If you don’t have any pomegranate juice or pomegranate molasses then you could just skip this ingredient and simply use maple syrup. I would suggest just starting with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and adjusting to taste. You could also opt to make your own pomegranate molasses if you have the time. All you need is pomegranate juice and some sugar. Check out this recipe.
The original recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic (see ingredients below). I used a lot less garlic as I don’t love my dips too garlicky. I would suggest starting with 2 cloves and then adjust to taste. Alternatively, if you use roasted garlic it won’t be as tangy. I also wanted the dip to be a little less thick so I added some plain greek yoghurt.
Ingredients
1 jar (7 ounces or 198g) roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup (17g) fresh bread crumbs or almond flour
1/3 cup (27g) walnuts
4 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses (see note above)
pinch of cayenne pepper
dash of sea salt
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
optional - plain Greek yoghurt
Creating the Magic!
Combine the peppers, bread crumbs, walnuts, garlic cloves, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, cayenne pepper and salt in a food processor. Pulse on and off until a thick paste forms. Then gradually pour olive oil into the running food processor. Taste the puree and adjust the salt and garlic as needed. Serve at room temperature. Add optional plain greek yoghurt to get to your desired consistency.