Here are a few dips that are easily made to help your Christmas gathering go with a swing. So much more flavourful than bought dips, the homemade variety can be whipped up in no time with just a few ingredients.
I’ve chosen to make dips with seasonal colours and they look spectacular all together but you could just make your favourite and sit down to watch Strictly with a few crudités or breadsticks and a glass of wine. Bliss!
Tip! The key to a good dip is tasting as you go, so the quantities given are only a rough guide!
A Trio of Party Dips
Beetroot Dip
I love beetroot and used my own home-grown beets to create this simple recipe. I found it was even nicer the next day as the flavours had had a chance to develop.
Ingredients
300g pack of cooked beetroot, grated (use gloves!)
2 large tbsp thick Greek yogurt
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and black pepper
Garnish: Mint sprig
Method
Put the beetroot into a bowl, and add the other ingredients. Mix well. Spoon into a serving dish and add a sprig of mint for garnish. The earthy flavours of the beetroot go really well with tortilla chips!
Wensleydale and Cranberry Dip
I thought I’d try this recipe from the Yorkshire Wensleydale website Serve with a lemon wedge if you like but I didn’t bother!
Ingredients
225g Wensleydale with cranberries
200ml Crème Fraiche
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
A good squeeze of lemon juice
Black pepper
Method
Crumble the cheese into a bowl. Add the crème fraiche, parsley, lemon juice and black pepper. Mash well together. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required. Garnish with a few dried cranberries if you have them. This is quite sweet so I found it best served with breadsticks or crudités and you can make it the day before if needed.
Guacamole
This is a recipe I’ve had for ever! I don’t know where I got the recipe originally and I’ve made it so often I don’t even have to look it up anymore. Make this one just before you need it to keep the colour bright.
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
¼ – ½ tsp Tabasco Sauce
1 tomato, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ a small onion, finely chopped
Method
Peel, stone and mash the avocado roughly. Add all the other ingredients and mix gently together.Try and keep some texture in the dip for the best taste! This is brilliant with Tortilla chips, breadsticks or crudités and is my favourite!
So here you have a Trio of Party dips in the Christmas colours of green, red and white.
Some of you might be making these for our online FLexercise Christmas party. Or perhaps you going to make the Christmas Biscuit Tree which is in my other blog. If you do I hope you enjoy them and maybe you could try experimenting with your own recipes!
Melody x