More healthy dips

The holidays are a busy time for entertaining. I used to go overboard on cheese and crackers, but here are three healthier alternatives: two hummus recipes and another salsa recipe.

Both hummus recipes require about two cups of chickpeas. Instead of buying them canned, I've been buying them in bulk and cooking them myself. I let a half a pound of dried chickpeas sit overnight in water. Use plenty of water because the chickpeas will swell dramatically. Drain, and put the chickpeas in a pot, covering them with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, and then let them simmer on low heat for about two hours, or until the peas are sufficiently tender. Drain, but save the water. I moisten the hummus with this water, and I believe it adds depth of flavor.

This is my hummus recipe of choice. It came from a Jewish friend who learned the recipe from a close friend while living in Israel. The friend, in turn, had learned the recipe while living as an Israeli expatriate in Iraq.

Chop two cloves of garlic and an eighth of a cup of parsley into a food processor until chopped finely. Then add two and a quarter cup of chickpeas, three tablespoons tahini, juice from half of a lemon, one and a half tablespoons of olive oil, two teaspoons of ground cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the food processor rip. At this point, the texture of the hummus will range from chunky to mealy, and requires the addition of water and further processing to give it a creamy texture. I find that adding about eight or nine tablespoons of the reserved bean water is sufficient to produce a creamy hummus.




My wife prefers a more lemony hummus, and this recipe is my take on the one in Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East vegetarian cookbook.

Chop two cloves of garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. I also add an eighth of a cup of parsley as well, even though the recipe doesn't call for it. Add two cups of chickpeas, three tablespoons tahini, four tablespoons of lemon juice, two tablespoons of olive oil and a quarter of a teaspoon of paprika. Salt and pepper to taste and let the food processor rip. Again, to produce a creamy hummus, you're going to have to add about eight or nine tablespoons of the reserved bean water and process again.




This is one of my favorite salsas. The recipe comes from Roberto Diaz, a Chilean-born violist who is now president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, one of the great conservatories of the world. Previously he had been a member of the Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras, and served as principal violist of the Philadelphia and National Symphony Orchestras. Not only is this salsa, called pevre, a great dip, but it's also a great condiment with meat or fish.

Start by adding five to eight jalapeños (seeds removed), a large bunch of cilantro, four or five whole scallions, six cloves of garlic, three tablespoons of olive oil, and salt, pepper and chili powder to taste. Let the food processor go, but not for too long. If it gets too finely chopped, the salsa will be too runny. Add the contents of a 28 oz. can of tomatoes (drained), and run the food processor again, but only until the tomatoes are chopped into large, chunky pieces. I recommend using the pulse setting on your food processor if it has one. It's also great with avocado chunks added in post-processing.


The first hummus recipe and the pevre recipe came from my friend David Rezits's cookbook, Culinary Harmony: Favorite Recipes of the World's Finest Classical Musicians. A great cookbook and interesting read for any music lover.