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Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

 

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

 

It’s seems a cruel twist of fate that beer-drinking-burgers-dogs-dips-eating season and bikini season line up perfectly. The same time that we load our paper plates with baked beans, slow roasted ribs, chips and creamy dips, is the same part of the year that we shed our clothes and romp in the sunshine in our bikini clad bodies.

I’m a strong advocate for both summer time gluttony and semi-nude public frolicking, I refuse to chose between the two. Although I’m also an advocate for flaunting your post-lunch glow in all it’s splendor,  not everyone is quite so brave.

So here we are, bikini/beer/barbecue season in full swing and here I am as the least diet friendly blogger in all of Blogland. Yet, I’m still a girl. A girl who loves beer, has a large collection black bikinis, and not a lot of modesty. I’m trying to find some balance.

Here is my entry for Healthy Appetizer For A Back Yard Party. Although there isn’t a way to strongly argue that beer is healthy, as a replacement for the butter I would normally use to caramelize onions, it’s much lower calories and gives you a great flavor.

Plus you get to say that the healthy dips has beer in it, which is a win.

And it gives you more room for beer in your pint glass.

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

 

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

Servings 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 sweet white onion
  • ½ cup porter beer
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped chives

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • Place garlic on a sheet of tin foil, drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Fold foil tightly around garlic.
  • Bake at 425 until garlic head is soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
  • In a saucepan over medium heat, add the remaining oil and the onions. Cook until onions have started to soften. Add ¼ cup porter beer, cook over medium/low heat until beer has reduced and pan looks dry, about 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ¼ cup porter beer.
  • Once the onions are a dark amber color and pan looks dry, remove from heat.
  • Add the Greek yogurt, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and onions to a food processor. Gently squeeze the garlic until the soft cloves protrude. Add the cloves to the food processor, discard the rest of the head. Process until smooth.
  • Chill until ready to serve (dip has the best flavor the day after it’s made).
  • Top with chives prior to serving

Notes

For added flavor (and added calories) and 4 oz cream cheese to the food processor in step 6.

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip3

Greekamole: Greek Guacamole

Greekamole: Greek Guacamole

Did I ever tell you about the time I was on a boat halfway between Italy and Greece and had my first Greek salad? I was just out of college, completely broke, and had nearly smuggled myself on board an overnight cruise ship. Although I was supposed to stay on the lower deck, I wandered up to the dinning room, looking for whatever I could afford on my tiny daily food budget. I found these small Greek salads that had all those great flavors found in a Greek salad but with no lettuce. And when you have cucumbers, Kalamata olives, Feta cheese and a lemon vinaigrette, you have no need for any lettuce.

Greekamole: Greek Guacamole

I spent the rest of the night playing "Italian Poker" on the top deck with a father and son from Naples who spoke no English (I, consequently, speak no Italian). Somehow, we managed to communicate, and for hours we played the poker I was familiar with but only used cards ranked 7 and above. They continued to order me those Greek salads, as well as cup after cup of the strongest espresso I have ever had.

I don’t remember parting ways with those two, although I’ll never forget them, but I do remember stumbling off the boat in the wee hours of the morning, in Cofu Greece, rattled by the Espresso Shakes and being handed a shot of Ouzo as I got into port.

Since then I can’t get enough of that magical combination of ingredients. Since you all already know my deep love of the avocado  it was only a matter of time before I made a greek version of guacamole. This was so good I ate the entire bowl for lunch, and then made it again over the weekend.

Greekamole: Greek Guacamole

Greekamole

Ingredients

  • 2 large avocado
  • ¼ cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • ½ cup red onion, chopped
  • 2 large Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • ¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
  • ½ cup feta cheese

Instructions

  1. Add the meat of the avocados, greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chili powder, mash until well combined.
  2. Stir in the cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese. Garnish with additional feta cheese if desired.

Stout French Dip

Stout French Dip

When you write, reading isn’t important, it’s essential. Unfortunately, my days are packed too full and reading has become a rare luxury. All due in no small part to the fact that I’m not only writing a cookbook (due to my publisher at the beginning of next month) I’ve also started writing for a print magazine as well as two other websites. Once I can, at least, check "cookbook" off my to-do list, I can get back to being a normal human and indulging in reading, and sleep, and all those sorts of activities that I’m currently ignoring.

I’m making a list, I thought I’d share. About a month ago, I posted on The Beeroness Facebook page asking for suggestions for beer books. Since you all are so amazing, the list has been growing.

Beer & Food:

  1. The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, Garrett Oliver
  2. Beer, Food, and Flavor: A Guide to Tasting, Pairing, and the Culture of Craft Beer, Schuyler Schultz
  3. The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance, Randy Clemens & Steve Wagner & Greg Koch
  4. The Oxford Companion to Beer, Garrett Oliver

Beer Non-fiction:

  1. America Walks into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies, Christine Sismondo
  2. Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, Judith M. Bennett
  3. Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, Jason Wilson (beer & liquor)
  4. The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World, Stephen Mansfield
  5. Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer,  William Knoedelseder

For The Homebrewer:

  1. The Naked Brewer: Fearless Homebrewing Tips, Tricks & Rule-breaking Recipes, Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune
  2. For The Love of Hops: The Practical Guide to Aroma, Bitterness and the Culture of Hops, Stan Hieronymus
  3. Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales, Stan Hieronymus
  4. IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale, Mitch Steele

Stout French Dip3

Stout French Dip

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cayenne
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 lb chuck roast
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 12 ounces porter or stout
  • 3 cups beef stock
  • 4 French sandwich rolls

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325.
  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, black pepper, salt, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
  • Pat the roast dry. Rub with spice mixture.
  • Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, or other large oven safe pot, until hot but not smoking. Add the roast, sear on all sides. Pour beer and broth over the meat. Cover and roast in oven at 325 for 3 hours or until very tender. Move meat to a cutting board.
  • Place Dutch oven back on the stove. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
  • Shred meat using two forks. Split rolls, fill with meat. Spoon a bit of sauce over the meat. Serve remaining broth in bowls with sandwiches for dipping.

Stout French Dip5

Broccomole: Broccoli Guacamole

 

It’s broccoli guacamole. You’re skeptical, I can tell. But this is really great, and with a creaminess that was slightly shocking, I will be making this again.

And, if you set a serving size at an ounce, as Livestrong is telling me to do, it’s only 22 calories a serving. And only about 250 calories if I eat the entire bowl, which I am prone to doing.

I love guacamole. I profess honest culinary devotion to avocados and guacamole. It is chocked full of healthy fats, vitamins, and protein. A great food that can not be improve upon. This recipe isn’t about improving guacamole. It’s a new food, a lower calorie creamy green dip that is about 1/3 the calories of that guacamole I love. But with twice the protein and less fat.

And broccoli is known cancer fighter, bone strengthener, cardiovascular health champion, bone-fide superfood and one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. We could all stand to be a wee bit addicted to a bowl of this stuff.

And it was so tasty, I ate it for lunch. And dinner. It’s like a dip with a mission, you don’t even have to feel bad about it. You are preventing heart disease and stroke one bite at a time. Really, it’s like medicine.

 

This recipe was inspired by Ludo Lefebvre. While giving an interview about his book, Ludo Bites, he spoke about a Broccomole he made. This is my version.

Broccomole

Ingredients

  • 3 cups chopped broccoli
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped, seeds removed
  • 2 tbs green onions
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 ounces fat free cream cheese (or silken tofu, goat cheese, sour cream, cashew cream, something creamy)
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tbs cilantro
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

  1. Cook the broccoli in lightly salted water until very soft. Overcook the broccoli in comparison to the al dente cooking that most recipes recommend.
  2. Drain broccoli very well.
  3. Transfer to a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth, add additional olive oil for a smoother texture.
  4. Serve warm

 

 

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

 

This recipe has been in my brain for a while.

For weeks it’s been taunting me, begging to be flushed out, poured into my food processor and immortalized in internet print.

And this weekend three failed attempts to make IPA lemon bars that never really gave me the results I was hoping for coupled with this tweet:

gave this hummus it’s shot.

And I’m so glad that the stars didn’t align and the beer cooking God’s didn’t smile upon the IPA lemon bars (which have become my culinary nemesis, mocking me with vague imperfections) because this hummus was exactly what I wanted on a hot day. It didn’t last long.

For this recipe, I used one of my favorite IPA’s, Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA. A beautiful example of an IPA, even if this one was sans Habaneros.

 

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

Ingredients
  

  • 2 fresh jalapenos stemmed, seeded and chopped (about 1/4 cup)
  • 3 tbs tahini
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans drained
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 lime juiced (about 1 tbs)
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup IPA Beer plus additional if needed

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth. Add additional IPA for a thinner dip. Serve with pita or chips.
  • *Note: most of the heat from Jalapenos are in the seeds. If you want a hotter hummus, you can leave the seeds in. If the finished dip is too mild, add 1/4 tsp chili powder for a spicier dip

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Crab Guacamole

I try to eat a healthy balanced diet. Most days, my daily meal planner looks like this:

Breakfast: 2 slices of high fiber wheat toast with 1 tbs of peanut butter each and coffee. Lots of coffee.

Lunch: Quinoa salad or leftover dinner from the night before.

Dinner: Some arrangement of lean protien (mostly chicken or fish), vegetables, and either rice or quinoa

But sometimes I just want to use the gorgeous avocados that were delivered to my door from a local produce delivery service. I want to mix it up with crab and sour cream and eat it over the sink while Tater plays in the back yard. So that’s what I did.

I added fresh jalapenos, and removing the seeds removes most of the heat so you get the flavor, a little crunch and just a bit of heat.

Crab Guacamole

 3 large ripe avocados

1 tbs chopped shallots

2 tbs chopped fresh jalapeno, stem and seeds removed

1/2 cup full fat sour cream

3 ounces crab meat

2 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and smash it all together until well combined, but some chunks of avocado still remain.

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Homemade Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onion Dip Plus How To: Roast Garlic & How To: Caramelize Onions

One big food blogger secret is that we rarely make recipes more than once. It’s true. And sad. It’s this constant race to provide new, fun, exciting, creative content for you that leaves us little time to revisit those recipes that we love. Of course, there are always those few recipes that we will make all the time, for the rest of our lives even if it means missing an opportunity to create a new post. This is one of those recipes for me. All I want to do now is make it all over again and add bacon and parmesean cheese. 

So addictive, creamy and delicious. 

It’s a simple recipe with only a few ingredients. It isn’t hard to make but it does take time to develop the flavors, time that is well worth it. I’m moving myself and my family away from process’s foods as much as I can, a little at a time and this is my way of having that onion dip that everyone’s mom used to make with the instant soup mix packet, but with loads more flavor and no mysterious chemicals. 

Also, I’m going to show you the right way to cut an onion. 

And how to roast garlic. 

Two skills that I hope stick with you for the rest of your life. My kitchen would be a much different place without onions and roasted garlic. 

Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onion Dip

1 whole white onion (I used a Walla Walla Sweet onion)

1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tbs, divided

1 large head of garlic

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

How to cut an onion:

Cut the onion in quarters. 

With the tip of the knife close to the center, make vertical cuts all the across the onion, about 1/4 inch apart.

Then cut the onion in the other direction, cutting across the cuts you just made. 

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. The key to caramelizing onions, and not BROWNING them, is: low and slow. Heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmery, then reduce the heat to low and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft and have turned an amber color. You want them to have that amber color or the sugars in the onion haven’t been caramelized yet and the flavors are not developed. This will take between 30 and 40 minutes, but you only have to stir occasionally so it isn’t a lot of work.

 How to roast garlic:

This is very easy and gives you the most incredible tasting stuff. If you haven’t roasted a head of garlic yet, you should. 

Preheat the oven to 400.

Cut the top off of the head of garlic. 

Place on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tbs olive oil. 

Fold the foil up over the garlic into a tight packet. Place in a baking dish (I use a muffin tin) and place in the oven. 

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, or until garlic is soft and starting to turn an amber color.

Once you have brought out those incredible flavors in your garlic and your onions, break out the food processor. 

Add the softened cream cheese, sour cream, onions and squeeze the garlic head until the soft cloves pop out and add them to the food processor as well. 

Process until smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

So simple, so good. 

Next time, I’m gonna try it with bacon and Parmesan cheese. I’ll let you know how it goes. 

Printable: Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onion Dip

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