Monday, November 15, 2010

Roasted Veggie Dip

Another great, easy appetizer that allows you to use up all the junk in your produce drawer that you bought last week, when you decided you were going to starting eating healthier, but then forgot, and ate a cheeseburger instead.

Start by going through that produce drawer.  Keep going.  Deeper.  Deeper.  There's lots in there.  You would just have to throw them out next Saturday anyway.  This is a MUCH better use for them.

In my 'fridge I found zucchini, red peppers, carrots, a few stalks of leftover asperagus, some broccoli, onions and garlic.  You can use whatever you have, but I've found that onions and garlic are essential for this recipe to work.

You will also need a block (or two -- see below) of cream cheese and a dried herb spice mix (I use the Penzey's Green Goddess Dressing Base).

Preheat your oven to 425.

Chop up those veggies into about 2" pieces.  Just make sure they're uniform, so they all roast at the same rate.  Then sprinkle with olive or canola oil (I like neutral oils), and salt and pepper.  Mix it all up on a cookie sheet:


Roast 25 to35 minutes stirring once about halfway.  You want them to have some good caramelization.  I took a pic halfway through:

and then forgot to take another when they were done.  But, you get the idea.

Let them cool, then transfer to your food processor.  Pulverize until its a very ugly paste.

I don't think I need to describe what this looks like.  But we're all thinking the same thing.  Trust me, it gets better.

Add your cream cheese and 2 to 3 Tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) of the herbs.  Give it all another ride.  (I was making this for an office potluck, and had so many veggies that I ended up using 2 blocks of cream cheese.)


Transfer to a bowl and chill at least 4 hours.  But I think its better if it chills out overnight.  Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite crackers.

Bon Apetit!

2 comments:

  1. What is the consistancy of this?

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  2. Its a thick dip. You want to serve it with a knife for spreading.

    ReplyDelete