mediterranean dip;

So today was game day!  D&D Sunday as they usually happen to be, and instead of going all out to make all of the food, we did a potluck!  It was wonderful–worked out perfectly.  Zack made jalapeno poppers, Matt made quiche, and Dustin brought brownies!  Tyler got away with nothing because he’s dating me, and I provided this awesome mediterranean dip!  Plus he’s the DM so he has more work to do than the rest of us when it  comes to preparing for D&D.

This mediterranean dip recipe stems from Dara’s Healthy Mediterranean 7 Layer Dip over at Cookin’ Canuck, with a little local improv from myself.  This is a great recipe, especially for make-ahead meals and potlucks since all the ingredients are cold.  I wouldn’t make this more than a day in advance because of all the fresh veggies that go into it, but it definitely wouldn’t be bad to prep ingredients and then assemble on-site if necessary!

Now I probably ate a quarter of this dip today which is not exactly “healthy”, since part of healthy is moderation.  But in the grand scheme of things I ate this instead of brownies (which I will inevitably eat later in the week), so I figure all in all it’s still a positive.  My theory is that if I was going to eat X amount of something anyway (and I always binge a little at game nights because my mind is focused on other things), then it might as well be healthy and veggie-oriented!

So, disclaimer: while I do occasionally make my own hummus, this hummus came from Perfect Pita.  It’s the stuff that made me think “hey, maybe I do like hummus”, whereas two years ago you wouldn’t catch me dead with the stuff.  I couldn’t understand why anyone wanted to eat this weird mushy paste thing.  But Perfect Pita hummus is a lot creamier and smooth; honestly it’s more like mayo or a spread than hummus.  Now I imagine that’s probably the result of some more oil, but again in the grand scheme of things, at least it’s got the protein in chickpeas to add a little filling, and if it means I eat a few more carrots dipped in the stuff, then I figure it’s not the end of the world.

The original recipe called for roasted red peppers, which I think would liven up a plain hummus, but since Perfect Pita offers a roasted red pepper hummus, I opted for that instead.  Layered with tomatoes, cucumbers, greek yogurt, artichokes, feta cheese, there’s really not too much wrong with this dip.  I did sprinkle some of that smoked salt we got from Iceland for an extra little notch of nuance, and it was a hit at game night!  5 out of 5 chips (read: stars), would make again.  I served this with some garlic and herb pita chips and baby carrots as well!

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