Lychee Dressing (or use as a fruit dip)

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:27:20 +0000

I love lychees, but rarely get them fresh. They aren’t readily available here and many people aren’t familiar with this tasty Asian fruit. When I spotted a can of them while browsing the aisles of a local Asian store, I was thrilled. My track record with canned fruits hasn’t been all that great, so I only bought a single can. Now I wish I’d filled my basket with this treat! I ate a few of them plain and then turned the rest of them into this mildly sweet, delicious dressing.

Lychee Dressing

1 20-ounce can of lychees, drained (reserve the liquid)
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup cashews or pine nuts
1/4 cup lychee juice (or the liquid reserved from your can)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt – optional
1 tsp finely minced ginger
1/2 cup tofu (I used the Firm water packed type)

Blend all ingredients until smooth. If the dressing is too thin, add a few more nuts. If it’s too thick, add some additional lychee juice.

This was great on a bed of romaine topped with garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, orange slices and craisins. The Little One preferred to use it as a fruit dip for her banana which was a great combination also. I think I would thicken the dressing a bit more if it had been intended to be a fruit dip – which it certainly will when we get some more lychees!

Basic Reduced Fat Hummus

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:51:53 +0000

I love hummus, but have avoided it in restaurants because of the amount of olive oil used. While it’s true that olive oil is considered a “good fat”, I still don’t want excessive fat in my diet. When I made hummus at home, although it tasted great, I never got the same smooth consistency that the restaurants offered. Now, I am getting that extra smooth hummus by using beans cooked from scratch and making the hummus in the Vitamix instead of in my food processor. I cook the beans longer than the suggested time, so they are softer than I might otherwise want for most recipes.

This makes a great dip for carrots, celery, cucumber sticks, pita wedges or tortilla chips. It’s also great spread on a pita or other sandwich. One of my favorites is toasted whole wheat bread spread with hummus and topped with cucumbers, tomatoes and some sprouts or a thin slice of avocado. Here’s my basic hummus recipe, but the ingredients are very flexible, so try whatever variations sound good.

Basic Reduced Fat Hummus

15 ounce can of garbanzo beans
OR 280 grams of garbanzo beans cooked from dried beans
2 T tahini
4 T lemon juice
1 T minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth. This should keep well in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days, but ours doesn’t usually last that long.

Z's Kitchen » dip/spread

Lychee Dressing (or use as a fruit dip)

Basic Reduced Fat Hummus