turkish yogurt dip

Turkish Yogurt Dip with Snap Peas
A little taste test for the chef!

We're winding down from a wonderful vacation week ... with some easy meals.  Today's lunch warmed our wind weary souls (post tomorrow).  Tonight I'm making our Sloppy Joes with ground turkey and serving up some crudite with a yogurt dip.

It doesn't always happen, but I like to start the week with some basic food prep.  A little quinoa, some vegetables cut and prepped and a batch of homemade dip for sandwiches and crudite.  Today's recipe is creamy, garlicky and so very good for you.  We found it in the pages of this week's People magazine (Hey, I needed a little eye-candy after a busy week!).

Turkish Yogurt Dip

adapted from Daphne Oz's recipe in People Magazine

Ingredients:

1 c walnut halves

4 cloves, garlic

3 T fresh dill (you could substitute 1.5 T dried dill)

3 T fresh mint (must use fresh!)

2 T evoo

pinch salt

pinch ground pepper

2 c low-fat Greek yogurt

Directions:

1.  Cover walnuts in cold water and refrigerate while soaking, for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Drain the walnuts and put into your food processor with the garlic cloves, dill and mint. (You could mince by hand.)   Drizzle in the evoo and season with salt and pepper.  

3.  In a medium sized bowl, mix the walnut-herb paste with the 2 c yogurt.  Greek yogurt is best because of its thick consistency.

4.  Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight for flavors to meld.  

5.  Serve with crudite and pita chips.  Delicious and good for you!

Colorful Crudite!

10 loves: walnuts

10 Walnut Loves

It is a common trait of my generation - a love of top ten lists.  Did it all begin with David Letterman?  Now they are everywhere: news reports, travel guides, holiday sales, marketing launches, etc.  And our little blog is no different!

This walnut top ten is inspired by a recent gift from our family's DF, Dorothy Quilty.  We came to know Dottie many years ago through DF's Woody, Jen and Anne.  She is a neighbor of ours, living in Winchester for decades with her sisters.  She lives alone now, and we have weekly visits with lots of storing telling, book and movie shares and some produce swaps in summer.  She is an inspiration - a strong, brave, intelligent and witty woman with a love of reading, current events and a little gossip here and there.  This one is a 'shout-out' to her and her amazing spirit!

10. heart healthy walnuts Take a quick peek at this interesting article from Dr. Andrew Weil about the benefits of walnuts.

9. sugared walnuts Leave it to Martha Stewart to have a quick and easy recipe for this classic - great for salads and to munch with cocktails. I also like to quick-toast mine in the oven.

8. blue-cheese walnut cream  Another party classic from Martha, I thin mine with a little cream or 1/2 and 1/2. It is great on top of grape halves or spread on crostini.

7. cranberry, walnut quinoa salad I fell in love with Quinoa this fall. Shout-out to Denise Costello, our local fit foodie, for inspiring me to make this a pantry staple!

6. walnut butter cookies  My kids love making these 'horseshoe' shaped cookies.  Claire has an Italian version, Crumiri, on her blog!

5. walnut cookie molds I covet these - aren't they adorable?  Don't you want to spread a little Nutella between two halves? Or perhaps a little chocolate ganache?

4. salad with pears, pomegranate & walnuts  This recipe from NPR's site gives an alternative recipe for sugared walnuts, but Martha's (see above) is easier. I make a version of this every Christmas.

3. walnut marinated goat cheese  I am a big goat cheese fan and this epicurious.com article was an inspiration for some of our homemade holiday gift giving.

2. walnut-arugula pesto  Yum!  Calling all arugula fans!  This pesto is so versatile; use it on pasta, pizza, sandwiches and to make an amazing potato salad!

1. Our newly, inherited Nut Cracker - Thank you, Dottie!  We love it!