Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing or Dip Recipe

I've been trying out a few homemade salad dressing and dip recipes over the past week. I want a nice variety of recipes so that I can make my dressings, and have more control over the ingredients that go into them. Also, I want to keep the calories low. There is nothing more wasteful when you blow your calorie allotment on salad dressing. Do you agree?  I found this recipe over at Kitchen Of Health. 

This is a nice tasting dressing. I made some yesterday and took it to a book club. Everyone liked it. I served it with sliced cucumbers and carrot stips. I love it with the carrot strips!

Creamy Avocado Dressing

2 avocadoes, peeled and pitted
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
1 tsp. lime zest
1 peeled cucumber
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder
dash of sea salt

Blend all ingredients together in a food processer or blender until smooth, adjusting water to get desired consistency. Refrigerate unused portions. Yield 3 cups.

7 Layer Bean Dip: using food storage

Using the pinto beans from my food storage and making refried beans (posted here), I made a 7 Layer Bean Dip. Here are the ingredients:

2 cans refried beans (I used 4 cups of homemade)
Blend It Up Southwest Spice Blend
1 container guacamole, or 2 avocados mashed with 1 tsp lemon juice
4 green onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. salsa
4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
1 small can black olives
1 c. sour cream

Here is my 1 1/2 quart casserole with my beans in it.

I sprinkled the Blend It Up Southwest Blend on top of the beans.

I used the avocados I had on hand...

I mashed them with a fork and added about 1/2 c. of Salsa to it to make a spicy guacamole. I also added 1 tsp lemon juice.

Layer the guacamole on top of the beans.

Take your green onions, and chop them up...

First layer your sour cream on the guacamole layer, then sprinkle the chopped green onions on top.

Next, add the chopped tomatoes.....looking real good!

Add the grated cheese and chopped black olives (I forgot to buy the olives....).

Serve with corn chips or as a side dish. This was a big hit at our house last night! Who says that food storage can't be yummy? Enjoy!

This is the refried beans that I had left over. I just put them into freezer containers, labeled them, and put them in the freezer for later use.

Parmesan-White Bean Dip

Today I am sharing this great bean recipe with you. It comes from a little cookbook by Betty Crocker called "quick and healthy". This is really delicious and makes a nice spread for a piece of toast or on crackers or with vegetables as a dip. Here are the ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 - 19 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 c. chicken broth or white wine
1 TBSP parsley flakes
1 c. shredded parmesan cheese

After you pluck the rosemary stems from your plant (I have a huge rosemary bush by my front door), pull the leaves down off of the stem...the leaves look like this below when you finish...

Next, chop the garlic and rosemary, and saute them in the olive oil on medium -high.

Stir constantly until the garlic is light brown. Don't burn the garlic, it will become bitter. The picture below is about right.
Next, add the beans and chicken broth, and mash them as the mixture cooks.
When it gets to looking like cooked oatmeal, add the parsley. You can add fresh parsley if you have it....I didn't. Use 2 TBSP if using fresh.

After that is stirred in, add the parmesan cheese. A note here, I always look for fresh grated parmesan on sale. It saves me money, and I just put it in the freezer until I need it. It isn't hard to measure it from the frozen state.
Stir in the cheese and heat until melted. Isn't this looking yummy!
OK, I am a black olive fan. I happened to have a small can of chopped olives (why? who knows, I found it in the pantry!) so I added a couple of tablespoons to the dip.
There it is, ready to serve! You can serve this with raw veges, whole wheat crackers, pita or bagel chips. This makes a nice vegetarian spread for wheat toast. This is a dip that you want to serve warm-hot.
Calorie count for this is 125 kcals with 4 gm dietary fiber for 2 rounded Tablespoons.

For food storage purposes, you really can have all of the ingredients on hand, either in the pantry or the freezer. Fresh herbs are best, but you can have dried on hand in the spice cupboard.