Everyone eats green food on St. Patricks Day, right?

Yesterday, I wanted to cook something green in honor of St. Patrick's day, and we were completely out of dip, so I created a curried pea dip. Actually, I was unpacking a moving box in the garage, and found a can of peas in a box of books. That's what happens when you hire a company to pack up your stuff. Anyway, I don't think I've EVER bought canned peas.... but there it was, mysteriously packed in a box of books. I remembered that Diane told me a very long time ago that she whizzes peas with chicken broth in a blender and pours it over pasta, so I figured, why not? It turned out YUMMY and is completely gone - ergo, no photo.

Curried Pea Dip

1 can of peas, rinsed and drained well
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs tahini
1/4 C lime juice
2 Tbs olive oil plus more
2 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
salt to taste

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a small fry pan, and saute the curry powder. If you don't do this, then it will have a chalky taste that I just don't like. Place the curry, peas and everything else in the blender or food processor, and let it whiz. Pour additional olive oil through the top until you have the consistency that you want. Taste for salt and adjust.

This was really very good. At least I think so - it was gone before I could really get a good mouthful!

Four stars!

Feeds four, or Elisabeth.

NOTES: I don't think I'd waste the tahini on this again because the flavor was masked by the curry. You could probably make this low fat by using only enough olive oil to fry the spices, and using broth to thin to the desired consistency, because the flavor of the olive oil was masked by the curry powder. I think lime juice is more sour than lemon juice, so if you use lemon juice, you may need to use more.

This turned out so well that I might try other vegetable based dips. Gingered carrot sounds yummy, don't you think? Or maybe a spinach dip that tastes just like fatayer?

ABOUT DIPS AND SPREADS: I find that if I don't have a healthful dip in the house, the ubiquitous pretzels get dipped in plain sour cream, or nutella, and the level of junk food consumed by my teen goes up dramatically. Thankfully, she is not a lover of chips and loves pretzels instead, which make terrific, relatively healthy dippers. Dips make great sandwiches as well, unless you make them too loose. We use good quality bread with some nutrition and some chewiness (drag out that breadmachine, ladies!) to stand up to the wetness of the dip. Use the dip instead of mayo or mustard, and layer the veggies and cheese (vegan or regular). We always use some sliced tomato, and often add shaved carrots as well (use your potato peeler for this). Yum! I'm hungry for lunch now!