Deadly Dips and Salsas

This is my motley collection of side dishes such as dips, salsas and chutneys. When I get a chance I will add to the collection!

Cashew & Dried Tomato Dip

This recipe is based on one of my favourite commercial dips. You can find a similar dip in our local Woolworths and Coles supermarkets. I used my home-grown and dried tomatoes, garlic and lemon in this dip!

Ingredients

Half a metric cup of cashews
Half a metric cup of crispy dried tomatoes
1 Garlic bulb
1 Teaspoon smoky paprika
One quarter metric cup parmesan cheese
2 Teaspoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons olive oil

Method

A half-cup of cashew nuts sitting near a blender.

After you grind the cashew nuts into a course flour, empty them into a bowl.

Then after grinding the dried tomatoes into a powder, you mix the cashew flour, tomato powder together in the bowl. Next you will mix in the smoky paprika.

The tomato powder and cashew flour are in the blender and in front of the blender is a quarter metric cup filled with parmesan cheese

Now, after mixing the dry ingredients using the blender, you will add the parmesan cheese.

Finally add in the wet ingredients: garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. You can adjust the oil and juice to get your preferred texture.

All the ingredients are in the blender to produce the cashew and tomato dip. — Blend to get your preferred texture

The completed di is in a stainless steel dish with a seeded cracker biscuit being dipped in. — Dip in a crunchy seeded biscuit!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

I am so pleased with the lively fresh taste of this salsa, and so proud of growing most of the ingredients, that I just had to share the recipe with you!

Tomatillos still on the vine. — Tomatillos ripening in my hot house

A bowl of salsa verde is sitting next to a container of tomatillos. In the background is a rural scene. — Tomatillo salsa verde

A basket is filled with yellow and red cherry tomatoes. — Tomatoes fresh from my garden

On a white plate is a salad for shredded lettuce, tomato salsa, sliced cucumber and tomatillo salsa verde. — A fresh zingy salad from my garden!

I won’t rewrite the recipe, because I used the fresh salsa verde recipe published on Sophie’s Patch. So I used about 15 of my tomatillos and a bunch of home-grown coriander and fresh garlic with store-bought lime juice and (only) two fresh jalapenos. I think you will enjoy this! The first time our family tried it, we combined the salsa with a green curry and rice. Yum!

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