Cool Dips

When summer hits and there is a heat wave in Southern California, there a few things I will only eat. Tons of tourists line up to try the famous Pink’s or In N’ Out. Just the sight of this to me is unappetizing, how can anyone eat bacon wrapped dogs or animal style cheeseburgers in this sweltering madness!

I cooked at a few bbq’s of late and did some brainstorming to make dishes that were refreshing, neat to eat, simple, and cheap (let’s face it, gas is high!). I decided on dips. Who doesn’t love chips or anything that isn’t crunchy to go with it? One night, we made Hummus from dry chickpeas with many Meyer lemons, Avocado ‘tatziki’, Heirloom Tomato Salsa, and Oaxacan Eggplant dip. Toasted pita chips, crackers, crostini were all used as the dipping apparatus.

I found the recipe for the Oaxacan Eggplant dip in Gourmet and it was delicious. Afterwards, we used the grill to toast mini-marshmallows on foil (according to my friend, they were out of big ones at the store). To be expected the mini marshmallows turned into fluffy hot pillows of sugar but still worked fine for the s’mores. My friends ended up dipping the graham crackers into the gooey mess, the only hot dip of the night!

3 lb medium eggplants (about 3)

2 fresh poblano chiles

1 to 2 fresh serrano chiles

1/3 cup finely chopped white onion

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (preferably Key lime)

1. Grill eggplants and chiles, turning frequently, until chile skins are blistered and slightly charred all over and very soft, 5 to 6 minutes for serranos; 10 to 12 minutes for poblanos; 18 to 20 minutes for eggplants.

2. Transfer chiles as cooked to a large bowl; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Cool eggplants to warm, about 15 minutes.

3. While eggplants cool, carefully rub off skins from chiles. Stem, seed, and devein chiles, then chop. Transfer to a large bowl.

4. Peel eggplants, the add parsley, chiles along with onion, cilantro, lime juice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste) in food processor or blender. Puree to until just chunky.