Summer Squash Dip
/I have had sooo much squash from the garden this summer - all from three plants! And while I do love it, one gets a little tired of eating it in the same few ways over and over again (like this lunch I had the other day, or this zucchini bread & muffins). And we've got a lot more yellow summer squash than regular green zucchini anyway. I have a couple of favorite dip recipes (this one, and this one) that involve mixing cooked veggies with some yummy stuff - so I thought this might also be possible for squash. I did a little internet searching and came across this one - it sounded great! Squash with cumin, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and yogurt. Who doesn't love those things?
So here is what I did:
Ingredients:
- A couple of large summer squashes - I think any kind would work. I've used a large yellow summer squash (the kind that looks like zucchini but are yellow), and the round pattypan squashes. Actually I bet this would even work with zucchini.
- Garlic powder
- onion powder
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- tahini
- cumin
- lemon juice
- plain yogurt
- fresh garlic
I tossed the cubed squash with olive oil and salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, and then roasted in the oven at 350 convection on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes - turning several times, until the cubes were a little brown and very soft. Then I dumped that in the food processor and added the other ingredients. I used ground cumin, and I used my own homemade whole milk yogurt. And of course there's the fact that I never measure anything, so I didn't follow the quantities in the recipe, I just throw stuff in and blend and taste and keep adding and blending until I like it. I'm sure it ended up being more garlic and lemon juice and cumin than the original recipe calls for, because that's just how I like stuff. And I did it in my food processor - because I have 4 kids and a mortar and pestle, or smushing things with forks, just isn't really going to happen. Plus, I really like the creamy texture that the food processor gives it.
This was good. Really, really good. I will definitely be making it again.
I might try it without the yogurt next time, just to see how it is as a vegan option. I think maybe adding a little more lemon juice to replace the tanginess of the yogurt.
Pictured here: Curried Carrot Dip, Eggplant dip (done in the food processor, so creamier than the one in my original post), and Summer squash dip.
Update: I made the squash dip again with no yogurt - so a vegan version. I just used a little more of the other ingredients to bump up the flavor a bit, and it is also really, really good this way.