Crab and Avocado Dip

Upon requests by some participants, Minoo prepared a menu of dips in the South Arm Community Kitchen. The recipes are just in time for the Easter celebration.

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We had a scrumptious pre-Easter meal of 2 types of dips, 2 types of homemade chips, a tuna salad and an apple cake.

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The first dip recipe is a Crab and Avocado Dip. This is great for entertaining and potluck. Minoo served this dip with some homemade baked tortilla chips and pita chips.

Ingredients

  • 4 whole firm but ripe avocados (peeled, pitted and roughly chopped)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 15 ounces artificial crabmeat  (use fresh one if possible)
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
  • 1 whole jalapeno chili (finely chopped)

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Source: via Minoo

Tips: keep avocado in paper bag to speed up ripening

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Corn and Crab Salad

It is great to make use of fresh corns from the farm market in summer for this Corn and Crab Salad.   Fresh corn is much sweeter than the frozen ones.   We used artificial crab meat instead of real crab meat for this recipe.  You can always substitute with real crab meat when crab is in season and much more affordable.

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Ingredients

  • 3 cups fresh corn kernels, about 2 corn
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 avocados, pitted and diced
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • half white onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups jicama, diced
  • 2 cups crabmeat
  • 1/3 cup minced jalapeno peppers
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
  • lettuce and corn chips for presentation

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This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Guacamole

Guacamole originate from the Aztec and became popular in Spain.  The name Guacamole comes from an Aztec dialect, ahuacatl means avocado and molli means sauce.  Branca made this very popular dipping sauce to go with her home-made Tortillas.

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Guacamole is creamy by the ripe avocado, fragrant by the cilantro and a hint of tanginess from the lime juice.  It is a very nutritious dip rich with good monounsaturated fat from the avocado.

Here are some tips on buying avocado:

  • choose black ones
  • it should be lightly tender to touch
  • if you buy unripen avocado, wrap them in newspaper and place them at a warm place to speed up the ripening process
  • you can also place the avocados next to some apples to speed up the ripening process
  • if you would like to keep them for a while, refrigerate them

Ingredients

  • Ripe avocados
  • red tomatoes, diced
  • onion, finely chopped
  • cilantro, chopped
  • salt to taste
  • freshly squeeze lime juice
  • finely chopped serranos (optional)

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