Summer Simplified – Dips For Your Hips
Chips Dips and What You Put in Your Lips Will Blow Up Your Hips
With relaxed days and late nights, we often want simple meals around an eased schedule. This can make us less likely to want to cook and more likely to want to graze or get takeout or even worse. Experts say weight gain is more common in the summer because of food choices, alcohol, and abundant social gatherings. Dips and sauces are an important place to intervene. To keep you on track, we have collected some of our Thrive favorites to keep you mindful.
DIPS
Spinach and Avocado Dip
This dip is packed with medicine but low in calories. Use it as a dip with vegetables or as a topping for chicken or fish.
- 5 cups of baby spinach
- 1 large avocado
- ½ onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- Juice of one lemon
- ½ t Himalayan salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Serve with vegetables, rice crackers, or corn chips.
Avocado Salsa Verde
Colorful and packed with antioxidants, this salsa is great as a dip for chips or vegetables but also as a topping for black bean enchiladas, fish, or chicken
- 1 large, ripe, peeled Hass Avocado
- 1/3 cup diced tomato
- 2 T red onion finely chopped
- ½ t serrano pepper seeded and minced
- 1 t garlic, minced
- 1 T fresh lime juice
- 2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
- Pinch of coconut sugar and salt & pepper to taste.
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender; pulverize to mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour to allow flavors to marry.
Healthy Non-Dairy Queso
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- 2 cups raw cashews soaked for 2 hours minimum and up to 8 hours, drained and separated into ¾ cup and 1 ¼ cup
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped, and 1 medium tomato chopped, or 1 can drained Rotel
- 2/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 T onion powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 1 t cumin
- 1 tsp chipotle chili powder or chili powder
- ½ t cayenne pepper
- ½ t dry mustard
- 1 t smoked paprika or regular paprika
Directions:
- Boil carrots for 6-8 minutes or until tender. Drain.
- Add 2 ½ cups of filtered water to the 1 ¼ cups of soaked cashews in a high-speed blender and blend on the highest power to form cashew nut milk. Pour into another container and set aside.
- Add the remaining ¾ soaked cashews and the carrots to the blender. Add 2 2/3 cups of nut milk. Add remaining ingredients and blend on high. Add additional nut milk if a lighter consistency is needed. \
- Add jalapeno and tomatoes to the dish and mix well.
- Place queso in a heat-proof serving dish and heat in the microwave or on the stove to warm.
- Garnish with jalapeno slices. Serve with tortilla chips, cassava chips, or rice chips.
SAUCES
Pasta Leggero
“Leggero” stands for light. This sauce is a perfect base for pasta or vegetable noodles on a night between parties and celebrations. When teamed up with a salad like a Kale Ceasar, it provides a nutrient-dense meal packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants and will have your body forgiving you for the extra drinks and desserts you have consumed during the season. Ragu’ Leggero is the sauce teamed up with sausage or ground meat, but this sauce is also great with shrimp and chicken.
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 oz Rice or Gluten Free Noodles
- 2 cups Roma tomatoes, sliced and halved
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped
- 1 medium onion quartered and cut into small chunks
- 4 T white wine
- 2 T olive oil
- ½ cup cashew or almond milk
- ½ t sea salt
- ½ t ground black pepper
Directions:
- Sauté tomatoes and onions in olive oil over low heat. Add the vegetable broth and 2 T wine, and sweet potatoes. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree tomato mixture. Add milk and the remaining 2 T of wine, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 5 additional minutes.
- While vegetables are simmering, cook pasta according to package directions or use zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash noodles. Toss noodles in a bowl with olive oil, minced garlic, and chopped parsley. Top with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.
Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
- 5 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
- 1 t red pepper flakes
- 1/3 c fresh Italian Parsley
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 T white wine vinegar
- 1 t Himalayan salt
- ½ t fresh ground pepper
Directions:
- Place all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth. If serving, immediately allow the flavors to meld together for a minimum of 30 minutes. You will find the flavors build if allowed to sit longer. Can place in refrigerator and use for up to 14 days.
Best BBQ Sauce
- 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz can )6 oz tomato paste or 2 cups low sugar ketchup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 T honey
- 1 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 T lemon juice
- ½ t hot sauce
- ½ t kosher salt
- ¼ t black pepper
- ¼ t granulated garlic
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Keep refrigerated in a jar for up to a week. Use in place of purchased BBQ sauce
Zucchini Sauce
Even if you are not a fan of zucchini, this sauce will have you wanting more. Packed with powerful nutrients and antioxidants, this will quickly become a favorite. It is also helpful when you have an abundance of summer garden contributions.
- 5 medium zucchini, first peeled with a julienne peeler, then chopped into small pieces
- (can use a food processor) Set the julienned pieces to the side
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Filtered Water ¾ cup
- 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Parmesan cheese for topping
