Vegetable Garden Dip

Vegetable Garden Dip

By: Mary Chen LAc

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, liquid reserved
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin or paprika
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
• crushed pita chips
• 1 bunch small carrots (about 6 carrots), halved crosswise if long, trimmed with the green tops left on
• 1 bunch small radishes (about 10 radishes), trimmed with the green tops left on
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup small white button mushrooms
• 1 bunch thin asparagus, woody ends trimmed, halved crosswise
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes

PREPARATION:

Put the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and lemon juice  in a food processor and begin to process; add the chickpea liquid or water as needed to allow the machine to produce a smooth puree.

Spread on the bottom of a medium baking dish in an even layer at least 1 inch thick (so that the vegetables stand up). Drag a spatula across the top to draw lines to mark the “rows”. Sprinkle with the pita breadcrumbs. Stick the vegetables into the dip to form rows and serve.