I have an overflowing clipboard of recipes I've ripped out from magazines. You read that correctly, clipboard, probably not the right tool for the task but I love them. In my other life of wanting to be a director or boss of something I carry clipboards around and wear trendy glasses and carry almond milk lattes and graciously boss people around. Though I'm sure real boss people these days use their phones. Alas, I suppose I am the boss of my kitchen so therein my clipboard lies. This recipe came from the stack and I can remember exactly when I ripped it out - on an airplane along with a tortilla soup recipe that suggested a nub of butter to make the broth silky smooth and I still do that. There are about three or four dips or dressings on this site that are different amounts of the same-ish ingredients and I can't help it, I like what I like. When our quick meals are sandwiches, bowls of leftovers, salads and tacos, it's the spreads and dressings that bring the otherwise average meals to life. Our fridge sometimes has 8+ jars of things up top but they are my arsenal for quick meals. Many things can be thrown over rice or in a tortilla and qualify as dinner with a good sauce. My best lunch this week was this sauce, roasted sweet potatoes (which I already make a big batch of for Cleo), my fave feta and more herbs in toasty corn tortillas. Hope you can find a good home for it too.
MAYAN PUMPKIN SEED DIP // Serves 8
Recipe adapted from Food and Wine 2013
The original recipe said to remove the jalapeno seeds but I strongly disagree. The dip needs the heat for flavor and there is enough fat here to mellow it out. It could handle two peppers if you really like spicy. I'm a baby with spice and I know every pepper is different but I threw in the whole thing and it was great.
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 4)
1 large jalapeno, stemmed and chopped
sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup each parsley and cilantro
juice of one lime
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
In a saucepan over medium heat, toast your pumpkin seeds until just fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a food processor.
Add the oil to the pan to warm up. Add the garlic, shallot, jalapeno and a generous pinch of salt. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the food processor to cool. Add the parsley and cilantro, lime juice, orange juice, oil, water and another pinch of salt.
Run the processor until combined but still a little chunky. Add water or citrus to loosen if needed - you want it to be more like guacamole than nut butter. Salt to taste.
The dip will keep in the fridge for a week, where I believe it gets better.
