The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

I’ve been really into raw beets lately and its fitting for this to be the first documentation of that here, as I have served various dips with raw sliced yellow and red beets at least 3 times in the past 2 months. There’s just something so pretty about them as they can easily dress up your average everyday crudites platter and the taste and texture of a raw beet is something that pairs so nicely with my favorite dips.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always loved cooked beets in almost every way, including some of those questionable way-too-many-things-going-on soaked in miso gravy ways I come across so often in vegan restaurants. Not that I’m a huge fan of this sort of establishment, but I do find myself eating at one on occasion. Needless to say, I am a huge beet fan. So much that sometimes it’s hard to completely dislike a dish that clearly doesn’t work solely because there are beets in it. It’s almost like my subconscious wants to give bonus points just for including them, despite how badly the dish failed on a whole.

Until the last year or so I had never considered serving beets raw. I’m not sure why. I had certainly eaten and enjoyed raw shredded beets in salads plenty of times, but it wasn’t until I recently that I ever felt inclined to serve them this way myself. Then one day in January, after purchasing a few beets I decided to simply slice them up in their raw form and eat them as is with whatever my fridge could offer in the way of dip. They were an immediate success. They are crisp and sweet and paired great with both dips, although I have to admit the less healthy cream cheese anchovy dip is definitely my favorite.

Perfect Veggies with 2 Dips

1 medium sized red beet, scrubbed and sliced thinly

1 medium sized orange beet, scrubbed and sliced thinly

1 bunch of different colored carrots

celery hearts

green beans

Anchovy Cream Cheese Dip

1 small tub of cream cheese, softened

5 whole anchovies, finely diced

2 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, finely diced

zest of one lemon

juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Green Pea Mint Dip – Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

about 2 cups of green peas

one bunch of fresh mint

olive oil

one garlic clove

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

juice of half a lemon

For the Anchovy Dip combine the cream cheese, anchovies, capers, garlic and lemon zest and mix until smooth, you could also do this step in a food processor. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with a few capers.

For the Mint dip combine all ingredients in a food processor, a blender would also work, and puree until smooth. Garnish with a few peas and a sprig of mint.

Arrange the veggies on a serving tray or roughly on a cutting board, place dips in the center and serve.