Happy Memorial Day!
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| Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Onions, 1881 |
My recipe for caramelized onion dip is quite apropos for a Memorial Day get together, and the ingredients, such as Greek yoghurt and fresh vegetables, are undeniably on the healthier side of living.
To caramelise onions, one has to cook them slowly and for a long time. As they caramelise, their natural sugars break up and mix with the onions, giving them a lovely brown colour. The onions turn sweet and flavourful.
This dip is not hard to make at all, and it's hands-down better than the ready-made storebought variety. As a plus, the onions can be caramelised ahead of time (like a day before). You'll be dipping your crunchy vegetables and loving the taste!
6 tablespoons olive oil
Ingredients:
3 large onions, sliced
3 shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon of chopped sage leaves, plus a small quantity of chopped sage reserved for decoration
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature so that it's soft
1 and 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1 and 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt, if needed
1scallion, thinly sliced, use green and white parts
Serve with raw vegetables such as:
carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, radishes, cucumbers, etc (can also use chips made from sweet potatoes)
Directions:
carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet peppers, radishes, cucumbers, etc (can also use chips made from sweet potatoes)
Directions:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots and sage. Cook, stirring often.
- Make sure to keep stirring so that the onions don't burn. When caramelising onions, it's a good idea to always keep a little bit of water nearby to add to the onions if they become too dry. A couple of tablespoons of water at a time will do.
- Cook, stirring, for twenty minutes.
- Lower the heat and cook for an additional 20 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are caramelised.
- Add the minced garlic and stir for another two or three minutes.
- Place the onions in a bowl and allow them to cool. If they are too chunky for your liking, once they have cooled, you can chop them further.
- To deglaze the pan where the onions cooked, add the balsamic vinegar and scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Add the deglazed product to the onions.
- Place the cream cheese and yoghurt into a bowl and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add the onions and mix well.
- Mix in the lemon juice and the cayenne pepper.
- Taste to determine if salt needs to be added.
- Refrigerate the dip for about 2 hours.
- To decorate, arrange the chopped scallions and reserved chopped sage leaves on top. For more decoration, how about sprinkling the dip with a little cayenne pepper and a drizzle of olive oil?
- Serve the dip surrounded by vegetables. Allow your inner Renoir to arrange them on the platter.
Some ideas on how to serve:
