Dips For Your Chips

Summer is in full swing, and the heat feels harder and harder to beat. When temperatures soar, we locals retreat to the one cool thing left. Whether it’s the pool, One Mile, the creek, or the river, nothing is better than spending the day with friends in or around a body of water. True relaxation cannot be achieved, however, without a cooler full of sharable snacks, the most classic of these being- you guessed it- chips and dip! While you won’t be able to find chips at the Chico Certified Farmers Market, you most certainly will find all the ingredients necessary to make you and your friends some phenomenal dips. More specifically, salsa and guacamole. These two dips have been staple dishes in Spanish and South American cultures since as early as the 1500s, and in some places much earlier than that. Salsa made its way to the US in the early 1800s, while guacamole was not introduced until the 1940s and popularized in the 90s. It’s quite unlikely that you’d meet anyone in the US who hasn’t tried one of both of these dips, let alone one who doesn’t have serious opinions on what brand or recipe is best. Whatever the proportions are, the main ingredients are simple: tomatoes for salsa and avocados for guacamole. Both of which are abundant at your local farmers market!

Salsa. Tangy, salty, spicy, refreshing, and best paired with a hot fresh tortilla chip. The art of making salsa can be tricky, but it’s easier than you think. Let’s start with tomatoes. Quite often thought of as a vegetable, tomatoes are actually considered fruits. By this logic, you might be able to classify a good chunky salsa as a fruit salad, but only if you want to cause an argument. Tomatoes come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, making them quite fun to work with. Tomatoes are also quite nutritional, low in calories but high in vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants. This makes them an addition to any dish needing a little extra color, flavor, or nutrition. The other ingredients typically used to make salsa are also quite nutritious. Hot peppers have capsaicin, which is what makes them spicy but is also an excellent anti-inflammatory. Onions and limes are incredibly high in vitamin C and other immunity-boosting vitamins and minerals. Many salsa recipes also include fruit, like peaches or mangoes, which adds sweetness as well as the additional health benefits of eating raw fruit.

Farm Fresh Tomato Salsa

This recipe is brought to you by Rowan Wilson

Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

• 3 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (for more spice, add more jalapeño!)
• 1/2 large yellow or red onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (set some aside for garnish)
• pinch of cumin (optional)
• pinch of sugar (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until just chunky.
2. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed (add more salt or jalapeño if it tastes bland, add sugar if it’s too acidic, or throw in anything else you want to add and turn it into your secret ingredient! We’ve recommended cumin, but there are about a million other things you could use.)
3. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to really blend.
4. Garnish with cilantro, serve with your favorite chips, and enjoy!

The answer is yes, we would like to add guacamole for a dollar. Who wouldn’t? Nothing hits quite the same as that creamy, buttery, tangy, spicy little number that is guac. Especially when it’s paired with a particularly greasy, salty chip. It’s easy enough to consume inadvisable amounts of the stuff, but what about making it? It’s really not quite as difficult as you think. Before we get into that though, I want to sell you on the nutritional benefits so you can impress your friends with both flavor and knowledge. Avocados are SO. GOOD. FOR. YOU. They’re packed with fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin E. This makes them excellent for digestion, immunity, sleep, and more! The biggest benefit of avocados, however, is healthy fats. They’re chock full of them. Fat has gotten a bad rap in America, and while there are definitely fats you should stay away from (ahem – saturated and trans fats!), there are some you can be happy to include in your diet. Avocados are high in unsaturated fats – monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These fats help the body maintain lower cholesterol levels, which in turn make them excellent at preventing/managing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Of course, only when eaten in moderation. But we can ignore that bit for now😉. The moral of the story is avocados are amazing, and just like tomatoes and salsa, the benefits only increase when you combine them with other wholesome ingredients and turn them into dip.

World’s Best Guacamole

This recipe comes to you from Miriam Bernard

Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

• 4 Avocados (nicely ripe, so a little soft but not squishy!)
• 1 tbsp. Coarse sea salt (add more to taste)
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely minced
• 1 large red onion, finely minced
• juice of 1/2 lime (use the whole lime if it is small)
• 1 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Instructions:

1. Halve the avocados, removing the pit and scooping the meat into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in the rest of your ingredients, and mash with a fork until it reaches your desired consistency (some like it chunkier, some like it smooth)
3. Garnish with cilantro, and serve with chips!

Helpful Tips and Hints:

1. Guac is really all about taste and feel. The instructions are minimal to allow you room to play.
2. Add ingredients in slowly and taste as you go – don’t be afraid to add another squeeze of lime, an extra sprinkle of salt, or any other spice you want to add.
3. You can mash it with a fork if you like it chunky, or put the ingredients in a blender to make it super smooth.
4. The amount of ingredients is flexible! It all depends on your taste and how many people you need to feed. Always buy extra onion, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro in case you need it.