The cream cheese in this dip brings out the best in avacados! The more traditional guacamole served in restaurants in Mexico is generally just made with garlic and salt.

In food processor:

1 clove garlic (you may want to mince this separately to avoid chunks)
4 oz cream cheese
2 avacados, peeled and pitted

Blend until smooth, add salt to taste (remember that when eaten with chips and salsa, less salt is required!)

Place in serving bowl and hollow out the middle. Spoon your favorite salsa into the middle. Serve with chips or crackers.

I fell in love with Carrabba’s Caesar salad from the first time I tried it. Luckily, the owners of the restaurant published a cookbook with the recipe:

Ciao Y’All by Damian Mandola and Johnny Carrabba

If you want the exact recipe, I’d advise you to get the book or check it out from the library. I tried the recipe, but even with perfection, I had to have my own additions/subtractions, tweaking here and there until the dressing I made was distinctly my own. That said, I certainly do recommended the recipe in the cookbook!

One other note: I keep getting searches by people who want to make caesar dressing without anchovies–try anchovy paste and/or worcestershire sauce as a substitute, but keep in mind anchovy is the heart of caesar salad dressing.

Here’s my version of Caesar Salad Dressing:

Open and drain 1 can (2 oz) of anchovies. Place the anchovies in plain water. This removes some of the salt and since the oil in the anchovies is permeated with the fish, it also keeps the anchovies from being too strong in the recipe.

Soak the anchovies for five to ten minutes and drain the water and oil off.

Mince four medium to large cloves of garlic and put in bottom of blender with 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Blend on low speed (you won’t get much blending at this stage).

Add to blender:
1 scant tablespoons capers
8-10 anchovies (1 can) –or 1 1/2 tablespoons anchovy paste
Blend on low speed until completely mixed.

Add:
1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp sugar
Blend again on low speed.

Add:
3 egg yolks with a little of the egg whites (or two very large eggs)
Blend on low speed until everything is creamy and well-mixed.

After everything has mixed well, continue blending on slowest speed and drizzle slowly into the blender:

1 1/4 cups olive oil.
Adding it slowly allows the mixture to “cream.”

When everything is well blended:
Add 8-9 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
juice from 1/2 medium lemon

Blend

Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup grated (not packed) romano or asiago cheese and blend again.

For the salad, tear romaine lettuce and slice fresh mushrooms. Toss. Use about 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing per salad serving. Serve with extra romano, parmesan or asiago cheese on top!

This is a great sauce–I use it as a dip for chips or veggies as well as a great topping for enchiladas, burritos and tamales.

Chop the stems/tops off two jalapenos. Remove the seeds if you want to reduce the “heat” of the sauce.

In blender mix the following:

2 Jalapenos
1 envelope Original Ranch salad dressing mix (1.0 oz dry)
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup milk

Blend until smooth. You can eat it right away or refrigerate to thicken (twenty minutes to 1/2 hour).

If you take the seeds out of the jalapenos before blending, you may want to add a third jalapeno. Of course, the spiciness of jalapenos differs so some people may only want one!

There are lots of deviled egg recipes out there. I took all my favorite ingredients for deviled eggs and made my own.

6 hard boiled eggs (immerse in cold water and heat until boiling. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes and then immerse in cold water until cool.)

1 strip of chopped, cooked bacon (preferably from a butcher shop that has center cut, double smoked bacon)
1 tablespoon finely minced onion
2 tablespoons finely minced celery
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Miracle Whip
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix the bacon, onion, celery, mayonnaise and Miracle whip in a bowl. Add the cooked egg yolks and mash together well. Drop the mix with a teaspoon into the eggs and sprinkle with paprika.

This sauce is commonly used to smother burritos, tacos, and enchiladas (where green chile is already in the enchiladas, but the sauce is poured over the top for additional flavor). The sauce uses previously roasted and peeled green chiles.

In skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil. Saute the following:

1 minced garlic clove
1 small onion, diced

When the onions are soft, add
1 small fresh roma tomato, diced (if you’re using canned tomatoes do not saute merely add at the end)

Heat until tomatoes have softened.

Add six to eight roasted, peeled and diced green chiles and ½ cup to ¾ cup chicken stock. (Note: If you do not have roasted chiles, you need to sautee the fresh chiles with the onions!)

Simmer on low heat for five to ten minutes so that the flavors merge. Serve on top of your favorite recipes!

Can also be served as a salsa. Can be eaten as a side dish lightly smothered with monterey jack cheese.

Look here for instructions on how to roast and freeze green chiles.

Now here’s a step on the wild side. Humus is a very common middle eastern food. It’s the equivalent of Mexican refried beans, only it seems to be eaten more generally as a dip–as an appetizer, cold. It’s also served as a side to kabobs, but even then it was served cold.

It’s quite good, very mild and certainly a bit off the beaten path here in the US!

You’ll need:
2 cans of Chick peas (12oz.)
2 cloves of Garlic
Tahini sauce (made from sesame seed and sold in many supermarkets in the foreign food section or at Fiesta or a store called “Phoenicia”)
2 lemons
Food processor or a Blender

Drain the juice from the chick peas, but save the juice.
Crush and mince the garlic.

Place the peas in the food processor
Add 2 tablespoons of Tahini sauce.
Add the juice from the lemon and the garlic.

Blend the mixture until it becomes a thick sauce.
Add a little leftover juice from the chickpeas and more Tahini sauce to customize the consistency and taste.

Serve on a plate with a sprig of parsley for decoration and a sprinkle of olive oil. Use bread, chips or nan to scoop up these delicious beans!

Recipe provided by Amer Habda, a native of Lebanon. He also has a fascinating trip report of his travels to Saudi Arabia.

Salsa “al fresco” can really add personality to a dish. I prefer it to those that come out of a jar.

1 clove minced garlic
1/4 to 1/2 medium sweet onion chopped very small or minced
16 oz diced grape tomatoes or four large Roma tomatoes
Minced fresh leaves from cilantro to taste (1 to 2 tsp)
Salt to taste (or use 1tsp lime juice for added flavor and to help the salsa keep longer!)
1 tsp sugar (if the tomatoes are very sweet, you can use less)
1 or 2 medium diced or minced jalapenos including some seeds–the more seeds the hotter it will be!
1/2 cup of diced mild chiles (poblano, Anaheim)

Mix all ingredients with spoon. For longer keeping add a tsp of lime juice and refrigerate for up to a week.

Options:
To give salsa more color and a sweeter chile flavor, add a quarter of a diced yellow or red bell pepper. Banana peppers are also good in fresh salsa.

These are a great little appetizer–we’re talking excellent Superbowl food!

Blend the following ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup diced green chiles ( Use a can of green chiles or roast/sautee 2-4 fresh anaheims.)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup black olives chopped
1/2 cup salad shrimp

4-6 6″ flour tortillas

Spread cream cheese mixture on tortillas. Roll the tortillas tight.
Wrap tortillas in plastic wrap and chill.

Slice and serve w/salsa.

Variations: Mix in a touch of dry taco seasoning with the cream cheese or substitute lump crab meat for the shrimp.

Here we go with exotic fare again! From Lebanon, courtesy of Amer Habda, a wonderful parsley salad!

Taboule Salad

Soak 2 tablespoons of Burghul (crushed wheat) in water for about 1/2 hour.
The idea is to soften the wheat a bit. Drain off any excess water when done soaking.

In food processor, blend the following:

leaves from 2 bunches of parsley (remove stems!)
A few leaves of green mint (to taste)
1/4 cup onion
2 tomatoes

Add salt to taste to the parsley, mint, tomatoes and onions.

Add juice from two lemons and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the crushed wheat.

Mix well and serve as a salad. Taboule can be served with lettuce leaves and eaten as a wrap.

Amer has written a good travelogue that gives an interesting glimpse into the Middle East.