Cooking

Spicy Lemon-Soy Dip

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This is one of my new “secret weapons.”  It’s a nice tasty dip that mixes savory, sour, sweet, salt, and spicy-hot all together, something like those dips you see in various Asian restaurants for spring rolls, etc.  However it also works on any vegetables – and that’s where it becomes my “secret weapon” for meals.  If I don’t want to get fancy, I just cook/steam a bunch of vegetables, whip this up, and dip away – instant tasty and healthy meal with a kick.

  • 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
    1 Tbsp lemon juice
    1 1/2  Tbsp brown sugar
    1/2 tsp red chili flakes.

Mix all of the ingreedients together.  It makes enough for about 2 people.  Fair warning – the whole mix has about 48% of your daily sodium requirements so don’t overuse it!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

Hummus, The Return

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Haven’t made hummus in awhile, so I returned to my generic hummus recipe, and thought I’d share.  I love hummus because it’s a great dip, yet is basically beans, so is quite nutritious.  I’ve served it with pita, tortillas (really), and baked slices of potato.

  • 2 cups beans (garbanzo)
  • 1/3 cup water (or broth)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Toss everything in the blender and puree until smooth.  Chill and serve.

This is really a basic hummus recipe, so it’s nothing earth-shattering, but is a good basis to work from.  I’m still working to improve it, and am slightly limited as I have a mild allergy to sesame seeds (but not oil).  Thinking more garlic, olive oil, or cumin may be needed.

Suggestions welcome!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

Recipe: Quick Pasta Caprese

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This is a fast recipe that lets you make a classy, tasty dish quickly – and you can do it with ingredients many of us keep around anyway.  This is for a single serving, so scale accordingly.  It also makes a decent meal without a side dish.

For the pasta:

2-3 oz dried pasta.

Sauce:

  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp dried basil (or about 1/2 of shredded basil)
  • 1/8 tbsp pepper
  • a few dashes salt (3-4)
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 slice mozzarella cheese (optional for vegans, but it’s not true caprese without cheese – that being said I don’t use the cheese much myself)

(note, you can leave out the tomato and have a rather tasty coating for 2 servings pasta)

  1. Mix olive oil, basil, pepper, salt, garlic, and cheese.
  2. Add tomato to mix, coat thoroughly.  Let sit at least 15 minutes in the fridge to allow flavors to blend)
  3. Cook pasta and drain thoroughly.
  4. Mix pasta with tomato mix, serve.