Well, That's Just Dippy

It's that time of year... heat, humidity, summer, and cookouts out the whah-zoo. I think everyone must have a "go-to" cookout recipe. For you, that may be a killer marinade or burger seasoning blend. Or, an easy side salad or sweet dessert to share. You know, that one thing that instantly pops in your head when you hear "cookout".

While I have some yummy side salads in my repertoire, my cookout staple is the veggie tray. That's crudité for all you foodies out there. Growing up, if I would have said "crudité", people would have looked at me like I had 3 heads and just stepped off the Mother Ship. "Croo-dee-what?" Sigh.  So I just save the gourmet for an appreciative audience.

Anyway, the humble veggie tray comes in a whole bunch of forms, using all manner of raw veggies from carrots to celery to bell pepper to broccoli to cucumber.  When you make the veggie tray yourself, you can arrange any type of raw veggie that sounds "dippable" to you (That's a real word. True story.)  Just make sure they're in bite size pieces and you're golden.

Now that we've discussed the finer points of veggie selection, let's move on to the fun part - the dip. You can definitely do Ranch dip (always a winner), but my personal favorite is this Creamy Yogurt Dill Dip recipe.  It's zesty, creamy, herbaceous, and delicious.  And, the bowl is always scraped clean when I serve it at gatherings, so I take that as a good sign.

P.S. If you are a fan of sour cream and onion chips, you might like this dip with a nice crunchy, salty, kettle cooked plain potato chip.  It's pretty fantastic, I might add.  But me? I'm a veggie lovah at heart. Bring on the "croo-dee-what's" and let's get our cookout on.

Ok, COOKOUT. What dish just popped into your head?

Creamy Yogurt Dill Dip

by Raye

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Keywords: no-cook appetizer condiment side egg-free gaps nut-free vegetarian peanut-free sugar-free soy-free July 4th cookout summer

Ingredients (2 cups dip)

• 1 cup plain, Greek style yogurt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp snipped fresh dill (or 2 tsp dried dill)
• 1 tsp granulated onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
• 1 tsp granulated garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

Combine ingredients. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

Store any leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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As American As...

You thought I was going to say apple pie, didn't you.

DIDN'T YOU!?

Well, I'm not.

Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day last week.  As you can tell, I'm a little behind on blogging. But, that's to be expected with adjusting to life with Ry Guy.  He's not a fan of sleeping.  Or eating.

I, however, am a huge fan (read GROUPIE) of both eating and sleeping.

Sad to say, not doing much of either.

Our 4th of July was spent lazing around the house tag teaming who was handling baby stuff and cat napping.  Around 3 in the afternoon, I got around to making our celebratory dinner:  Hot Dogs, Potato Salad, and Carob Peanut cookies a la mode (working on perfecting that recipe and will share it at some point - stay tuned!). Oh yes, and Lemonade.  Can't forget that.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post:  as American as... Potato Salad.

What's a cookout or BBQ without this quintessential side dish?  Not much, I assure you. Everyone has their own version of this standby and I'm no exception.  This is different than the potato salad I posted about earlier this spring, in that it's more of a classic recipe that you'd expect to find at a supermarket deli, except better for you and more flavorful.

Of course, you could adapt this to suit your own personal tastes...

Don't like mayo? Sub in light sour cream.  Don't do eggs? Skip them.  Easy as that.

But, if you can, I would encourage you to stick to the recipe below. It's just that good.  (If you need nutrition facts, pop over to my recipage, here.)

In the mean time, enjoy your summer.  And excuse my sleep deprived, lacking in creativity food photography and blog posts for the time being. I keep telling myself that life will return to a somewhat normal pattern, eventually. Until then, I'm going back to bed and hoping for the best...

American Potato Salad

by Raye

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: stove top salad side potato egg July 4th cookout American summer

Ingredients (10 servings)

• 3 lbs russet or Idaho potatoes
• 2 large hard boiled eggs
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. olive oil mayo
• 1/4 c. plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Peel, dice and boil the potatoes until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool.
• Toss drained potatoes with apple cider vinegar. Chop hard boiled egg, onion and celery; add to potatoes.
• In a separate bowl, stir together mayo, yogurt, mustard, salt and pepper. Gently stir dressing mixture into potato mixture.
• Chill until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

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Cookout Survival Strategy

Source

The Hubby's co-workers are having a cookout today.  The cookout location is on shorefront property, so there is a good possibility of kayaking happening in my near future. Of course, eating healthy at a potluck cookout can be hard to do, since you don't know what's in most of the food.