Colorful appetizers: Roasted beet tahini dip, grape salsa, roasted red pepper artichoke tapenade

 

This post's theme: dips of a different, unexpected color. Hummus need not be limited to tannish, salsas need not be red or green, and tapenades don't have to be limited to olive colors. All of them help break up what can be a monotone color palette on the appetizer tray.

Dave insisted on dubbing this first dish beetini.

Tahini beet dip

Adapted from a recipe by Suzanne Zeidy, as published in Saveur magazine

Ingredients
1 pound beets
½ cut tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
3 ice cubes
Pine nuts for garnish

Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash beets and place in a roasting pan. Add water a third of the way up the pan. Cover pan with tin foil. Roast beets until tender enough to insert a fork, an hour or more, depending on the size and age of the beets. Let cool and remove skin.

Cut beets into large chunks and place in a blender or food processor. Add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, ice cubes and some salt and pepper, and process until very smooth. (I opted for a food processor, and I suspect it might have been faster dealing with those ice cubes (??) in the blender. It was very loud.)

Serve garnished with pine nuts.

Rating: This makes a very brightly colored dip that would really stand out in a vegetable platter. That's a plus and a minus, in some regards. Usually I use up little bits of hummus in a variety of ways, but there's no sneaking this vivid dish into anything. Flavor-wise it's fine. If I were to make it again, I'd use the blender and cut the recipe in half because it makes a ton so unless you're having a mega party you'll have leftovers.

I made this next recipe mainly because the tarragon plant is as healthy as it will ever be, and it hates life when I bring it inside for the winter so I know it won't last.

I also made it so I had something I actually made to take along with a cheese platter to a gathering when I didn't have a lot of prep time. Really didn't have the right accompaniment for it that evening, but since it makes a ton, I can attest that the leftovers were really good with Tostitos Hint of Lime chips, and as a side for grilled chicken breasts. But then I had the eureka moment where I thought, say, toss this with some mixed greens (including a smattering of arugula), top it with goat cheese crumbles and toasted pecans, and it made an absolutely killer salad.

Grape salsa with tarragon

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups purple grapes, sliced into rounds
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (or a serrano if you want more heat)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves

Method
Mix shallot, vinegar and salt in a small bowl. Let sit 10 minutes. Drain, reserving soaking liquid. Rinse shallots.

Toss shallots, soaking liquid, grapes, chile and tarragon in a small bowl. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: As a chip topper, it's fine. It's nicer as a tangy, fresh counterpart to meat. But as a salad dressing, in effect, it's a major hit.

Artichoke tapenade

Adapted from “Super Tuscan” by Gabrielle Corcos and Debi Mazar

Ingredients
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers
2 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and roughly chopped
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts
¾ cup pimento-stuffed green olives
½ cup roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 loaf French bread
Olive oil for drizzling

Method
Chop garlic clove finely in food processor. Add capers and anchovies. Pulse to chop. Add artichokes, olives, red peppers, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, thyme leaves and crushed red pepper.  Blend until finely chopped but not pureed.

Remove to a serving bowl. Stir in mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, preferably at least a couple of hours so the flavors have time to marry. Serve with crostini.

To make crostini, heat oven to 350. Slice bread into ¼ -inch slices, Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake about 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Rating: Super good. Pantry friendly. Keeps well, so it's a great make-ahead. Great for crostini, but also makes an admirable sandwich spread, pizza topping paired with thinly sliced salami, pasta sauce and more. 

This is very similar to a roasted red pepper artichoke tapenade recipe that I used to make with more frequency back in the early aughts. But unlike that one which seems to have fallen out of the recipe box but I'm was pretty sure was from Bon Appetit, this one I can find back, which is a definite plus. Like the first version of this recipe, it counts as a keeper (even if apparently I didn't manage to keep track of it properly).