Creative and Delicious Veggie Dishes! Recipes for Unique Summer Salads and Dips

One of the best parts of spring is that we start craving vegetables again and looking for new and delicious ways to prepare and enjoy them. So, we were thrilled to find the new cookbook Kismet, which is filled with the very recipes we need. “Our recipes have broad-ranging influences — Mediterranean and Middle Eastern being the most prominent — and illustrate our obsession with produce, a penchant for assertive and bright flavors, and our love of family-style meals where tables become tapestries of little dishes,” say co-authors Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson. These dishes take simple ingredients like beans and onions and transform them into something special. Try one tonight!

Garlicky Bean Dip

(Serves 6)

1 cup dried white beans
1⁄2 cup olive oil
1⁄2 Spanish onion, root intact
1⁄2 cup garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 sprigs rosemary, cut into thirds
1⁄4 cup oil-cured Moroccan olives, torn
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

1. Soak beans in 4x their volume of cold water overnight. Drain.
2. Add oil, onion and garlic to large pot. Cook over medium, 6 minutes.
3. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, beans and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer 1 hour.
4. In a small pan, cook butter and rosemary over medium, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add olives and lemon juice.
5. Discard onion, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Reserving 1 cup cooking liquid, drain
beans.
6. Transfer beans to a food processor, add salt and run 1 minute. Spoon into a serving
dish. Top with olive and rosemary mixture and serve

PER SERVING: 281 calories, 5 grams protein, 16 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram sugar, 23 grams fat.

Summer Spoon Salad

(Serves 4)

2 cups diced seeded green melon (about 1⁄2 melon), such as honeydew
2 cups diced Persian (mini) cucumbers (roughly 3 or 4)
2 tbsp. finely chopped white onion
2 tsp. kosher salt 1⁄4 cup olive oil
1⁄4 cup lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
1⁄8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1⁄2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn, if large
1⁄4 cup fresh dill leaves, torn, if large

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the diced green melon, diced cucumbers and chopped onion. Toss gently to mix.
2. Add the salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper to the bowl and toss together
to coat everything evenly.
3. Add the diced avocado, basil leaves and dill leaves and lightly toss before serving.
The avocado pieces should remain mostly intact

PER SERVING: 191 calories, 2 grams protein, 10 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 5 gra,s sugar, 18 grams fat.

Gingery Glazed Onions

(Serves 4)

1 1⁄2 lbs. unpeeled cipollini onions
2 tbsp. olive oil
11⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 sprig thyme
2 tsp. honey
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. turmeric
1⁄3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1⁄2 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp. golden raisins
2 tbsp. ginger juice
1 1⁄2 cups arugula

Directions:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add onions; blanch 30 sec. In a colander, run
under cold water and drain. Cut top end of each onion until flat. Trim root end and peel.
2. In a large sauté pan with a lid, heat oil over medium. Add onions in a single layer, flat-side down. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt; brown 5 minutes. Flip and add next 5 ingredients and 1 cup water. Cover, reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes.
3. In a bowl, whisk yogurt, garlic and remaining salt.
4. Add raisins to onions. Simmer uncovered 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Stir in ginger juice. Transfer to a bowl. Top with yogurt sauce and arugula and serve.

PER SERVING: 197 calories, 4 grams protein, 24 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 12 grams sugar, 10 grams fat.