Day 34: April 17, 2016 - Red Pepper Dip

A simple dip or sandwich spread is always good to have in the fridge during Great Lent.  It is helpful to have so you can use the spread on some toast, add lettuce and call it a sandwich.  If you are one of the people (like we are) who likes a simple sandwich to eat, then we have a good spread to use as a base with either lettuce, roasted vegetables, avocado slices, or even alone on some toasted bread.

Red peppers are available in so many forms.  You can buy them in the store in brine, in oil, or in the raw form and make your own.  We usually have a jar of roasted red peppers in our pantry, and today, we are going to blend it to make it a sandwich spread that goes with everything.

We used about three whole peppers for this recipe, and think this is  best made in medium sized batches to last a few days -- up to a week at a time.  And, although there are few ingredients, you can tell the difference of when it is fresh to when it has been in the fridge a while.  So, keep it simple and keep it fresh.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

3 roasted red peppers
2-3 TBSP oil (we used vegetable oil)
2-3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
3-4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper as needed

This is simple.  Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend.  We used an immersion blender and started with the peppers.  Puree the peppers and the garlic together.  Add one third of the oil and blend.  Add the balsamic vinegar and blend.  Check the seasoning and adjust if you need salt and pepper.  Now, add the remaining two-thirds of the oil slowly to the peppers, blending as you add.  This will incorporate air and oil together to make a thicker spread (like making mayonnaise).  You will notice the lighter colour as more air is incorporated.  Blend until this becomes a smooth, thick spread that you can use with bread, serve as a dip with crackers, or eat with a spoon if you really like red peppers!  That's it.  It's easy.  But, it is worth having on hand as a versatile dip and or sandwich spread.

"Falsehood - and only falsehood - separates us from God ... False thoughts, false words, false feelings, false desires - Behold the aggregate of lies that leads us to non-being, illusion, and rejection of God. "

By St. Nicholas of Serbia, Thoughts on Good and Evil

Source of quote: http://orthodox.cn/patristics/300sayings_en.htm