Fruits, Veggies and Dips...Oh My!

Lately, I've been trying to devise more exciting ways to liven up the fruits and veggies I eat everyday. Even though I'm all into health and nutrition, I still get bored with the everyday dinner side-salad and piece of fruit for breakfast. One day, while paging through Nava Atlas's wonderful cookbook, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook I discovered her idea on serving a veggie platter with dinner as an alternative to a salad. That very night for dinner, I whipped up a colorful plate of cut veggies for Rutiger and I and my very own Tahini Dip With Lemon and Dill:
* 1/2 cup tahini
* 1/3 cup water (or less, depending on how thick your tahini is)
* 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon dried dill (you can also use fresh, of course)
* salt, to taste
* chopped parsley and paprika, for garnish, optional
In a blender or food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice. Blend until quite thick--the tahini seizes up when mixed with the acid. Pour in the water and blend again until smooth and creamy. Mix in the dill and salt and pour into a small serving bowl. Sprinkle the dip with paprika and parsley. TIP: if the tahini dip tastes bitter, refrigerate overnight to let the bitterness mellow and combine with the flavors of the lemon and dill.

Then, this morning, while looking through the newest issue of VegNews, I came across a sweet dip for fruit made from cashew butter and soy yogurt. Yum! I just happened to have all 5 ingredients the recipe called for, so I made it to dip pear chunks into. You can also serve it with bite-size bagel pieces, a wide array of fruits and veggies, or even crackers. Delightfully delicious!