Muhammara

What? Did I just make an entire dinner? Yes I did: thanks to the magic of such things as leftovers, and an Eat Smart Fresh Cut Vegetable Medley (those little bags of pre-cut broccoli, carrots and cauliflower). Tonight I ate leftover cod (note the Peanut-shaped bokeh faking disinterest in the background, but don't be fooled. Peanut has proven that he is willing to sacrifice my love for him in order to obtain a mere morsel of cod. In fact he has his very own specialized war cry for the smell of fish), and veggies and toasted pita triangles with blue cheese and Muhammara dip.


Did you know that Syria has its own national dip? This blog says so, and so it must be true. One thing I know for sure is that Muhammara contains walnuts, and my freezer is still overflowing with them from way back in the day. And so a (fairly easy) recipe with walnuts is a recipe that I want to make. So I stopped at Konbiniya, the Japanese store on Robson, to get panko, and left with that and some waxy banana-flavoured Hello Kitty lip gloss.

Muhammara

1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup panko
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper


Directions

1. Throw all ingredients in a blender, and blend! Until smooth.

2. Serve with toasted pita triangles or other breadlike things.

I only had about 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper, so the dip wasn't spicy enough. I added 1 tsp peppercorns (courtesy of Amanda -- thanks!) and a dash of salt but it wasn't quite the same . . . Also: needs garlic! Maybe more lemon juice. Maybe even more peppers, to make it a bit sweeter. Next time I will roast my own.