The last month has been a whirlwind of Thanksgiving, final projects of the year, and preparing for my upcoming trip to Mexico City. And, of course, holiday party after holiday party. At this point in December, I just look at the spread of food, drinks, and desserts and already feel full. Thank goodness for bubbles and creative interpretations of the vegetable platter.
In the spirit of the season of indulgence, I’ve elevated this party staple into a centerpiece with the help of two pistachio-inspired dips that are super easy to create with the help of No Shells Wonderful Pistachios. The first is a pistachio herb sauce, which essentially takes a handful of bright, fresh herbs, combined with creamy avocado (inspired by the best tip every from Green Kitchen Stories Magic Sauce), and roasted pistachios. It’s sweet, spicy, and citric with a freshness from the herbs and roasted nuttiness from the pistachios. I like to swirl in a dollop of crème fraîche for added creaminess.
The second dip is a beet hummus. To be honest, I’ve never really been on board with beets. I’ve wanted to love them for their earthiness, amazing color, and abundance of vitamins and minerals. It’s hard to love something that often requires it being slathered in goat’s cheese to be palatable. But I think I might have turned a corner with this beet hummus. There are a lot of beet hummus recipes out there that essentially add in beets to a standard chickpea hummus recipe. I’ve gone and omitted chickpeas altogether and replaced them with pistachios. A bit of extra lemon juice and an extra swirl of oil and sea salt on top, and it has changed my mind about beets entirely.
These dips are best served with a variety of fresh vegetables, such as thin asparagus, watermelon radish, cucumbers, romanesco, snap peas, purple cauliflower, carrots, and endives. Arrange on a platter and serve with extra pistachios. And bubbles. Always bubbles.
Pistachio Herb Sauce
1 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves
1/3 cup roasted and salted No Shells Wonderful Pistachios
2/3 cup olive oil
1 avocado
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 clove garlic
1 small chili
1/2 tsp sea salt
Juice of 2 limes
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend on high about 2 minutes until smooth. Add salt, oil, and lime juice to taste. Serve slightly chilled.
Pistachio Beet Hummus
3 medium red beets
1 cup roasted and salted No Shells Wonderful Pistachios
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tspn sea salt
1/4 cup water
Juice of 2 lemons
Remove the ends from the beets and use a peeler to remove the outer skin. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes and add to lightly-salted boiled water for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Drain and let cool.
In a food processor, add the cooled beets, pistachios, garlic clove, olive oil, sea salt, water, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and then add lemon juice, salt, and oil to taste. Serve slightly chilled.
This post was created in partnership with The Wonderful Company. Thank you for supporting the incredible, hand-picked brands that make my work possible.