PRODUCT: Shelf Stable Pacific Organic Hummus

Way back in 2006, we received samples of shelf-stable hummus in jars. From a brother and sister-led company called Salt & Vinegar, we felt the manufacturers had nailed a need in the rapidly growing hummus market: hummus that didn’t require refrigeration. The fledgling company didn’t make it; and since then, the hummus category has exploded…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Caramelized Onion Dip

We grew up making Lipton’s California Dip: a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix combined with a pint of sour cream. It was simple and soul-satisfying, a party standard with potato chips and pretzels (and later, crudités, pita chips and other chips). The recipe appeared in 1954, two years after the Lipton soup mix hit…
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RECIPE: Apricot Cilantro Salsa

Seasonal apricot salsa brightens grilled chicken or fish. Photo courtesy Landana Cheese.   Salsa is simply the generic word for “sauce.” Many centuries before tortilla chips were invented, Aztecs and other Mesoamericans ground ingredients into sauces for meat and fish. This salsa recipe was developed as a sauce for chicken or fish, as opposed to…
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RECIPE: Pxali, Georgian Spinach Dip With Walnuts

Americans love creamy spinach dip, sometimes made with added artichoke hearts (here’s a rich and lovely spinach and mascarpone dip recipe). But there are other types of spinach dip, some even better for you. Here’s a Georgian-style dip—actually more of a spread, which is chock-full of walnuts for protein and made with no cholesterol or…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Tex-Mex Queso Dip

A classic queso dip. Photo courtesy Kraft Foods.   Unlike turkey for Thanksgiving or ham and lamb for Easter, there are no “traditional” Cinco de Mayo foods. Anything Mexican or Tex-Mex goes. What is a regional holiday in Mexico commemorates the 1862 victory of a small and poorly-equipped Mexican militia led by General Ignacio Zaragoza…
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