beet hummus

Ingredients

4 cooked beets, rough dice
1 1/5 cups cooked chickpeas
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon tahini
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon chile flakes

1/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped dill
crumbled feta cheese


Instructions

1. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree beets, chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, pressed garlic, salt, paprika, and chile flakes.
2. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to thin.
3. Serve in a wide, shallow bowl, garnished with the pistachios, dill, and feta. Serve with pita chips.

*Adapted from The Year in Food

italian wedding soup

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (about 3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup small pasta, like tubetini, stars, or orzo
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.)
3. Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
4. In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil.
6. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6-8 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
7. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

*Adapted from Ina Garten

chicken salad

Ingredients

3-4 cups diced poached chicken
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
ground pepper

Instructions

1. In mixing bowl, toss together chicken, celery, onion, and herbs. Set aside.
2. In small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Add slowly to the chicken mixture and combine (you likely won't want all the mayonnaise mixture).