I hope you have all been enjoying a lovely holiday season. Â I am especially grateful for this time of year since my oldest is home from college and our family is complete. Â There’s nothing I cherish more than everyone being together, especially when we can also spend quality time with my whole family in New York. Â It’s truly my favorite time of year.
I what I also love about the holidays is having the extra time to visit with friends at home.  It doesn’t have to be a big to-do or a multi-course dinner.  What I prefer more than anything is just enjoying some small bites and a nice glass of wine.  Give me a creamy dip and some crudites, a few small pieces of toast and seasonal fruit and I’m a happy girl.
Since you might be having some friends over during the next week or so, or on football game days, I thought I would share how I “upgrade” my favorite dips. Â With a little extra effort, you can transform something as mundane as hummus into something even more delicious and more impressive.
The simple technique is to spread the dip onto a plate or a shallow bowl instead of a deep bowl. Â Then add lots of toppings so that when you scoop up a bit of dip, you also get a mouthful of other tasty bits as well. Â I can’t eat basic dips any other way now!
I’ve shown some examples here of simple dips, like basic hummus, beet hummus, butternut squash hummus, minted pea dip. Â Click on the name of each dip to be linked to the recipe. Â Of course, you don’t have to make these dips from scratch, especially if you are pulling together a last-minute get-together. Â Head over to your local market or your favorite Middle Eastern take-out place and fancy-up those dips in the same way.
Lately, I have taken to loading the dip with even more toppings than shown here. Let me give you some suggestions of what would be delicious with what.  Keep in mind I serve everything at room temp, so if sautéing is involved, you can for sure get that done well ahead of time.
Basic hummus: sautéed or roasted eggplant, sautéed onions or shallots, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, paprika or sumac, minced parsley
Basic hummus (in the summer): diced fresh tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, parsley
Beet hummus: feta, toasted pistachios or pine nuts, mint, diced cucumber
Butternut squash hummus: extra roasted butternut squash, feta, toasted pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, dried oregano, olive oil
Minted pea dip: thinly sliced radishes, feta, fresh mint or dill, toasted pine nuts or walnuts, olive oil, extra blanched peas
White bean dip:  diced roasted red peppers, extra white beans, sautéed garlic slices, olives, basil or parsley
Vegan Queso: sautéed fire roasted corn, black beans, cilantro, red onion, fresh or pickled jalapeño
You get the idea. Â A creamy dip can benefit from the contrast of something crunchy, in particular. Â But don’t be shy with the toppings, especially if this is in place of a meal. Â And then as far as “scoopers,” you can think outside the typical chips and pita. I love endive leaves, roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted sweet potato rounds, slices of jicama, and the more obvious but always healthful fresh veggies like carrots, celery and sugar snap peas. Â No need to wait until January 1st to get a head start on upping your veggies!