Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Garlic Dip

“New cooks might want to know that bell peppers can be roasted by stickingthem with a long fork and holding them over a flame until the skin is charred. Then put them, while still hot, into a closed brown paper bag and the steam will loosen the skin. Red Bell Peppers are a little sweeter than the green ones, but also more expensive. A frugel cook can use the green peppers and add a little sugar to the dip.”

“12/2012 – big hit for Christmas. The roasted garlic needed 4 heads to make 1/4 cup. All the ingredients really meld together and you can’t pick out any one flavor. For the pita chips I halved the pitas crosswise then made 8 wedges. I put them on baking sheets and then sprayed the wedges with cooking spray. I then put them in a ziplock with the seasonings and shook a litle to distribute, placed back on the baking sheet and baked about 8 minutes or until crisp – perfect and really good.”

“Really tasty combination of flavors. I used a mixture of sour cream and mayo instead of cream cheese (that being what I had on hand) and sprinkled a bit of smoked paprika into the mix. The basil and lime juice are magic! This goes in my file for sure—thanks, Dawnab! (Note: because my version is thinner, it would be really good as a sauce over a grilled fish or asparagus, I think!)”

“This is fantastic! I’ve never made anything like this before, but it was easy and turned out great. The hardest part was roasting the pepper. I went to this website https://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Roasting-Peppers/Detail.aspx which gave step by step instructions and pictures. I think I could have roasted them a little longer, but I was afraid of burning them. I also halved the recipe to try it the first time and used Neufchatel to cut the fat somewhat. Great recipe!”