I just finished a charity cooking event at the NeurodiverseNW gaming convention, celebrating the neurodiverse community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
I was supporting Aspiring Youth, which has been providing social-skills groups, summer camps, coaching and other programs for children, teens, young adults and their families since 2004. By creating trust and connection, AY helps students as they navigate their social world.
This week’s recipe offering varies a bit because of this and also highlights the cooking craze of making food boards, which I shared with the participants in the cooking demo. Here I create a rainbow veggie board to highlight all the beautiful differences we see in other people and add in two delicious spring dips to complement the gorgeous fresh veggies.
Veggie Board with Beet Hummus and Tzatziki
Equipment:
Medium mixing bowl
Food processor or blender
Roasted beet hummus:
1 small roasted beet
1 15-ounce can chickpeas
Zest of 1 large lemon
½ large lemon, juiced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup olive oil
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove stem from beet and scrub well to remove any outside dirt. Place the beet into a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about an hour. Remove and allow beet to cool. Peel beet and cut into smaller pieces. Once your beet is cooled and peeled, quarter it and place it in your food processor. Blend until only small bits remain.
- Add in all your ingredients except for olive oil and blend until mixture is smooth. Slowly add in the olive oil as the food processor continues to blend.
- Add in salt, more lemon or olive oil, if needed.
- When ready to serve, place bowl with dip on veggie board.
Tzatziki:
½ cup finely grated cucumber
1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon chopped dill
1 tablespoon chopped mint
- Place the grated cucumber into a piece of cheese cloth or towel and squeeze out all the extra moisture.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all your ingredients and place bowl into the refrigerator to chill. When ready to serve, place bowl on veggie board!
Veggies and more for rainbow plate:
Feel free to use whatever YOU love!
Red: strawberries, raspberries, radishes, tomatoes
Orange: carrots, dried apricots
Yellow: yellow bell pepper, crackers
Green: green grapes, broccoli, cucumbers, snap peas
Blue: blueberries, blackberries
Purple: purple cauliflower, cabbage, grapes
You can also add edible flowers and a few cheeses of your choice. Arrange however you’d like and serve to your delighted family and friends!
Enjoy!