carrot dip

This is a delicious dip recipe that will make your tastebuds wanting more. It is quite easy to make, delicious and free from preservatives, thickeners, flavours, colours, refined ingredients, poor quality fats, and works out to be inexpensive.

Carrot is the main ingredient and because we are cooking with a good quality oil, it makes the fat soluble nutrients, such as beta carotene (a form of vitamin A), easily absorbed by the body.

Lycopene, is an antioxidant found in tomato paste. It needs to be heated together with olive oil. This combination of tomato paste and olive oil, make it have super powerful cell protective properties.

The fresh herbs add not only add flavour, but they are powerhouses of vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion, halved
  • 100ml olive oil or coconut oil
  • 250g carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
  • 100g tomato paste (Ensure that it is 100% tomatoes with no additives. Avoid tins as they may contain BPA.)
  • 1 tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano or Italian herbs
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, leaves only, or 1 tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp Himalayan pink or Celtic sea salt
  • freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Conventional Method:

  1. Finely dice onion.
  2. Place onion into a medium frying pan and add 20ml of oil, sauté for 2-3 minutes.
  3.  Grate the carrot, on a course vegetable grater.
  4. Add the grated carrots to frying pan, along with remaining oil, tomato paste, herbs, salt and pepper and cook on a medium heat till carrot is cooked down, 10-12 minutes. Then take off heat. (If using olive oil ensure cooking temperature is not over 100 ºC.)
  5. Transfer mixture to a glass bowl or pyrex jug and blitz with a hand held mixer or place mixture into food processor and process till a smooth consistency is desired.
  6. When dip has cooled, serve with veggie sticks.
  7. Keep in refrigerator if it doesn’t get devoured straight away.

Thermomix Method:

  1. Place onion into TM bowl and chop 3 seconds, speed 5.
  2. Add 20ml of oil and sauté 1 minute 30 seconds, varoma, speed 1.
  3. Place carrot into TM bowl and chop 5 seconds, speed 5.
  4. Add remaining oil, tomato paste, herbs, salt and pepper and cook for 7 minutes, 90ºC, speed 2.
  5. Blitz dip 30 seconds, slowly increasing dial to speed 10.
  6. When dip has cooled, serve with veggie sticks.
  7. Keep in refrigerator if it doesn’t get devoured straight away.

This recipe makes around 350 grams.

Recipe by : Julie Mironowicz | Diabetic Health Clinic Nutritionist | See this recipe on Julie’s Blog www.radishandpear.com