Tasty Healthy Dip

This dip is absolutely brimming with flavour and packed with health-boosting ingredients and nutrients many of us don’t get enough of. It contains only good fats.  Flaxseed oil, Nature’s richest source of omega-3, is one of the most beneficial fats you can include in an anti-inflammatory way of eating. It is completely free from the questionable ingredients often found in supermarket dips.

This recipe is here because Brian asked me to send it to him… which meant I first had to write it down.

Food that can make a difference to how you feel

I had been trying to persuade Brian of the benefits of a more anti-inflammatory style of eating to help reduce aches and pains.  I explained it needed to be even more veggies,  more fruits, more fibre, lower salt, absolutely no refined oils but unrefined cold-pressed flaxseed oil is useful, no saturated fat, no refined sugar, no white flour, no white bread, little dairy (that includes cheese!!) and only a little meat, occasionally,  but have the best you can find,  venison, game, lean offal or fish.   I have to cut out wheat and barley, and even find it helpful to cut down on oats. (Tip: try Flax Farm gluten-free oat-free porridges – makes this much easier.

I’ve eaten close to this way for a couple of decades, using flaxseed and flaxseed oil as my primary fat source, to help manage my weight and an inflammatory condition. Less excess weight often means lower inflammation. When I realised I’d become a bit relaxed with myself (regular chicken had crept back in…) and put on half a stone (about 3 kg), I tightened things up again. A few weeks later I was amazed to find I’d lost a full stone without ever feeling hungry. The food was satisfying, and after just a few days even the simplest meals tasted incredible.  This dip more than makes up for giving up processed shop-bought foods.

I’m not sure I sold the idea very convincingly at first, and Brian remained sceptical. So instead, I let the food do the talking.

Tasty, healthy ingredients make tasty, healthy food

I introduced him to nutritional yeast, also known as “Nooch” — one of my favourite ingredients for making healthy food taste rich and satisfying. I made this dip using Nooch and flaxseed oil. To both our surprise, he loved it. One taste and he declared it “really tasty… like Parmesan cheese.” After trying the dip — somewhere between a green sauce and a vegetable pâté — he was instantly a fan and asked for the recipe.

So here it is. I hope delicious, nourishing foods like this inspire more people to swap processed supermarket dips for simple homemade versions made with real ingredients and real benefits. It’s quick, easy and cheap to make so ideal as a core food to establish a healthy eating habit.

Peps up the flavour of almost everything

Lovely with baked sweet or white potatoes, on bread, toast, crackers or crispbread. Also brilliant in sandwiches or stirred into salads, soups, stews and casseroles. It works brilliantly with seeded chickpea flatbread – the two together provide 20 of the “thirty plants a week” recommended by Zoe.

*Nooch

Nutritional yeast (“Nooch”) is well worth trying if you haven’t had it before. It has a naturally savoury, cheesy flavour making it a great healthy alternative and is salt-free, sugar-free and saturated fat-free. It’s also a rich source of B vitamins, fibre and protein. The B12 fortified versions can be useful.

Ingredients

Makes a generous batch (roughly 4–8 servings). Everything is optional;  anything can be left out or substituted for what you have available or what you fancy.

• 1 bunch fresh coriander, or a mixture of herbs such as parsley, chives, basil or chervil
• 1-4 peeled garlic cloves
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1–2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon whole or ground cumin (optional)
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds (Indian blackseed / black cumin / kalonji) (optional)
• ½–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste) (optional)
• 1–2 sticks celery, plus any leaves
• 2 good-sized cooked carrots, I microwave them usually
• 1 yellow or golden sweet pepper (red works well for flavour but the colour isn’t so good)
• 3–6 tablespoons flaxseed oil (or a flaxseed / olive oil mix)
• Juice of one lemon

Method

Place everything into a suitably sized blender and whizz until you reach your preferred consistency.

If it’s too thick, add a little more flaxseed oil, extra lemon juice, more sweet pepper, or a splash of juice from tinned tomatoes.

Enjoy.

Store in the fridge and eat within three days.