Vegetable Dip - Roasted - Mixed with Hommus and Goat Cheese

My Vegetable Dip

Inspired by an appetizer served in a local restaurant, I created my own version of roasting vegetables and combining them with plain hommus and French goat cheese. Wow, this took a dip to a much higher, complex level.

Definitely not boring and very healthy served with cut fresh vegetables and a hearty chip or toasted whole grain bread slices. Impress yourself with a nutritious snack or appetizer.

Optional: Save even more time in preparing this dip by purchasing roasted red peppers or eggplant from your supermarket or specialty food store.

What you will need for this recipe:

Cutting board
Kitchen knife
1 Red pepper, fresh and sliced with seeds removed.
1 Eggplant, cut in half.
1 Garlic clove, whole and not peeled.
1 Tbs. Kosher salt
2-3 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 Baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
Oven mitts
1/2 Cup Chavrie Goat Cheese (or goat cheese of your choice)
2 Cups Cedar's All Natural Hommus, original flavor (or hommus of your choice.)
Food processor or immersion blender
Large spoon
Parsley, fresh, chopped

Ingredients for my Vegetable Dip

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle area of the oven.
Preheat oven at 410 degrees F.
On the cutting board and with a kitchen knife, slice red peppers.
and cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.
Put the vegetables with the garlic on the lined baking sheet.
Drip the olive oil all over the fresh cut vegetables before roasting in the oven.

Before roasting

Roasted vegetables

Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven until a little brown color is appearing and vegetables are soft. This will take about 20 minutes.
Let the roasted vegetables cool and then cut the red pepper into small pieces on the cutting board with the kitchen knife.
Add 1/4 Cup roasted red peppers to the food processor.
Spoon out the inside of the roasted eggplant and throw away the skin of the eggplant.
Add 1/4 Cup roasted eggplant to the food processor also.
Peel the whole roasted garlic. Put the roasted garlic flesh into the food processor with the other roasted vegetables.
Add the hommus and goat cheese to the mixture in the food processor.
With the cover on the food processor, blend the mixture at slow speed until a desired texture is reached.
The goat cheese should be blended into the vegetables and hommus with few large lumps of cheese. Leave lumpy if desired.
With the food processor off, take the lid off and take a spoonful of the vegetable dip to taste.
Add a little more salt if you want a saltier flavor.
Put the top back on the food processor, and blend slowly for another minute to mix thoroughly if you added more salt.
With food processor off, take the lid off and spoon out the vegetable dip into a serving bowl.
Sprinkle chopped parsley on top of the vegetable dip for a garnish to add some color on top.