Recipe: Avocado and Roasted Garlic Dip

fetchpriority=”high” decoding=”async” class=”alignleft wp-image-160296 size-full” src=”https://thinktasty1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avocado-garlic-dip.png” alt=”avocado garlic dip” width=”400″ height=”400″ srcset=”https://www.thinktasty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avocado-garlic-dip.png 400w, https://www.thinktasty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avocado-garlic-dip-150×150.png 150w, https://www.thinktasty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avocado-garlic-dip-300×300.png 300w, https://www.thinktasty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avocado-garlic-dip-170×170.png 170w” sizes=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px” />Musing on appetizers for New Year’s Eve, I thought of that old favorite, chips (or crackers, or raw vegetables) with dip. To invent one of those, I’d have to start with sour cream and/or mayonnaise . . . Suddenly I wondered why. It’s not as if those are the only two foods with the right consistency. Ripe avocados can be made into something just as creamy — and I just happened to have a couple in my fridge. (If they hadn’t been ripe, they wouldn’t have been in the fridge, but in a paper bag on the counter. That helps. So does putting an apple in the bag with them, but I usually forget to do that.)

Of course, with that I started thinking guacamole, but that wouldn’t exactly be original, and anyway avocado is capable of other things. Time to find out what, exactly.

Roasted garlic is another naturally creamy food, so I made some of that the next time I had the oven heated up. If you don’t know how to roast garlic, check out this earlier article of mine to see how easy it is. Raw garlic would be overwhelming in this dish, and dried or powdered just doesn’t taste the same.

And yes, I ended up putting mayonnaise in my dip, but only to help the avocado and garlic blend in the food processor. It’s more like the spread on a sandwich than a base for the whole dish. The lemon juice keeps the avocado from discoloring. Something does, anyway, and I don’t think it’s either the mayonnaise or the garlic.

The dip has a mild taste that goes well with spicy chips. It would be good with raw vegetables also. It was fine with the rosemary bread sticks in the picture, but would be even better with something bolder.

Some used to believe that whatever you happened to be doing at midnight on New Year’s Eve was what you’d be doing all through the next year. (Is that why people got into the habit of kissing at midnight?) If you’re having some of this dip at midnight, I guess you can expect to spend the new year eating your vegetables and enjoying it.