Chips n dips for the summer

For one of our summer gatherings, I was wondering what appetizers to make. While the hubby would be grilling all the entrees (there is a reason why women love barbecue), I needed to provide everyone with something to munch on. During grocery shopping at a local store, I saw some hummus and guacamole on the shelves. I was about to almost pick them up when I realized I could make them easily at home. So instead of buying the dips, I decided to buy just the ingredients and the chips. These dips always taste great when freshly made and inspired by those available in some of my favorite restaurants, I decided to give them a try.

Hummus (makes a good enough amount for  7-8 guests)

Chickpeas - one 15.5 oz can
Tahini - half cup
1 large garlic clove (crushed)
Lemon juice - from one lemon
Kosher salt - to taste
Paprika - to taste
Cumin - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 2 TBS for mixing and more for garnish

Added everything in a food processor and blended until smooth. Stored in air-tight container and refrigerated for later use. We got some whole-grain baked pita chips to go with this. Needless to say, I tasted this numerous times thought the making and my kindergartener confirmed the goodness of this dip when she asked for more irrespective of the spice level. "I can handle the jhaal (spicy in Bengali)" is her way of letting me know to what extent she will go if the food is good enough :)

Guacamole (makes a good enough amount for  10-15 guests)

Avocados (ripe, pitted) - 4
Lime juice - from one lime
Green chillies chopped (I used along with jalapeños for some extra kick) - 2
Kosher salt - to taste
Black Pepper - to taste
Olive oil - 1 TBS
Cilantro (you can also use parsley) - 0.25 cup (chopped)
Red onions/shallots - 0.25 cup (chopped)

Mashed them with a fork to have a good consistency. Stored in a container so that it mostly fills up and then covered the guacamole with thick tomato slices to avoid it from turning black. I learnt this trick from the kitchens of a local grocery store. Make sure the container  is airtight and store in a refrigerator. They go great with any tortilla chips -- we bought some blue corn organic chips to go with these and had no regrets :)

Hope to be back with some more writing soon...till then, happy grilling!