Garlic Scape Green Goddess Dip
One of our favorite summertime magic tricks is making dinner out of veggie plate. The French call this a salade composée--think Salad Niçoise. It is essentially just lots of delicious ingredients artfully presented on a platter instead of haphazardly tossed in a bowl. This version features painted serpent and Armenian cucumbers, zucchini, fennel, and Little Gem leaves. Steamed new potatoes and eggs round things out.
The spread of greens is mirrored by a Garlic Scape Green Goddess Dip. It's a cheeky nod to two local favorites, California Dip and the San Francisco Plaza's Green Goddess dressing. But don't limit yourself to dinner. It's perfect for a crowd at barbecues, as a sandwich spread, and particularly great with wings. And it's always exactly what we're looking for when that afternoon siren song of the fridge calls.
The original Green Goddess Dressing is built on a base on mayonnaise and sour cream, blended to a pale shade of green with parsley and chives. Our version opts for Greek yogurt and avocado for richness. It's the perfect platform for the sweetly pungent flavor of the garlic scapes popping up at so many stalls this week. (Swap in a garlic clove the rest of the year.) We up the flavor with a bounty of herbs, but feel free to mix and match.
Ingredients and Farms
For the salad:
4 new potatoes - $3 Lonely Mountain Farm
2 eggs - $1.50 Pasture 42
1 head little gem lettuce - Lonely Mountain Farm
2 cucumbers, Lonely Mountain Farm
3 zucchini - Lonely Mountain Farm
1 fennel bulb - $1.50, Tomatero Farm
For the green goddess dip:
1 ½ cups Greek yogurt - $3.25, Straus Family Creamery
1 avocado, diced - $2.75, Stepladder Creamery
6 garlic scapes, cut into 4-inch lengths - $4, Front Porch Farms
2 cups fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, tarragon - $6
1 lemon, $1
Salt and pepper
Equipment
Food processor or blender
Directions
Set up stovetop steam and add the potatoes and eggs. Cover and cook together for 9-10 minutes. Remove the eggs to an ice bath and continue cooking the potatoes under tender.
While the eggs and potatoes cook, wash and prep the rest of the vegetables.
To make the dip, add the Greek yogurt, diced avocado, garlic scapes, fresh herbs, juice of 1 lemon, and salt and pepper to the bowl of a food processor or pitcher of a blender. Blend until no chunks of avocado remain and the herbs are finely chopped. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
Cut the potatoes and eggs into wedges. Arrange with the cut vegetables on a platter. Serve with the dip.
Recipe by Meleyna Nomura