Dippy Kidlets

Knowing I have children pretty agreeable to most foods makes me feel very fortunate. I am not smug about it at all, as I know at any moment things could change. I don't think there is a secret, I think some kids are simply more particular than others. I certainly feel though, it helps if they are at least exposed to new foods and flavours.

A great lunchbox idea, or a snack in general, is a dip with various vegetables to swish about in it. I found a new one on Taste.com when I was looking up ways to finish off a scrap of yoghurt left in a tub. When it was finished though, I found the flavour rather bland. Sometimes children find bland just perfect, but I fancied spicing it up a bit. The results were fabulous and the kidlets (6, 4 and 18 months) vacuumed it up, along with carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and some grain snacks. I was lucky to get a look in! When I say spicy, I don't mean hot, my children can't cope with chilli, but do love pepper and mild spices. I also enjoy garlic in dips, but I need to go carefully as it too, can end up tasting 'hot' to the kidlets. *I used one of the inner garlic cloves, those little fiddly ones that often don't seem worth bothering about - equal to about 1/3 of a teaspoon's worth once mushed up. The above link will take you to the original, the following is my alteration and the way I will make it in future. 'Green bits' in food holds no fear for my children, so I didn't chop the coriander too finely. You could, I suppose add the roughly chopped coriander to the processor too, so you end up with very finely chopped greens.

Spiced Yoghurt and Chickpea Dip

1 very small clove garlic, minced or added to processor first and chopped (*see above)
juice of half a lime or to taste
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup olive oil (and a portion of this I make up with linseed oil - about a tbsp)
1/3 cup Greek-style yoghurt (I managed with fat-free here)
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

If processing the garlic, put that in the machine first and zip it about. Add the chickpeas (and garlic if already minced (just using the flat of the knife and a bit of chopping), cumin, coriander and the juice of the half lime.

Once the chickpeas are quite smooth, start adding the oil while the machine is running. When it's all combined turn the mixture into a bowl into which you have already put the yoghurt, salt, pepper and coriander leaves. Stir to combine.

Serve with vegetable sticks and toasted pita or other bread of your choice. Will keep in the fridge for about 4 days.

This would work wonderfully in a lunchbox with carrot, cucumber and capsicum sticks, bread sticks or even used as a filling with grated vegetables in a pita pocket or spread over flatbread and rolled up.

I've been talking about children enjoying this, but I am sure adults would too! Well, I'm supposed to be a grown up and I like it very much. If raw garlic turns you off, leave it out, I think it would be OK - the original recipe doesn't use any.