I was at work on a Friday afternoon daydreaming about…not being at work.  And I got to thinking about how brightly coloured I could make food without resorting to food coloring.  I present to you: yellow orange lentils, pink butter beans, sweet and spicy red peppers, and green parsley dip.   Served with straight-from-the-oven-homemade pitas, these were an excellent weekend treat.

Yellow lentil dip

Ingredients

60g split orange lentils

40g sheeps cheese

1 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 orange zest

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: boil the lentils with about equal amounts of water.  Simmer for 10 mins.  Turn off and allow to cool.

Step 2: add all the other ingredients and mix through with a metal spoon.

Step 3: using a handheld liquidiser, blend the mixture together, adding a tbsp of water as necessary to loosen it up.  Add salt to taste.

The orange zest and peanut butter make this a very more-ish tasting dip.  Is it dhal? Is it hummus? Who can tell, all you know is you want morrrrre.

Pink bean dip

Ingredients

1 can butter beans, drained

1/2 beetroot

1/2 clove garlic

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

juice 1 lemon

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: boil 1/2 a beetroot for about 20 mins.  Run under cold water, peel and chop.

Step 2: add beetroot to all other all other ingredients, except salt and lemon juice, and stir.

Step 3: blend with a handheld liquidiser.  Lemon juice and salt to taste.

You will be shocked at how bright even half a beetroot will make this dip.  Beetroot is also a lot sweeter than you might imagine, which is why I used quite a lot of lemon juice to balance out the flavour.  Think of it as pink hummus, except without the chickpeas.  Or the tahini.  What the hell, just think of it as pink bean dip.  Perfect for a party.

Red Pepper Dip

Ingredients

4 sweet long red peppers

1 tbsp chilli flakes

juice 1/2 lemon

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: roast peppers at about 180c for 45 mins.  Set aside and allow to cool.

Step 2: once cooled, peel the peppers and dump the flesh into a bowl, along with seeds.  Add chilli flakes.

Step 3: blend with handheld liquidiser.  Lemon juice and salt to taste.

This is a sort of Turkish/Mediterranean-inspired dip.  Great as a starter with just some bread and olive oil.

Green parsley dip

Ingredients

80g sheep’s cheese

2 big handfuls of parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

juice 1/2 lemon

Method

Step 1: wash parsley and chop it roughly.

Step 2: crumble cheese onto parsley and add olive oil and garlic.  Stir with metal spoon.

Step 3: blend with handheld liquidiser.  Lemon juice to taste.

So goood.  This one is my favourite – it’s a take on a dip served in my favourite restaurant in Kosovo, Restaurant Tiffany.  I could make myself sick on this stuff.

Pita Bread

Ingredients

250g strong white flour

150ml water

1 sachet yeast

pinch of salt

dash of olive oil

Method

Step 1: preheat your oven to 220c.

Step 2: throw all your ingredients into a bowl together.  Mix it up by hand.  It should be a dry-ish mix that doesn’t stick to your hands or the bowl.  Throw in a dash more flour if it’s too wet.

Step 3: knead the dough for 5 minutes on a floured surface.  Stick it back in the bowl and place it somewhere warm and a bit humid for about an hour, until it’s doubled in size.

Step 3: knock it back and knead again.  Leave it for a further 15 minutes.

Step 4: separate out into 6 balls and roll out pitas on a floured surface. Arrange on a floured baking tray and place into pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, turning once toward the end.  2 trays should do the whole lot.

And there you have it: no frills, no fuss – just pitas.  Serve warm with a variety of dips.  Though not quite naans, these are great for mopping up a curry.