Party Dip... Transformed! — Hack Your Lunch

Chips and dip. The staple of pre-dinner entertainment. An easy way to distract your guests while you put the finishing touches on dinner. Generally not the most exciting part of the evening. Let’s change that. And then hack it into your lunch!

I saw this recipe for “Grilled Corn and Ricotta Dip,” again, in the Saveur Recipe of the Day newsletter. What immediately drew my attention was the idea of grilled corn! Could anything scream summer more? But I despaired that I would never be able to execute this in my city galley kitchen. Then I read the recipe… Grilled corn on a grill pan! I have a grill pan! I was saved and I’d be able to create a great summer treat for my friends that would transport us out of the city.

Serve it as a Sunday Supper appetizer with fresh vegetables (radishes, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes) instead of chips!

Grilling the corn takes a minute, but, otherwise, this recipe is really simple and I was able to use the leftovers to create a delicious base for an easy quinoa dish with some fresh Union Square farmer’s market additions for later in the week.

Which brings me to touting the virtues of quinoa! Another great lunch staple that is easy to prepare and just as easily combined with whatever ingredients you want to make an interesting lunch! We'll be seeing much more of this guy!

Between the grilled corn and the farm fresh produce, I felt like I was upstate eating lunch instead of at my desk.

“Party On” Grilled Corn, Tomato and Edamame Quinoa Salad

For the Grilled Corn and Ricotta Dip

Makes about 3 cups dip

- 6 ears of corn, shucked

- 1 1⁄2 cups heavy cream

- 1 1⁄2 cups ricotta

- 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

- 2 tbsp. finely chopped thyme

- 1⁄2 cup finely grated parmesan

- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, diced

- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Quinoa:

Makes two large servings

- 1 cup cooked quinoa

- 1 cup of Grilled Corn and Ricotta Dip

- Large handful cherry tomatoes

- 1 cup frozen edamame (blanched)

Let’s start by making the dip for your Sunday Supper. Find a grill pan. If you don’t have one, I would strongly advocate for buying one. You’ll use it all the time. Grilling is a lot less intimidating than a lot of other techniques for most people.

Heat the grill pan over high heat and place the shucked corncobs on top. You’ll probably only be able to fit three at a time (pitfalls of city cooking and space limitations), so you’ll need to do two batches. Allow the corn to cook, turning every couple of minutes, until it is charred on all sides. It will pop and sizzle while it cooks, but don’t worry it’s not going to turn into popcorn! Just be careful you don’t let things get too smoky. Make sure to turn on that kitchen fan or even open a window.

Now, while that is cooking and doesn’t require too much attention, let’s prep the rest of the dip. Chop your thyme and measure out the heavy cream, ricotta and flour. Place those four ingredients into a food processor or a blender and wait for the corn to finish. When the corn is done, cut the kernels off the cobs and add about 2/3 of the corn to the dip mixture. Pulse the blender/ food processor and mix everything up. Then stir in the remaining corn kernels so that you get some nice texture to the dip. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I personally didn't think it needed much because the corn flavor is so fantastic!).

Get down an 8-inch, shallow baking pyrex (or a very deep taller pyrex that can hold a couple of cups worth of dip). Scrape the dip mixture into the pyrex and then sprinkle the top with the parmesan and dot it with some cubes of butter.

You can make this a day in advance of when you want to actually bake it for your guests, so whenever you’re ready heat the oven to 325˚F and pop in the pyrex for about an hour and a half and bake it until its bubbly and delicious and warm.

But this is a lot of dip and, even with six people over, I still had about a cup of it leftover. Don’t waste food thinking you can’t eat dip another way! We can easily turn this into lunch in four easy steps.

One, make a cup of quinoa. Very simple. Add 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Boil the water. Reduce to a simmer and cover and let all the water cook off. Should take about 20 minutes. Then fluff the quinoa with a fork.

Two, add the reserved dip to the quinoa and mix it up. It doesn’t work quite like a sauce (it’s much thicker) but it does pack a punch flavor wise!

Three, cut up some cherry tomatoes and add those.

Four, blanch some frozen edamame. This is very simple. Boil a pot of water. Add some salt. Add the frozen edamame. Let them cook in the boiling water for maybe 2 minutes, until they start to pop up to the top of the water. Strain them. Rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking. Add them to the quinoa.

(I should note that when I did this, I actually was feeling particularly ambitious and used fresh fava beans from the green market, which was totally delicious, but also not very practical. Shelling and blanching fresh fava beans is pretty time intensive. Frozen edamame has a very similar flavor profile and will save you a lot of time in prep. But, as usual, I’d advocate for using fresh beans if you have the time and patience.)

And you’re done! You successfully didn’t waste a cup of perfectly good dip, created a great summer treat, and made yourself lunch!