12.01.2011

Greek Yogurt Dips And Chickpea-Free Hummus

I have been getting some great stuff to sample lately. Part of the excitement of being a food blogger is the emails alerting me to new products and the offers of samples. Whenever I decide I want to try something being offered to me, I eagerly await a package at my door. I never know how generous the samples are going to be, and usually they are very generous, and I am overwhelmed with goods. The latest two sample shipments were beyond generous. Right now I have a fridge full of dips and hummus. After these goods arrived, I stocked up on tortillas, pitas, and carrots so I could try them out.

Luckily, the arrival of the hummus samples coincided with a party I was hosting. I set out one of each type of hummus for my guests to try, along with some tortilla chips from Whole Foods.

The hummus was sent to me by Eat Well Enjoy Life. What sets this hummus apart is that it's not chickpea-based. Instead, edamame, white beans, or yellow lentils are the bases of these different flavored spreads.


I really enjoyed the edamame hummus with roasted red pepper and toasted sesame and the Tuscan white bean hummus with roasted garlic tapenade, and I am working my way through the other flavors. These hummus varieties are a nice change from traditional hummus.


Eat Well Enjoy Life hummus is available across the country. For specific locations, click here.

Shortly after I received the hummus samples, I was contacted by Santa Barbara Bay and asked if I wanted to try their Greek yogurt dips. You can never have two many dips and spreads, and I really love Greek yogurt, so I definitely wanted to try the dips. The dips are made with real Greek yogurt, so they're full of calcium and protein.


I tried the roasted red pepper and Asiago cheese first. Are you noticing a trend? I love spreads with roasted red peppers. This one did not disappoint. I picked up some of Sofra's pitas during the second to last weekend of the Charles Square Farmers' Market and ate the dip with the soft, fresh pitas.


Next I opened up the spinach dip. The creamy dip was studded with water chestnuts, which added a welcome crunch not usually found in spinach dip.


I tried the ranch dip with some carrots and loved how thick, creamy, and zesty it was.


I noticed on Santa Barbara Bay's website that there is a new spinach feta dip -- I definitely need to go find that one!

Santa Barbara Bay Greek yogurt dips recently became available in the Northeast. Click here to find a location near you.

Have you tried any new foods lately that you love?