I have been anxiously awaiting the produce in my garden to ripen. It's been a particularly wet summer and my first in the city here. So, it's been kind of a lackluster season. It's been hot for sure. Although there has been a distinct lack of sunshine in my neck of the woods! Especially because I'm limited to a handful of pots on my porch and the slight amount of alleyway that I have absconded with in between my apartment and the next. Which is largely why I chose this apartment because any garden space is in high demand! Although, it is still far from the ideal growing scenario. But you work with what you have. And, on this Labor Day weekend I'm finally able to pick my very first produce of the year: Thai Dragon Peppers. Tomorrow I'm going to make Enchilada Sauce. But today, in my excitement to do as little labor as humanly possible, I'm absolutely not turning the stove on and am cracking out the food processor for a quick and easy Thai Dragon Avocado Dip!
What Exactly is Thai Dragon Avocado Dip?
Now, I hear you pondering: What exactly is a Thai Dragon Avocado Dip...? This is a stellar question because I just kind of happened upon it when I was trying to figure out whether to make hummus or guacamole one day last summer. I love guacamole as much as the next person, but you have to eat it immediately. The staying power is just not there. The avocados immediately begin to turn brown. Plus, it really only works with Latin American food. And, as much as I adore Latin American food, I tend to eat a lot more fusion in my life and wanted something that fit with a few more flavor profiles.
My second thought was hummus. An equally delicious dipping sauce. Although hummus has a similar problem with not lasting all that long in the refrigerator and not necessarily going with the widest variety of dishes. Plus, let's be real, it's kind of a pain to make and my lazy ass needs something simpler to throw into a food processor without having the forethought to soak chickpeas the night before and painstakingly simmer and remove all of the chickpea skins.
Hence, I've combined the avocados and limes from guacamole with the tahini and olive oil from hummus. Only, tahini is obnoxiously expensive, so I've swapped out walnuts. Or, really, whatever nut that I have on hand. Because it really doesn't matter that much when you're going this far off script. Just make something delicious to you!
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Variations of Thai Dragon Avocado Dip
I'm a spice person. If there are hot peppers around? I'm absolutely going to add them into anything and everything! I might be pale and Scottish, so the amount of flush that I get is absolutely on the higher end of the scale. But I absolutely am a huge fan of Thai Dragons, Red Chilis, Serranos, and really just any and every pepper that I can get my hands on! Peppers go spectacularly well with avocado dip. There's something about the creaminess of the avocados and Greek yogurt that balances incredibly well with anything on the heat scale. Although feel free to mix and match in your own peppers of choice and just the heat level to your liking.
This Thai Dragon Avocado Dip consists of avocados, garlic, limes, Greek yogurt, walnuts, olive oil, and homegrown garden peppers. Today, I used Thai Dragon Peppers. Although you can easily omit the peppers or substitute your own favorite peppers or to fit your own spice level. Thai Dragons are 140,000 on the scoville heat scale. Which puts it about on par with habaneros.
Add all of the ingredients to a food processor. Process for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides occasionally.
Serve chilled. It's perfectly fine at room temperature and can be served immediately in a pinch. Although I would recommend refrigerating for about an hour.Avocado dip is also a great meal to make ahead of time and keeps without discoloration for about a week. Garlic, lime juice, salt, and olive oil all serve as natural preservatives. So, while avocados tend to go bad rather quickly, the natural browning and spoiling process is vastly reduced in this recipe. It keeps incredibly well.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more tips and tricks for what avocado is, how to make it, and what other ingredients are fun to play around with, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Avocado & Greek Yogurt Dip. It's essentially a mix between hummus and guacamole, but is easier to make, lasts longer, and goes with a wider variety of dishes. It's one of my favorite things to make for potlucks or just on a lazy summer day.
This Page Contains Edited Images
As a general rule, I don't like to edit my images and I am firmly against alteration of images in food blogs. It's not something that we generally think about when it comes to recipes. But food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm as anything else! Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes.
Because of this, I try very hard not to alter any of my photos. I like to take photos with natural sunlight during the day. Ordinarily this is very true to color and I don't edit the photos at all. However, since my place is very warm with a lot of yellow lighting, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural blue tone. In the following images on this page, I adjusted the levels and hue to try and make this more true to color. In the interest of transparency, these are the before and after photos.
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