Lemon Edamame Dip & Homemade Tortilla Chips

This is a recipe I’ve made a few times, and played with the ingredients along the way. As I originally found this recipe, it was designed to be vegan, and thus used oil instead of butter. But as a non-vegan, myself, I always felt like something was missing from the flavor of this dish and so decided to substitute butter, to great effect. Any vegans who object are more than welcome to substitute oil back in for the butter.

Edamame DipOne more note on this recipe, as much as I love my new immersion blender, it didn’t work too well with this dish, given the texture and the smaller amount of food. A food processor is a must for this one.

LEMON EDAMAME DIP

1 cup shelled edamame
1/3 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons butter or oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
4 tablespoons lemon juice (if using fresh lemons, add a bit of zest too!)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
salt & pepper to taste
water, as needed
fresh cilantro (optional)

Boil the edamame in a pot of water for about ten minutes. When there are only two minutes left, add the peas. Drain. Meanwhile melt the butter in a small saucepan and saute the garlic and green onion until softened. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the drained legumes, onion, garlic and butter, plus lemon juice and spices. Add a small amount of water to get the ingredients to process smoothly (no more than 1/2 a cup). If you have fresh cilantro on hand, add some as the ingredients process. Chill and serve.

I didn’t have any plain chips on hand this weekend, and so when I was looking for something to serve with the edamame dip, I decided to try making my own chips out of store-bought tortilla shells. The result was easy and tasty.

HOMEMADE TORTILLA CHIPS

Flour or corn tortillas
oil
salt or seasoning (optional)

Cut the stack of tortillas into fourths or eighths, depending on the size. Burrito size will easily get cut into eight, but smaller corn tortillas will probably only be feasible as cuts of four. Brush the tortillas with oil, or skim them through a plate or bowl of shallow oil so that they are lightly coated. I let them sit a few minutes all stacked up while I did other stuff and preheated the oven to 350. Arrange a single layer of tortilla triangles on a non-stick baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes per batch. Place into a freezer bag and toss with salt or seasoning.

These chips turned out tasty and crisp. I used flour tortillas, and they didn’t really seem to taste much like a store-bought or restaurant chip, so maybe next time I’ll try corn tortillas. Still, they did the job and provided a simple, but tasty delivery device for dip.