Yogurt and Garlic and Leek, OH MY!

Yogurt and Garlic and Leek, oh my. Yogurt and Garlic and Leek, OH MY!!! While I am not on a road paved with gold, I do live in the land of 'Oz.' (Of course if I did see a road of gold, I wouldn't mind a brick or two in my bank account!)

The chant was ringing in my head as I consumed my newest SUCCESSFUL creation. Which in my mind is a rarity, I get so frustrated and tend to give up, when the idea in my head of what something was suppose to taste like, completely fails. But this week was definitely full of surprises in that department, as I had a few awesome kitchen days.

But, I digress, let me get to my point, and title. Today I went and visited the local farmer's market. A good 10 minute drive, or slightly under (Poynter's Farmer's Market, at Poynter Primary School in Duncraig, WA). I had been informed by my Chiropractor that they sold organic produce there, by an organic company.

Some sort of Leek, I think!

We'd been to this market before, at the beginning of the school year, but the school fete was also underway, and I hadn't been back since (lack of motivation - nothing to do with the market). I liked the market, it was small and quaint. Today's visit lent me to have a bit of a closer inspection of prices and stalls. I was unimpressed with the prices of the organics, as right now I'm really trying to watch our spending. I can do some organic experimenting when I start making money to contribute to household costs again. I decided against spending on organics today, 2 reasons, cost and lack of cash. We only brought about $40 with us today, and figured that'd be enough for whatever produce we needed to get. I must however mention the sheer size of the beetroot (beets) that they did have on offer, WOW, I've never seen anything larger. In hindsight I should have gone back and picked one up, just to give it a taste. We did end up getting a box of produce from another stall. I only wish I knew where the produce comes from - local farmers? I would think so, otherwise that defeats the whole concept of a farmer's market. Anyway I saw this strange leek looking thing (not like the leeks found in North America, but the taste is similar), but it was purple/red in appearance. It had a leek like smell, and was a bit stronger, like the wild leeks my dad liked to find in the spring in Pennsylvania.

Yogurt Cheese Leek Dip

Knowing I had some yogurt cheese back in the fridge, I thought, I'd give making leek dip a go. Normally you'd use cream cheese or sour cream to make a dip, but knowing the taste of yogurt cheese, I thought it would marry well with the wonderful leek flavours. BOY was I right! I can't remember what recipe I was making this past week, but all I remember were the suggestions by reviewers of the recipe to caramelise the onion and garlic before adding the rest of the ingredients, as it really brings out those flavours and helps the flavours to pop. So I thought I'd heed the advice in this creation as well. I sliced up some of the leek and 2 garlic cloves and just tenderised them in a saute pan. I then added it to about a half a cup of yogurt cheese, in my mini food processor. After having a taste (which is the beauty of this style of recipe, ability to adjust to taste easily), I added more leek. I also added some sea salt to help enhance the taste. YUUUUUUMMMMY! If I had a bag of potato chips, I'd have consumed the whole lot in one setting. Lucky for me, we had neither chips nor crackers. But we DID have some sugar snap peas from 2 weeks ago (held up pretty darn good in the fridge, still crisp and yummy), so knowing they'd be even healthier for me, I rinsed them off and gave them a go in the dip. Oh my, I think I've just discovered my new best snacking friend :)

I will have to give the recipe another try tomorrow and write down some measurements to share. It's a fairly easy recipe to make, just by the 'pinch of this, pinch of that' method, but for those of you who, like me, prefer the scientific method when it comes to food, I will write it down and share soon.