Four gluten free dips with seeded spelt flatbreads

A pretty and tasty way to get your 5 a day…

Especially useful during work when it’s easy to fall into the naughty snack trap.

Four gluten free dips perfect for lunchboxes

1. Beetroot with white bean and feta (gf)
2. Roasted vegetable and cumin (v) (gf)
3. Red pepper hummus with smoked paprika (v) (gf)
4. Cucumber tzatziki (gf)

When making dips I like to make a few at a time, the variety helps keep things interesting. I like this selection because together the flavours complement one another well, earthy beetroot, sweet roasted vegetables, creamy and smokey hummous and zingy clean tzatziki – each delicious on their own but even better eaten together.

They’re very easy to make, taking about an hour and a half of easy work. Covered and kept in the fridge they keep for a good 3 to 4 days, so of an evening you can simply spoon them into your lunch pots and be ready when you head out the door in the morning, no messing about.

Eat them with your favourite crisp breads or crackers, and if you fancy making your own these spelt flatbreads are delicious and are great spiked with all kinds of nuts, seeds and spices. Here I’ve used the distinctive and slightly bitter black onion seed and some sesame seeds. They’re easy to make and depending on how long you bake them for yield quite a different result – just 10 minutes and they’ll be nice and slightly chewy, a little longer and they’ll be far crispier and snappy, have a play and see which you prefer.

Dips for two over a few days
Beetroot with white bean and feta (gluten free)

• A bunch of medium beetroots, about 6, top and tailed and oiled in a roasting tin
• 50g feta
• A drained tin of white beans, I used cannellini
• Juice of half a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Roasted vegetable with cumin (vegan and gluten free)

• 4 to 5 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 red peppers, cored and roughly chopped
• 2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, lightly dry toasted
• 1 clove of garlic whole (optional – you might want to leave this out if you’re taking the dips to work :-)
• 1 can drained chick peas
• A handful flatleaf parsley
• Olive oil for cooking
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Red pepper hummus (vegan and gluten free)

• 1 can drained chick peas
• A few pinches smoked paprika
• 1 roasted red pepper, either fresh or from a jar
• 2 tablespoons tahini paste
• 1 clove of garlic, minced (optional – you might want to leave this out if you’re taking the dips to work :-)
• Juice of half a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Tzatziki (gluten free)

• 1.5 cucumbers, peeled, cored and grated
• 1 clove of garlic, minced (optional – you might want to leave this out if you’re taking the dips to work :-)
• 500g low fat natural yogurt
• Juice of half a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

The spelt flatbreads

• 170g wholemeal spelt flour
• 170g white spelt flour
• 1 tsp yeast granules
• 1 tsp runny honey
• 2 scrunches sea salt
• Olive oil for greasing
• A cup of warm water

Method : First the dips

1. Before making the dips make the dough so it can rest. Dissolve the yeast, honey and salt in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl place the flour and seeds and make a well in the centre. Pour in the water in and using your hands bring the dough together to form a large bowl. Tip it out onto a lightly floured work surface and kneed for about 5 minutes – you’re looking for it to yield and become smoother and for it to spring back slightly when pressed. Put it back into a floured bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave for an hour.
2. Preheat your oven to 190°C. Take the carrots, red peppers and onions from the roasted vegetable pate and put them onto a baking sheet, drizzle all over with cooking olive oil.
3. When at temperature, put the beetroots in and the tray of carrots, peppers and onions. Cook for 40 minutes.
4. While they’re cooking start with the tzatziki, take the grated cucumber and either using a muslin or clean tea towel form a ball with the cucumber at the centre, and twist it to squeeze out as much juice as possible. Put the cucumber in a bowl with the yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice and mix until combined, add a generous grind of black pepper and scrunch of salt – test the seasoning and adjust as needed and give a glug of extra virgin, then put in the fridge until needed.
5. Next make the hummus. Into your food processor place the chick peas, red pepper, tahini paste, garlic, lemon, a generous scrunch of salt and grind of black pepper and around 25mls extra virgin olive oil and blitz until smooth. Test the seasoning and lemon and adjust as needed, then spoon out into a bowl and set aside until needed, give the top a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Rinse the food processor ready for use again.
6. After 40 minutes roasting remove the carrots (leave the beetroot in for another 15 minutes), onions and pepper and place them all into the food processor with the drined chick peas, lemon, parsley, around 25mls extra virgin olive oil and a generous scrunch of salt, black pepper and blitz until smooth. Taste the seasoning and adjust as needed, then decant into a bowl. Stir the toasted cumin seeds through the dip and then give another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, set aside until needed. Rinse the food processor ready for use again.
7. Take the beetroot out once ready and wait to cool enough to handle, then using a teaspoon scrape the skin off and cut off the ends. Place the beetroots into the food processor with the feta, drained beans, lemon juice, a scrunch of sea salt and grind of black pepper and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Blitz until smooth and test the seasoning, adjust as needed. Decant into a bowl and set aside until needed.

For the flatbreads

1. Take the rested dough and split it into 6 evenly sized balls. In turn gently kneed each for a minute or two, then roll each out on a floured surface as thin as you can get – like a large pitta bread is the size I go for. Don’t worry about the shape, the wibblyness and unevenness adds to their charm.
2. Lay them 2 a piece on a lightly olive oiled baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, then turn them over and bake for another 5. Remove from the oven and stack them one on top of the other separated by some baking paper. Repeat with the others until all have been baked.

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