Layout Fun

Hummus, grape leaves, celery, apples. GF pretzels and sliced mango not shown.

We eat a lot of hummus. It's delicious, nutritious, easy to make ahead, easy to transport, and is a great vehicle for increasing consumption of raw vegetables and fruits, plus it's quickly made from ingredients on hand. You can't go wrong. So, how do we keep it interesting? We change up the dippers; besides obvious ones like carrots, celery and pepper strips, there are peeled broccoli stems, mild radishes or turnips, or snap peas, to name just a few. It gets a bit thin in winter, but come spring the variety is endless. And, of course, we love the sweet-tart-crispiness of apple slices.

There were not many dipper options on hand this morning; luckily there was a can of grape leaves on the shelf. To make it interesting I laid out the components in a pattern of perpendicular stripes; I put the celery next to the grape leaves since they are sometimes oily, which is not bad for celery, but not great for apples. Apple slices cut in eighths look nice laid out this way, and you can fit more of them into the box. (In fact, if you are packing a container with an entire apple--that is, eight pieces--try cutting both a red and a green apple so you can alternate red and green stripes.) Little touches like these are fun for the packer and for the diner, and they take only a few more seconds.