The Canadian Garden

When I heard that this month's Canadian Food Experience Project was to write about the Canadian garden, I looked outside in my own garden and saw wee little plants just starting to rear their heads. I don't have much of a garden to write about yet this year. And, since I don't have much of a green thumb, I'm not really able to coax much out of my garden on a good year.

So I decided to get a little cheeky and write about my version of a Canadian garden. My version is more about heading to my Farmer's Market, buying some lovely fresh veggies, and making a dip platter that makes you think you're heading into the garden.

Ready for a little fun? Read on for my Canadian Veggie Garden Dip recipe featuring fresh veggies on top of a hummus and olive tapenade dip.

Canadian Veggie Garden Dip - serves 6-8

Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 head of garlic
1 can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons of tahini (or even peanut butter if you're in a pinch)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, to taste

Olive Tapenade

1/2 cup of Kalamata olives, pitted
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1 fresh anchovy fillet
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

An assortment of fresh raw veggies, for serving

1. Start by roasting your head of garlic. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the top of the head of garlic off and fill with a little olive oil. Wrap and aluminum foil and bake until soft, about 30 minutes.

2. While your garlic is roasting, make your olive tapenade. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until mixture reaches your desired texture. Scrape out mixture, set aside, and clean the food processor.

3. When garlic is roasted, let cool, and then peel the cloves. Add garlic to the processor with the chick peas, tahini, and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Pulse until puréed and add the olive oil, remaining lemon juice, and salt to taste.

4. Smear a generous amount of the hummus on a plate. Top with a little of the olive tapenade. Lay a few veggies on top if desired to look freshly picked from the garden and serve with more veggies for dipping.

The Canadian Food Experience Project began on June 7 2013. As we (participants) share our collective stories through our regional food experiences,  we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity.