For an outdoor dinner, most people would expect you to serve grilled vegetables with a straightforward dip, but here I’ve done something slightly more unexpected and paired barely-cooked vegetables with a grilled dip. Some veggies I like to include are jicama, fennel, endive, asparagus, and snap peas, but usually I try to go to the farmers market the same day and just buy whatever’s the freshest and most interesting.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6 to 8; makes about 2 cups of dip
Ingredients
2
5
2
2
1
1
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Wipe the grill grates with oil to prevent sticking. Build a medium-heat fire. Your medium-heat zone should have embers 3 to 5 inches from the cooking surface.
Step 2
To make the dip: Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Cut again so the avocados are quartered. Keeping the skin on, coat the flesh sides with oil and grill each flesh side over medium heat for about 60 seconds, or until there are nice grill marks. Set aside.
Step 3
Coat the tomatillos and jalapeños with oil and grill over medium heat on all sides until charred but not blackened, about 5 minutes total.
Step 4
Remove and discard the skins from the avocados. Add the avocados, tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, lime juice, basil, and salt to a blender and puree until very smooth. The dip can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.
Step 5
Cut the larger vegetables, such as fennel and jicama, into pieces that are slightly larger than bite size and keep the smaller vegetables, such as asparagus, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, and endive, whole. Arrange the vegetables on a platter and serve with the dip.
