160 Years of Tradition Inspires a New Recipe: A Guest Post by Healthy Sous-Chef Partyologist, Lea Bowen

Last weekend I went to Franklin, N.C. for the Siler Family Meeting. For 160 consecutive years, the Siler Family has been gathering on the first Saturday of August to enjoy family, fellowship and most importantly food. I began attending this meeting with my grandmother Katherine Siler Zachary as a young child. Back then, my grandmother would always prepare her famous chocolate chip cookies, or a platter of ripe tomato slices from her garden, to share with the family. The buffet table was, and still is, always laden with the best of traditional southern delicacies such as: fried chicken, country ham, potato salad, deviled eggs and peach cobbler.

As this was my first family meeting since begining working at Taste and Savor, I really wanted to bring a delicious and healthy dish to contribute to the bountiful spread. Unfortunately, staying in a hotel room the night prior to the meeting, made it impossible to prepare the beautiful salad I had envisioned. So, I made some of Chef Nancy’s Orange-Oatmeal Cookies at home and brought them with me. I had planned on this being my only contribution, but my creative juices got the best of me. Determined to still provide something healthy and beautiful, I headed across the street to the Ingles grocery store and starting gathering items for a no-cook appetizer. It was here that “Hotel Room Hummus Dip” was born.

I was quite surprised at how many pre-chopped, pre-cooked items were available in the small town grocery store. With my supply of ingredients and a disposable serving tray, I headed back to the hotel and put together, what I thought turned out to be a pretty good presentation. My mother actually overheard someone in the buffet line saying that she wanted the recipe. So, here it is, Hotel Room Hummus Dip. Enjoy!

Hotel Room Hummus Dip:
1 Container of your favorite Hummus
1 Box of Crumbled Feta
1 Box of Fresh Chopped Tomatoes
1 Box of Fresh Chopped Scallions
1 8 oz can of Sliced Black Olives

Layer the items in order on a serving tray and serve with baby carrots or pita chips.