Dips and spreads Archives - Cool Food Dude

Silky roasted garlic hummus + courgette bowl excerpted from Bold Beans Full of Beans: Delicious Beany Recipes to Obsess Over by Amelia Christie-Miller. Photography by Sam A. Harris.

“Beans are quite simply one of the best foods you can eat, so get stuck in!”
– Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall

“This book is the PR beans have always deserved!”
– Yotam Ottolenghi

Get ready to become bean obsessed.

Back by popular demand, this book features 70 brand new, individually photographed recipes from the trailblazing Bold Beans company. Following the Sunday Times bestseller Bold Beans: Recipes to get your Pulse Racing, a growing community of so called bean champs emerged across social media, supermarkets, independent food stores and word of mouth – all calling for more brilliant bean recipes.

Organised by type of bean and showcasing the brand’s newly launched black beans, borlotti beans, queen carlin peas, and queen red beans, the book introduces fresh ideas like beanottos and tray bakes. The result is food that is super healthy, totally unprocessed, planet friendly, and deeply satisfying.

Recipes include:
– Sausage and butter bean stew
– Chickpea, sweet potato and peanut butter curry
– Spiced onion and borlotti bean frittata
– Crispy chorizo and red bean shakshuka with charred padron peppers (more…)

Tza-zikki excerpted from Eat Small Plates: Vibrant, Shareable Dishes for Daily Joy by Ben Siman-Tov and Zikki Siman Tov. Copyright © 2025 Ben Siman-Tov and Zikki Siman Tov. Published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Eat Small Plates: Vibrant, Shareable Dishes for Daily Joy by Ben Siman-Tov and Zikki Siman Tov.

The dynamic couple behind @BenGingi share their favourite mix-and-match-ready recipes for effortless everyday dining and easy hosting

From a serendipitous meeting on a street corner in a tiny town in the Italian Alps to their food studio at the heart of the East Village in New York City, Ben and Zikki have been on a culinary adventure since the very moment they met. Ben’s first gift to Zikki? A half loaf of beetroot sourdough. And their first date? Zikki taught Ben to make potato varenyky, secretly prepping him to help her make 1,000 for an event the following week!

These days, with not a moment to spare, they happily host friends and family and run a sought-after catering business in New York City. Their debut cookbook, Eat Small Plates, is an ode to a style of eating at the heart of their lived experiences together: travelling, creating a family, and building beautiful lasting friendships wherever a meal can be shared. Here, they offer their favourite small plate recipes for greater joy and connection every day.

Ben’s knack for vibrant Israeli flavours and Zikki’s passion for shareable, soul-warming Ukrainian-inspired dishes combine in Eat Small Plates to create bold and exciting recipes for every dinner or gathering. With favourites such as Ben’s freshly baked Pita, Zikki’s crunchy chopped Jewelled Celery Salad, and creamy Cashew Basil dip, this ultimate hosting cheat sheet helps home cooks transform simple ingredients into beautiful, intentional dishes. Ben and Zikki share essential cooking techniques—from charring an eggplant to incorporating pickling into your daily routine—and even tips for those who don’t want to cook at all (but still want to host!). This book is a celebration of the feast-ready lifestyle, and a guide to spreading love through food. (more…)