Gold Medal Party Dip

 The Summer Games are hugely nostalgic for Alex and me. We love the spectacle of them, the tribulation-to-triumph stories, the crazy opening ceremonies, and the silly dramas. A particular limping gymnast moment of 1996 is seared in my memory like it was part of my own childhood. And what girl in the 90’s didn’t want to be a star gymnast?Each time the games roll around is a new excuse to be carried away by the mania, and Alex and I are always game. As adults we’ve taken to hosting opening ceremonies parties. While I can’t seem to remember the exact years or cities, I do remember the food. It’s usually themed, many times representative of the host country’s cuisine. One particular recipe that stands out was a jiggling tray of 5 jello rings, jewel-toned perfectly red, green, yellow, black, and bright blue.This year, we took on a challenge to develop a Summer Games-themed recipe that’s wholesome but still playful and celebratory. The result was this garlic chive yogurt dip with rings of veggies, which is not only fun to look at but darn tasty. The hardest ring to recreate was the blue one (because what vegetables are blue?). We went out on a limb with these purple potatoes, which when cooked have a blue-ish hue. Sliced thinly and seared on a grill pan, they were our favorite to dip into the garlicky yogurt dip. We’re now more pumped than ever, and this recipe will definitely be making an appearance at an upcoming Opening Ceremonies bash.How about you — will you be gathering together around food together with friends and family to celebrate the upcoming Summer Games in Rio? Because it is about that more than medal counts: time with family and friends, following the very human stories and celebrating the important victories in our own lives, big or small.We developed this Gold Medal Party Dip recipe for Mejier (who incidentally, just moved into our neighborhood!), which is focused on providing the supplies needed to bring family and friends together during the Rio Games. They also believe the Games are more about gathering together than just medals: check out their themed recipes and resources athttp://meijer.com/morethanamedal. 

 Gold Medal Party Dip 

WHAT YOU NEED

• ¼ cup chopped chives
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 cups Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for the potatoes
• Yellow bell pepper
• Red bell pepper
• 12 ounces purple potatoes
• 8 ounces snap peas
• 1 can pitted black olives (6 ounces)

WHAT TO DO

1. Thinly slice the chives. Grate or mince the garlic clove (we grated ours into the bowl using a microplane). In a medium bowl, combine Greek yogurt with chives, garlic, black pepper, kosher salt, and olive oil. Refrigerate until serving.
2. Chop the bell peppers into bite-sized pieces.
3. Thinly slice the potatoes and then place them in a bowl and mix them with a drizzle of olive oil to lightly coat and a few pinches of kosher salt. Cook over medium heat in a skillet or grill pan for about 12 minutes until tender and lightly charred, turning halfway through.
4. To serve, place yogurt dip in five small bowls; arrange vegetables on a platter around each bowl to form Olympic rings, as shown above.

Gold Medal Party Dip is sponsored by Meijer; all opinions are our own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who keep A Couple Cooks in action!