Dip is a sore subject in my house. With a husband who doesn’t like mayonnaise, sour cream or even really cream cheese, I struggle to come up with a dip that people in my house will actually eat. Under normal circumstances, I might not even try. If I were hosting my book club or some similar event, I might indulge in one of those Barefoot Contessa recipes for dip that seem to start with a cup of every fattening, delicious condiment in the world and figure that my adorable but picky husband can eat something else. But this past week, I was hosting a dinner party in honor of my husband’s birthday, so I felt obligated to make only food that he actually likes — a task that is harder than it sounds.

The menu for my husband’s birthday dinner. What? Is that weird?

For the cocktail hour at this dinner party, the featured bite was gougères, those addictive French cheese puffs that make brilliant party food because they can be made in advance and frozen. (Look for a post on those later this week.) But one of our guests eats very few carbs for health reasons, and so I wanted to have an hors d’oeuvre that he could eat. Crudités and a delicious dip are a perfect starter when you have a guest who is gluten-free or low-carb.  But what do you do when your husband hates all the staple dip bases?

Luckily, I have a dip secret weapon that will pacify those rabid anti-mayo folks out there. (And you know who you are!) It’s  goat cheese. A soft chèvre makes a great base for dip and is slightly healthier than either sour cream or mayo.  (I said “slightly.”) It has a smooth, thick consistency and plain goat cheese is neutral enough to let other flavors take center stage yet still adds a nice tang.

I have been making this roasted red pepper and goat cheese dip since I was in law school. The original recipe that I have adapted for this dip comes from the Nantucket Open House Cookbook, which is kind of a relic from the 80’s — like the Silver Palate cookbooks. It definitely brings me back to earlier, simpler time. A time when smoked fish pâté was the height of culinary sophistication. The Nantucket Open House Cookbook includes recipes for things like roasted garlic and guacamole, back before those foods were ubiquitous, and it would have been considered ambitious to make them at home.

The original recipe for this dip calls for roasting fresh red Bell peppers, but I have found that using jarred marinated red peppers saves a great deal of work and allows you to make this dip even in the dead of winter when your grill is out of commission and red peppers are out-of-season and expensive. I put up my own marinated red peppers in the summer when red peppers are plentiful and cheap at the Oak Park Farmers Market, but any good jarred marinated red peppers will work.

I think this roasted red pepper dip works best with fresh vegetable crudités for dipping. I recommend using raw Bell peppers, carrots, radishes, and celery or blanched cauliflower, broccoli and green beans. In the summer, grilled vegetables like zucchini or eggplant would be amazing with this dip. You can make this dip a day in advance of your party, which is an important quality in any recipe for entertaining.