This past weekend, one of my dearest friends decided to host a dinner party for a group of her favorite  ladies. Though she is far from a vegetarian, most of the attendees were, so she decided to make the menu totally vegan. I was so proud and thankful for her efforts. It really touches and inspires me when I look to the people around me and see them adopting  more responsible food choices. I mean, this girl never even used to cook and now she is cooking plant-based!

My friend wanted to handle the majority of the menu herself, but asked me to bring a dip for crudité (sliced or whole raw vegetables). I decided to make a variation of cashew cheese spread by adding fresh herbs, almond meal for variation in texture and a fresh Serrano pepper for some kick. The dip was a hit!

The next time you are asked to whip up a crowd-pleasing appetizer in a flash why not make this creamy cashew spread your go-to recipe?

cashew spread recipe

Creamy Serrano and Herb Cashew Spread Recipe

By Kat Barry

Yield: 1 cup (8 ounces) spread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cashews, soaked in water at least 1 hour, then drained
  • 2 tablespoons almond meal (flax meal works too)
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • ¾ teaspoon Batti Becco seasoning salt (or other Italian seasoning salt)
  • 1 fresh Serrano pepper (or 1 jalapeno if your tolerance is lower), sliced
  • ⅓ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, clipped from stem
  • 1-teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

  1. Place cashews, almond meal, nutritional yeast, olive oil, garlic, seasoning salt, and hot peppers in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal “s” blade
  2. Blend for about 30 seconds, scrape sides with a rubber spatula, then repeat
  3. Add the fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs
  4. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute
  5. Scrape the bowl of the food processor really well
  6. Serve with crudite’ and crackers

*Pairs great with Chardonnay!

Have you ever tried creamy cashew spread before? Did you miss the dairy?

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4 Comments

  1. Sounds fantastic! Thank you!

    1. Glad you like it! It does sound tasty 🙂

  2. I’ll try it this weekend!

    1. Let me know how you like it!

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