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?
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
- 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
- Blend for about 30 seconds, scrape sides with a rubber spatula, then repeat
- Add the fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs
- Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute
- Scrape the bowl of the food processor really well
- Serve with crudite’ and crackers
*Pairs great with Chardonnay!
Sounds fantastic! Thank you!
Glad you like it! It does sound tasty 🙂
I’ll try it this weekend!
Let me know how you like it!