Creamy sundried tomato and goat or vegan cheese dip

Absolutely yummy, this dip can be made dairy free with just a few creative ingredients. And I love the Siete brand grain-free chips. Available locally, they come in a number of flavors, the Sea Salt being the best IMO. Some of the other flavors have questionable ingredients like maltodextrin (a highly processed white powder filler, thickener, or preservative derived from corn, rice, potato, or wheat starch—very high glycemic meaning fast blood sugar spike, and inflammatory).

I have a good number of vegan friends and clients (the line blurs there). Always looking for ways to add more protein to their day. The beautiful bit about this dip is how elegant yet simple it is to prepare. Often a favorite at my friends and family gatherings, no one can tell even the vegan version is, well vegan. And that’s just great given our very diverse dietary preferences.

Great appetizer! Serves many…

Ingredients

2 Cups of water
½ Cup raw Cashews
½ Cup fresh basil plus ¼ Cup fresh basil, divided
1 8-oz container Kite Hill, Bettergoods, Daiya or Violife vegan cream cheese (all available locally) OR use goat cheese
¼ Cup sundried tomatoes (in oil)
½ Cup oil (from sundried tomatoes) note: this will likely be all the oil in the jar leaving you with extra tomatoes—reserve some for a garnish then mix in the rest.
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder (Omit if FODMAP sensitive)
¼ teaspoon Chili Powder (read the ingredients, should just be chilis)
½ Cup Water from boiling Cashews or plain coconut yogurt

Preparation

1. Add Water and Cashews to a saucepan and bring to a boil; reduce to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes (or soak overnight then no need to cook)
2. While cooling, prepare the rest of your ingredients.
3. Remove the Cashews and add them along with ½ cup of the Water or plain coconut yogurt to a food processor or sturdy blender and blend till Cashews are smooth
4. Add your remaining ingredients except the sundried tomatoes and blend.  If too thick, add more Cashew water 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. Add the sundried tomatoes and basil, blend until they are still a bit chunky
6. Allow to refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 3 days

INVITE FRIENDS—ENJOY!

Copyright © 2017 Marie Cecchini MS. All Rights Reserved