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Dip or Spread, noun: Tasty, savory or sweet hearty condiments to be enjoying upon crudites, or allergy friendly crackers or chips. These recipes will not contain dairy, eggs, gluten, wheat or hazelnuts. If we use a top 8 allergen, we will use a tag warning of its use.
After we perfected the Ranch Dip using a Cashew Base (see today’s other post) we found a recipe for ranch using the Earth Balance Mindful Mayo. We fiddled with the recipe because liked the flavor profile we had developed for the Ranch Dip Using a Cashew Base better. The result is pretty awesome. We both like our version with cashews better as a dip, but if you can’t have tree nuts that recipe won’t work. And this recipe was closer to real ranch dressing for use on actual salads, and much less expensive. I used it on a salad and I just about cried because I could have ranch dressing again. (I’m guessing that at some point I’ll be using this recipe and the Penzey’s Creamy Peppercorn dressing mix to experiment further with obtaining more replacements for dairy based salad dressings). We also served this dip to people who can eat dairy at a bridal shower and they also really liked it.
Ranch Dip/Dressing Using Earth Balance Mindful Mayo
1 cup of Earth Balance Mindful Mayo (I’ve tested it with original and organic but have not tried it with the olive oil version)
1/4 cup of rice milk (original, unsweetened, or use rice milk powder following directions on container)
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until all ingredients have been incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. You can also do this in a bowl and mix it by hand, if you prefer not to have to wash your blender, but I think the spices blend better in the blender. Taste the mixture and adjust spices as needed. Let sit for a couple hours before serving and the flavors will develop.
Ranch dressing. It’s one of those things that seems really, really hard to replace. And you miss that creaminess, salty, tart flavor, especially on salads, buffalo, wings, or just with a veggie tray at a party. When Mary Kate and I started this blog, we began a list of things we missed desperately (okay, so it was a spreadsheet divided up by category, but anyway). I don’t think ranch even made the list. I don’t think it was even something that we considered being able to replace. But while I was researching replacement mayo recipes, I came across a recipe on Yummly.com that used cashew nuts to make a ranch dressing. Mary Kate and I didn’t think the flavor profile was quite right, so we messed around a bit with the spices. It was one of our first real successes and even people who can have real ranch dressing seemed to be shocked at how much they liked it. And it’s really pretty easy. I know this recipe won’t help those of you who can’t have tree nuts, but we’re posting another ranch recipe that will help.
Ranch Dip Using a Cashew Base
1 1/4 cups cashews (raw, unsalted, and if you buy cashew pieces it’s cheaper)
3/4 cup rice milk (original, unsweetened, or use rice milk powder following directions on container)
Grind cashews in spice grinder or coffee grinder, in small batches until the cashews are a nearly a powder, but not to the point they become a butter.
Place the ground cashews and all remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until combined and until mixture thickens a bit. Taste mixture and adjust spices as needed. Let sit for a couple hours before serving and the flavors will develop and the mixture will thicken further.
Some of the testers have found that this recipe does not hold up well overnight as it becomes more salty, but there’s been some debate about that. Also some of us preferred less salt and others preferred more. The recipe as written is using less salt.
This is that layered Mexican dip that someone always brings to a potluck. I don’t recall being a huge fan of it in the pre-diagnosis days, but it was one of the random things I really missed when I suddenly couldn’t have it. This version is only 4 layers (no sour cream and no olives), but feel free to add the olives if that’s your scene. Neither Denise nor I have found a good substitute for sour cream if you’re dairy and soy free (I liked the Tofutti when I still was eating soy).
Two of the layers are adapted recipes — the nacho cheez is my final version of Joanne Stepaniak’s nacho cheese from The Uncheese Cookbook. Go check out the original and play around with it — it offers a lot of latitude in choice of flours and non-dairy milk. This is one of my go-to comfort food recipes on work days now (the cheez alone, with chips, not this dip). The red lentil “refried beans” are slightly adapted from Heather Van Vorous’ Eating for IBS.
This was one of my first experiments for allergen-free cooking for parties, and I’m pretty happy with it. Make sure to plan ahead — you need perfectly ripe avocados for this recipe, a bit soft, but not yet squishy. Leftovers will keep for 4-5 days, but they do get a little squishy and the avocado will brown a little. Just a little though, because of the layering.
A note on formatting — this is how I write out recipes for myself, with ingredients grouped by step, not all at the beginning. I find I’m less likely to get lost in the recipe this way. I would love to know what you think of it. I’ve put a full ingredient list at the bottom, for those of you who are traditionalists.
Happy Layers Nacho Dip
This is a four layer dip. The recommended layer order is important to the structural integrity of the dish, as well as its freshness.
Grease a 11×8 glass pan.
Layer One: “Refried” Beans
In saucepan, mix:
red lentils
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and sorted
2 ¾ cups water
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Whisk occasionally, cooking until smooth consistency, about 40 minutes.
“refried” lentils
Let briefly cool, and then smooth into pan. Let cool completely. If you want to do this step the night before, go ahead.
Layer Two: Guacamole
homemade guacamole
Best to keep this one simple. Smash together:
2-3 ripe Haas avocados
large pinch of kosher salt
juice of ½ to 1 fresh lime (use your judgement — you want smooth, but not liquidy)
You can use a potato masher, a pastry cutter, or a fork to smash avocados. I prefer a fork. You could use the large Florida avocados, if you get them, but I find them too often bad up here. Could just be the distance. They are enough bigger that you’d likely only need one. Smooth guac over top of the beans in the pan.
Layer Three: Nacho Cheeze
In medium saucepan, over medium heat, whisk together:
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
½ cup nutritional yeast flakes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon smoky Spanish paprika (pimentón), or, if you do not have this, use regular paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried mustard
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you are Denise or just like it really hot)
Whisk together all dry ingredients first. Then add
¼ cup olive oil
Nacho Cheez dip in its primordial state
Whisk together
Add 2 cups unsweetened rice milk
Cook over medium heat until mixture reaches a boil and starts to thicken.
Add either fresh chopped cilantro or about 2 teaspoons (two cubes) of frozen herbs.
Pour over the first two layers and smooth on carefully — getting sort of a seal of the cheez layer is what keeps the guacamole layer green. Cover and chill.
Top with a final layer of salsa just before serving — tomatillo salsa (the green one) highly recommended for flavor, but traditional red salsa provides more color contrast. Or hey, get festive like I did in the top photo, and attempt stripes! Note: Salsa is not easily constrained to your decorative purposes.
Serve cold, with tortilla chips.
Happy Layer Nacho Dip on chips (with ominous camera shadow)
Full Ingredients List in Traditional Cookbook Order:
Refried Lentils
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and sorted
2 ¾ cups water
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Guacamole
2-3 ripe Haas avocados
large pinch of kosher salt
juice of ½ to 1 fresh lime (use your judgement — you want smooth, but not liquidy)
Nacho Cheez
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
½ cup nutritional yeast flakes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon smoky Spanish paprika (pimentón), or, if you do not have this, use regular paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried mustard
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you are Denise or just like it really hot)
¼ cup olive oil
2 cups unsweetened rice milk
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro (I use the convenient frozen cubes). Add more if you like.
Jar of salsa for topping. Takes about 1/3 to 1/2 of a regular-sized jar.
It’s still summer and there’s lots of good stuff to pick up at farmstands. So Mary Kate and I got the bright idea to buy a bunch of vegetables and experiment with grilling them this weekend. Although we spent a marathon day grilling, one of the things we wanted to share with you all, was the grilled vegetable salsa we put together. If you don’t want to do this on the grill, I have also made this salsa by roasting the vegetables in the oven and in my rotisserie.
Grilled Salsa
Our score at the farm stand
1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters and seeded
1 jalapeno, cut into halves and seeded
1 bulb of garlic, with top cut off and with most of the outer layer peels removed
2-3 tomatoes, cut into quarters and seeded (if you wish reserve the juice and the seeds to mix in with the salsa at the end.)
2 small onions, cut in slices (so they form rings about 1/2 inch thick)
Do what you would normally do with your grill to bring it to cooking temperature, light the charcoal, light the propane, or start the fire, depending on what you have for tools and equipment. If you do have a grilling basket, feel free to use it if it will make things easier on you.
Once your grill is hot, place garlic, cut end up, on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around the garlic and seal it shut. Drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil, and wrap foil around bulb.
Garlic after grilling
Place on indirect heat out of the way so that it can cook slowly while you grill the other vegetables. You want the garlic to be fork tender and easily mash-able.
Grilled Red Bell Pepper
Place other vegetables on the grill to cook. It might be best to place the onions and jalapeno in the grill basket to cook. This will take several minutes and you will want to watch the vegetables carefully. You may not want your vegetables quite as charred as our red bell pepper got (whoops!).
Grilled Tomatoes
The vegetables will also cook at different rates. Once each vegetable becomes tender, or is cooked the way you like it, take it off the grill and place them on a plate or a bowl until all the vegetables are done, checking the garlic last.
Chop the red bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, and jalapeno finely and place in a bowl (with juice and tomato seeds if you reserved them.)
Add 3 to 4 cloves (or more if you like) of the roasted garlic and mash it in with chopped vegetables. (You can freeze the remainder of the roasted garlic if you wish for use at another time, such as mashing it into potatoes or as a spread.)
Grilled Salsa after mixing
Add the red wine vinegar, the Cholula Chili lime hot sauce, cilantro, and adobo seasoning. You may also add a splash of olive oil if you wish. Mix well, or if you like your salsa to be more saucy, use a stick blender or a regular blender to process it a bit. Enjoy!
