When we first removed dairy from our household almost five years ago, I found it really difficult.
Not only was I desperately missing that luscious creamy mouthfeel, but also the quick and ease that ricotta or a block of cream cheese could bring when making dips.
We eat dips a lot. Not just when entertaining, but also as a quick afterschool snack, or even as a lunchbox filler. They are so versatile, and take no time at all to throw together. Just bung all the ingredients in the blender, give it a whiz, and it’s done.
Enter cashews….
Once soaked and pureed, they make a fantastic creamy replacement for many dairy staples. I use them in place of ricotta, cream cheese, pouring cream, sour cream and so the list goes on. You can sweeten it with honey or make it savoury with a bit of lemon juice, salt and the secret “cheesy flavoured” ingredient – nutritional yeast flakes (they are different from baking yeast, and you can pick them up at the health food shop).
Make sure you use raw cashews though, not the roasted and salted variety!
I’ve used soaked and pureed cashews to make everything from stuffed zucchini flowers, to creamy tomato soup, to this super delicious garlic and herb dip!
If you forget to soak the cashews overnight (like I usually do)…
you can pour some boiling water over them and let them sit for 20-30 minutes. They will take a little longer to reach that smooth consistency, but it still works.
So reach for your favourite crackers or veggie sticks and dive on in to this super luscious creamy garlic and herb dip!
Creamy Garlic & Herb Dip
Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews, raw
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 lemon juice & zest
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 100 ml water
- 1 Pinch salt
- 1/3 cup parsley, fresh roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup oregano, fresh roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp dill, fresh
- 1 Pinch chilli flakes optional
- 1 green onion roughly chopped
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in 3 cups of cold water overnight.
- Drain, rinse and drain again.
- Puree the soaked and drained cashews in a food processor or blender with the garlic, lemon juice & zest, yeast flakes, water and salt until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and process for another 20 seconds.
