Hey baby, do you dip?

I totally forgot that it’s Vegan Mofo!! I guess I better get with the programme, dudes!

I’m thrilled by the overwhelming success of September’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge – Lavash Crackers & Vegan/GF Dips & Spreads. Co-hosting with Natalie of Gluten A Go Go was really such a thrill, for so many reasons, and I love the positive reaction from my fellow Daring Bakers who threw caution (and pre-conceived notions) to the wind and embraced GF & Vegan cuisine!

That being said, I was negligent in my Challenge post because I didn’t share my dip recipes (bad Shellyfish). Because so many of you kids have asked…here are the recipes I used for my dips this month. Nothing ground breaking, but really yummy!

Tahitian Almond Dipping Sauce

by Robert Yarosh and Lisa Soto, from The Complete Book of Raw Food, Lori Baird, Editor.

• 1 1/2 cups almond butter
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (you may want to add more juice or add some water, depending on the consistency you like).
• 1 1/2 tablespoons agave syrup

Blend all ingredients together until smooth (in your blender or food processor). Serve with your favorite crackers and fresh fruit.

Salsa

This is my one-and-only salsa recipe. It’s a modified version of the recipe my best friend’s husband Brian have me after I left the baked pueblo for France. He wanted to be sure I had some of the desert with me…

• 4 or 5 tomatoes (or more, just up the other ingredients)
• 3 or 4 green onions, tails & têtes (heads) diced up
• 1 or 2 (or 7) hot peppers – whatever is local for you. I used jalapeños in the desert.
• the juice of 3 limes
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• green chilies if available in your area, about 1/4 cup
• salt

Put everything in a large, air-tight bowl and refrigerate at least 8 hours or over night

Smokey Black Bean Dip

This was something I came up with on accident when making black beans way back. We love it!

• 2 cups dry black beans
• reserved cooking water
• 1 tbsp cumin (powder)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 (or more) teaspoons Cayenne
• 1 tbsp agave syrup
• 1 tsp liquid smoke (I can’t get it here, but this tastes fine without it!)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• salt to taste

Cook your beans (I always do the quick soak method – put them in about 1 litre or more of cold water, bring to boil for 15 minutes, then drain & rinse, then back in the pot with another 1 1/2 litres of water, simmer until cooked, checking to make sure you don’t need to add more water.

When cooked, put everything save the reserved cooking water in the food processor and just add about a 1/4 cup of water at first. Blend into a paste, and add water to achieve the consistency desired.

I’m so sorry this post is sans photos, but at least I got these recipes up for you! See you tomorrow for Raw Thursday!