Dill Pesto

The refreshing dill combined with the smooth rich avocado balanced with the crunch of the cashews makes for a nice alternative to the usual pesto. I eat pesto frequently as it is a perfect topping for raw breads, raw crackers, zucchini pasta, and much much more. So switching it up is a nice way to keep things interesting in my plate without making huge changes.

This pesto came about because of all the ingredients I had in my fridge. If you don’t have parsley, try another herb. If you don’t have spinach use another leafy green. The main ingredients that I wouldn’t change here are the dill and the avocado.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped dill
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1 avocado
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large clove of garlic

Steps:

• put everything in a food processor and blend until desired consistency
• will keep in the fridge for a few days, not sure how long though as we always eat it quickly 🙂

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Rosemary White Bean Dip

This spread is buttery, rich and tasty. So simple in flavors. I was inspired to do this dip thanks to a good friend of mine who made it for me once. I loved it so much that I made it within days of first trying it. Since it is a very simple dip or spread it can easily be paired. I like it most on some raw onion crackers.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked white beans
• 1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 sprig of rosemary

Steps:

• in a pan, heat the oil and simmer the garlic and rosemary (leave it on the stick!) until you smell the aromas, about 5 to 8 minutes
• once garlic done, remove the rosemary sprig from oil and toss or keep for decoration
• put everything in a food processor and blend until desired texture.
• to fancy it up you can save a few pieces of the toasted garlic as decoration
• this dip will save at least 5 days in the fridge

Eggplant Dip

I always have raw crackers laying around, therefor, I try to have some sort of dip laying around as well. Dips and crackers are such a nice, satisfying quick snack. (It actually ended up being my dinner my dinner tonight since I couldn’t stop eating it as I was letting it cool before putting in to containers.) I made this dip several weeks ago and really liked it, so I made it again tonight and wrote down the ingredients this time so I could share it with you.

I love eating as a dip with crackers and raw vegetables, but I could see it being tasty as a spread in a sandwich or with rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant, cut into small pieces
• 1 red onion cut in quarters
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 TBS cumin
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp of salt
• dash of cayenne (or more for extra spice)

Steps:

• preheat oven to 350 F
• put first 4 ingredients in a pan and roast covered for about 45 minutes or until the eggplants is nice and soft
• put everything in a food processor and pulse to combine well
• I left some pieces for texture. You can make this as smooth or chunky as you like.

Nut and Seed Spread

I had just made some almond milk and had the leftover almond pulp I needed to use. I was going to visit my friend who had just had a baby and bring a lunch to share with her. I know how hard it can be to put effort into eating deliciously healthy when having a newborn so I thought I’d whip up something fresh and nutritious for us.

The texture resembles that of ricotta cheese a bit, but the flavor is absolutely unique and delicious. You can use this as dip with some crackers, spread it on bread before making sandwiches, eat it with a spoon, or stuff it in a cabbage leaf and top it off with avocado and fresh tomatoes, which is what I did for my friend and I. (I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product, it was beautiful and held really nicely together, but I assembled it fresh once I got to my friends house).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 4 hours, or if like me you are doing this last minute, soak them in boiling hot water for about 30 minutes, while you prep the rest
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 3/4 cups almond pulp (which is approximately what should be left from one almond milk recipe
• 2 TBS chopped cilantro
• 2 TBS green chopped green olives

Blend first 5 ingredients in food processor, then transfer to a bowl with last 3 ingredients, mix well, and voila! The stuffed cabbage leaves were such a fulfilling meal, and left us feeling great and energized.

Zucchini Hummus

I have a friend who loves hummus but can’t tolerate beans. I made this recipe for her birthday and she was so happy. I myself love all forms of hummus but am particularly a fan of this one because of how quick and easy and healthy it is. In 10 minutes, I whipped this up and now I have a dip and a sandwich spread that will last a few days in the fridge. 

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup tahini ( i like to use raw tahini to make this a raw hummus)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• dash of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Process everything in a food processor until smooth. Serve with fresh veggies, crackers or chips. I usually serve mine with raw crackers that I make in our dehydrator. Double this recipe if wanting to make this for a crowd.