Archive for the 'Appetizers' Category

Vegan Nacho Cheese Dip Recipe: Ah… Those Festival And Sports Arena Memories

Written by J.F. on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 in Appetizers, Snacks, Vegan Cheese.

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Inside The Oven: Heather Mills’ 8 page food demands for her vegan daughter, food stalker toddler, Curried Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie in Week Links. Vegans, non cheese eating vegetarians and non-dairy queens can find happiness in nacho cheese again.

For vegans, vegetarians who don’t eat regular cheese, and non-dairy queens, nacho cheese dip is hard to find. Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet makes a nacho cheese, which melts wonderfully I might add. But to me it tasted too processed and I didn’t get that dripping “saucy” dip feeling when I tried it.


 

When I got to the bottom of this pile, the chips reminded me of eating Nachos at a fall festival in my hometown. When you reached the bottom of the tray, provided the cheese was drizzled properly, the chips were soft and the dip had thickened slightly. The chewy experience at the end was just as delightful as the hot and crunchy first bite.


 

Blue Corn Chips are a treat that not only provide a variety from traditional yellow, but make a gorgeous presentation against the orange sauce. I fell in love with blue corn after a black bean taco experience. Once you’ve made this, don’t stop at tortilla chips. There are numerous ways to enjoy it, including baked potatoes, bread and pastas.

  

When choosing your salsa, use what you would normally enjoy on tortilla chips without cheese. It’s not really the particular brand or type that makes or breaks the recipe. If you have a passion for salsa with peppers on the Scoville Scale of a habenero, it wouldn’t make sense to use a mild vegetable blend (although I wouldn’t recommend anyone using a salsa that hot, unless the taste buds are already damaged from a previous experience). My personal pick is Drew’s All-Natural Organic Mild Salsa.


 

Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce


 

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

  • 3 Tablespoons soy margarine

  • 1/2-1 cup water

  • 1/2 cup Salsa of Choice (more…)

Mushroom Rock: The B Sides Featuring A Porcini Bruschetta Recipe

Written by J.F. on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 in Appetizers, Mushrooms.

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Inside The Oven: Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and…FRIED OCTOPUS BALLS??!! in Week Links. Porcini mushrooms, brushcetta recipe.

B sides haven’t always maintained a good reputation over time.  Adjectives used to describe them were not necessarily flattering: non-album friendly, non radio-friendly, the side the DJ played only when most people had  enough liquor not to care what they were hearing…

Mushrooms have an A and B side, with what most of us eat being the A side, white button mushroom found on your average take out pizza.  I don’t mind this A side hit, but I think it’s unfortunate that so many B side mushrooms aren’t getting their fair play. Some are certainly more exotic sounding (shiitake, maitake,), more colorful (Chanterelles), more elegant (oyster, enoki). But much like the music industry, it’s not always true talent that makes the hit list. 

 

I consider myself a mushroom lover and even took a class in college whose curriculum included mushroom “hunts”, identifying species and spores in the laboratory, and experiencing the pleasure of holding and examining bowling ball size puffballs. I’d been looking for a way to try a different or “B-side” mushroom and I discovered dried Porcinis at a natural foods store where I frequently shop. I’d heard through the “underground” industry they were good: unsigned, raw talent, that made their success through grass roots hard work of recipe to recipe, friend to friend, food blog to food blog, and word of mouth (or shall I say from mouth to mouth?). I snatched up a package, along with a baguette, and went home to try a mushroom bruschetta recipe…  (more…)