Creamy Cashew Dip a.k.a. Ninja Awesomesauce (with bonus recipe - homemade vegan mayo!)

Hello, dearest ninja readers!  I'm here today with two lovely recipes just for you.  The first is a creamy dip/spread/sauce made primarily of raw cashews with some other yummy stuff thrown in there.  It's easy and amazing and I have thus dubbed it "Awesomesauce."  It's thick and creamy enough to dip raw veggies in (carrots are my fave) or spread on a sandwich or burger.  If you want it thinner to pour over steamed broccoli or something, just add more water.  Easy!

The "bonus" recipe is my own recipe for homemade vegan mayo.  Before I figured out this recipe, I was a great lover of Vegenaise, but at over 4 bucks a jar the stuff is expensive as all heck....plus the only place I've found it around here is Whole Foods and I hate making a special trip there just for Vegenaise.  I swear, this stuff tastes just as good and it's made with easy-to-find ingredients and costs a fraction of what store-bought vegan mayo will run you.  I like it on veggie burgers or on tomato sandwiches with tomatoes fresh from my garden.

On to the recipes!

Creamy Cashew Dip a.k.a. Awesomesauce

Served up with loads of fresh veggies - yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic

1/4 of a small onion

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 

Throw all that stuff in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  If it's not creamy enough, just add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the right consistency.  Eat.  That's it!  This stuff never lasts long in my house.

Tips and Tricks:

1. Make sure you use RAW cashews.  Roasted ones won't work.

2. The hot pepper sauce is optional.  It honestly doesn't make the dip spicy at all (just a little underlying zing I guess) so if you want to omit it, you can with no harm done.  On the other hand, if you want this stuff super-spicy, try doubling the amount, or adding more in a little at a time until you reach your desired level of hotness.


Bonus recipe: Ninja Vegan Mayo

Ingredients:

12oz box of silken tofu (the shelf-stable kind)
1/2 cup canola or other light oil
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon agave (or use regular sugar)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon arrowroot
pinch onion powder
pinch garlic powder
pinch white pepper 

Blend it all up until well combined.  Spread on everything.  Eat.

Tips and Tricks:

1. If all you have is water-packed tofu, this will probably still work, but water packed tofu tends to come in larger packages, so don't quite use all of it.

2. If you don't have arrowroot, you can leave it out; your mayo will just have a slightly thinner consistency.

3. If you don't have white pepper, just use black; it'll be fine.

4. This keeps in the fridge in a lidded container for quite a while, if you open the container and there is liquid sitting on top, just stir it back in again.


Well ninjas, that is all for today.  Two quick and easy recipes to spread all over your veggies and burgers as we close out the summer.  I'll have more recipes coming soon, as well as pics of the newest addition to the Fur Ninja family - Star the pit bull!  (and yes, that is the name she came with).  We rescued her 3 weeks ago and I couldn't have asked for a better best friend.  She's a little camera-shy, but pics to come soon.  Until then, happy eating!

Love,

The Fur Ninja <3>