Hi Jen. I hope you are doing well. I was just wondering if you could possibly share your artichoke dip recipe with me. I have been craving it cause it's amazing. I really want to make it. I looked up some recipes online but they all seem different and I wasn't sure the ingredients that you use. Hope to talk to you soon. -Melissa
The dip Melissa is jonesing for is Alicia Silverstone's vegan artichoke dip from her book The Kind Diet. I have made this recipe for almost every holiday, baby shower, birthday and sporting event since buying the book two years ago. Known in my circle of friends simply as "The Dip", I have gotten more requests for this dish than anything else I have ever made. I keep increasing the recipe to meet growing demand, but it's still not enough. There are never any leftovers and inevitably someone will say: "Next time you should definitely make more." Every party is better with The Dip!
-♥ J :)
**The recipe below is how I make The Dip and is slightly tweaked from Alicia's recipe. For example, Alicia uses grated soy Parmesan. I like using Parma Vegan Parmesan because, since it is made from nuts, it is sturdier and makes for a heartier consistency. For the original recipe, be sure to check out The Kind Diet. It is such a wonderful book chock full of great information about becoming vegan as well as some of the most delicious recipes you have ever tasted!
You will need:
-4 (8.5 ounce) cans of artichoke hearts in water
-2 cups Soy-Free Vegenaise
-1 and 1/2 (7 ounce) containers Parma Vegan Parmesan
-1 garlic clove
-paprika
- Using a wooden spoon, mash up artichoke hearts in a salad spinner or colander. Allow excess water to drain.
- In a large bowl, add Vegenaise, most of the Parma "cheese" (Reserve 1/4 cup for later use), and chopped garlic. Combine well.
- Scrape the dip into a baking dish (like this one). Sprinkle remaining Parma on top of dip. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through and browned on top. Sprinkle with paprika, and serve with crackers, organic tortilla chips or endive leaves.
- Eat and Enjoy!
Oh, cheese. Yummy cheese.
Loved by everyone. Good for no one.
Cheese is like that shady, noncommittal smooth talker that you know you shouldn't be dating. It might be fun in the moment, but truth be told it's only holding you back in life and in the long run it might give you a horrible disease.
But we all know that.
Unlike yogurt, who has the hardest working PR agent in show business, cheese is not really touted as a health food. Sure every once and a while some study will come out lauding feta as the new health this or goat cheese as the healthier that, but deep down I think we know the truth.
Cheese is just for fun. (Fun for us. Not so fun for the animals who sacrifice their lives for it. But more on that in the Dairy Rant. It's coming….)
If you give up cheese, everything about your health will get better. Everything. You will lose weight, dark circles under your eyes will disappear, as well as double chins and jowls. You will have more energy, sleep better and feel less bloated. Your digestion will improve and you will have a better sense of smell. You're skin will begin to glow.
But the trick is you have to really give it up. You have to go cold cheddar, my Veggies. No cheats with this one. It's gonna take your body a few weeks to work the sludge out of your system, so if you really want to see results you need to quit for a good chunk of time. Three weeks usually does it.
Would you like a cheese substitute to help you break the habit?
Well, there isn't one. Life's tough.
Ok, there are substitutes but I'm going to give it to you straight…most of them don't really taste like cheese. Nothing tastes like cheese. But...
Many of them are delicious in their own unique cheese-free way! Try them with an open mind and don't compare them to cheese. Just think of them as your new, friendly cheese-ish flavoring. Here are two of my favorites:
Parma Vegan Parmesan is fantastic on salads and vegetables. I also use it when I make vegan artichoke dip (recipe from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet) and no one is the wiser. It is made almost entirely of walnuts, so you nut-allergy folk steer clear of this one.
I think Daiya Cheese the closest thing to actual cheese on the market today. It has a great texture, melts (so it works for hot dishes) and tastes great. It is made of peas and is casein, lactose, gluten and soy free. My husband, who is not a fan of cheese substitutes, thinks it's the best thing since sliced...well...cheese.
-♥ J :)
