It’s certainly getting festive, isn’t it? With Thanksgiving weekend already in full swing in the States – happy holidays to my American readers! – and Christmas preparations underway all over the UK, my mind has firmly set its path on celebration recipes.
So this Vegan Blue Cheese Dip is a little step in the direction of party season. It’s one of my favourite easy-to-make additions to a snack platter when we have friends round for dinner, drinks, board games and catching up. It’s great with crisps and raw veggies, and just delicious drizzled over sweet potato fries!
And it really is so easy to make, with only a handful of store cupboard ingredients. Oh, and it’s ready in under five minutes. Shouldn’t all party food be this simple?
Now, without fussing around with fermentation processes and the like, it’s a little tricky to replicate exactly the taste of blue cheese (although it can be done – I just don’t have that level of science – or patience – with my cooking). BUT you can get pretty close with the idea of blue cheese, which is what I hope I’ve done with this recipe. It’s:
- salty
- tangy and
- smooth, with a little crumbly texture thrown in.
It also has little veins of green running through it, thanks to the neat trick of grinding up pumpkin seeds and stirring them in!
You can even make this recipe with a few variations, depending on your taste:
- As a hummus-like dip (so not too thick, not too thin). This is the recipe I’ve provided below.
- Thicker, so more like crumbly cheese. Use firm tofu instead of silken, and mash half the block into a bowl rather than processing it all.
- As a dressing. Use double the amount of silken tofu.
We usually make option 3, to enjoy as a condiment on dishes like this Aubergine Muhammara Traybake, or these Sticky Chilli Cauliflower Wings.
But it’s not quite Christmas yet. (Although you can tell we’re getting there by the lack of light, can’t you?)
Growing up, talk of Christmas in our house commenced on December 3rd – anyone who celebrates a birthday in December, as my sister Faye does – will understand why.
So I have a little way to go before making any moves towards the tinsel just yet. And rightly so, because we’re all coming together tomorrow for Faye’s 40th birthday party! It’s going to feature an East End pub, live music, bar snacks, (probably embarrassing) dancing and more people than you can shake a cocktail stick at.
And, although I’ll probably spend a lot of time shuffling around the edges where I don’t need to introduce myself to too many people, I’m really excited to celebrate this birthday with family and friends.
In the spirit of gratitude that fills this season, I know how lucky I am to have the people that I have, and that when we are together from all of our separate places, we have – in the words of my Mum – a jolly good time.
So those people that you choose to have in your life, and who have chosen you to be in theirs? Get involved.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and celebrate the last of November in your own special way. I’ll be snaffling all the vegan sausage rolls with the Callaghans.
- 30g pumpkin seeds
- 150g silken tofu
- ½ a garlic clove
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- A good pinch of Himalayan/Rock salt
- Place the pumpkin seeds in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until you have a powder.
- Now add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to the consistency you desire.
- Turn out into a dish and give it a stir to show off the lovely green colour. Dip away!
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