Monday 19 September 2011

Meat Free Monday inspirations: Easy dips: Guacamole, Tomato Salsa and Olive Tapenade

Hello all! Sorry for the lengthy delay since my last post!

I will be writing again soon on some reflections on life :-) But for now, I thought I'd send out some of the recipes I discovered which...you guessed it...changed my life during my vegan challenge, by way of inspiring you for Meat-Free Monday!

So, three easy dips are the recipes here. They are all super-flavoursome, as well as being meat-, milk- and egg-free. They are great with breads and sensational with baked potatoes (I'm making my own mouth water, remembering that meal. Baked potatoes with the guacamole and olive tapenade - indescribable!!) I used a food processor with all of them, but for any of them I'd say, chop the ingredients finely and mix well, and they should turn out just fine.

Guacamole:
1 or 2 avocados, ripe
the juice of approximately 1/4 - 1/3 of a lemon (add to taste)
a few tablespoons of sweetcorn make an interesting addition
salt and pepper and herbs to taste (great herbs: parsley and a smattering of thyme)

And basically you just mash it all up together, in a food processor or just by hand!

Olive Tapenade
approximately 100g of olives, pitted
a few tablespoons of tomato and olive mix (again, just add to taste)
a few tablespoons of lemon juice
loads of thyme
loads of origano
salt and pepper to taste (can use capers instead of salt)

Toss the ingredients into a blender and hit it! What I really like about this dip is that it offers a saltiness that many veg dishes don't naturally have. One of the things I missed most about meat and cheese during my vegan challenge was the saltiness of the foods, so this provided such a delicious alternative for those rich flavours.

Tomato Salsa
1 cup of sundried tomatoes, soaked in water for a few hours (I mean 1 cup of the soaked tomatoes)
1 or 2 chillies, chopped finely (even if you are using a food processor!)
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 a green pepper
1/2 an onion, chopped finely
A few tablespoons of finely chopped spring opnion
You can add a dash of lemon juice to this, as well.
Herbs: Oregano, Thyme, Coriander and P
Salt and Pepper to taste