A.
Let me be straight with you. I usually don't get the point in dipping fruit. Even in my pre-gan days, if I saw yogurt dip or whatever with cut up fruit, I would kind of roll my eyes and pass it up. Why put anything on fruit? Fruit is so wonderful the way it is!
(Let it also be known that I also don't see the point in smoothies or straight up fruit sorbets.)
Now I know why. It's not about dressing your fruit up. It's about finding some vaguely healthful excuse to shovel some incredibly tasty dip into your mouth. LIGHTBULB!
I didn't have a lot of time this morning and J already had some idea of what he wanted to feed himself and the Emperor for dinner tonight, so I decided to take a break from dip-ner today and put together a snacky dip. Of course, Vegan MoFo would not be complete without at least one gratuitous pumpkin crap post, so the can of pumpkin puree I had in the cabinet was going in there. Then I grabbed some other stuff from around the kitchen and banged this out in about 15 minutes (mostly inactive), without even having to take the blender back out. Woo!
The resulting dip is sooooooo good. Don't believe me? Check this guy out:
Between the two of us we ate 4 apples and almost all of that bowl of dip. I asked him if he wanted to have this again for snack some time and his face lit up as he said "yeah... TOMORROW?!" Ha ha ha.
Here's the recipe! Gluten free, soy free, awesome full.
Nutty Pumpkin Pie Dip
makes about 3c of dip
2/3 c walnuts (pieces or whole)
1 can pureed pumpkin (16 oz, not the mega-can)
1/4c pure maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1. Toast the walnuts over medium-low for about 10 minutes, til somewhat darkened and fragrant.
2. Grind the walnuts into a fine powder/paste using a spice grinder (or your weapon of choice).
3. Put the walnut paste into a bowl and, using a fork, mix half of the pumpkin into the paste. Really beat the heck out of it so it gets very smooth.
4. Add the rest of the pumpkin and mix again until smooth.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients (syrup, sugar, spices) and mix to combine.
Serve with apple slices or anything you think would be good dipped in pumpkin pie. I wished I had oatmeal cookies, because um, that would be kind of amazing. (Will note: about the spices: the quantities are a bit small because I wanted to be able to taste the pumpkin as well as the spice.)
Okay, I need to go prepare for a presentation! I will leave you with a picture of a funny pair of pants someone gave the Magician recently. Here you go:
Seeya tomorrow!
Yessss! Silas has up until now had zero interest in dipping into anything other can ketchup. He walked by as I was reading this and said "That kid looks cool! What is that kid eating?". I maybe told him that E loves ALL dips (maybe that's remotely true?) and now he's all into it. If this works out, I'll be begging you to post pics of E eating random foods.
ReplyDeleteAnd that dip sounds great! Gotta try it.
Kelly, this is my favorite blog comment ever. Silas has good taste! The Emperor is very cool!
ReplyDeleteHe has actually been really reticent about dipping prior to this MoFo... he'd do hummus and very occasionally baba ganoush. But now he's getting into the swing of things. The best part is that he's being more adventurous with what vegetables he'll eat again-- for a while if it was a vegetable and wasn't broccoli or cucumber, it wasn't going in his mouth.
Shut the front door! Seriously?! I have everything to make a pumpkin pecan pie, but I'm going to make this, instead, because, well... It sounds awesome, and I don't have to make pie crust. WINNING!!! (It's totally legal to sub pecans for the walnuts, yeah?)
ReplyDeleteYES to pecans! I grabbed walnuts because they were in the cabinet, and right up to the point where I started eating the dip (at which point all regrets fled), I was feeling sad about not having pecans.
ReplyDeletewow! you are a master of dip innovation! That pumpkin dip sounds great! And your apple slices are so beautiful. I bet it would be great with pecans! I have a hu-normous bag of pecans from costco that must be used at some point soon! Also - those pants are hilarious. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteHahaha those pants are so cute and funny. :)
ReplyDeleteThe pumpkin pie dip sounds yum! And just looking at the pure focus that the Emperor ha on his face while he's eating it has me sold on the recipe! :)
Creative!
ReplyDeleteOMG I can't wait to make this... Though I might end up just eating it with a spoon, hahaha
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative dish! And the little guy eating it up is an excellent recommendation on how good it is :D
ReplyDeleteI made a variation (left out the maple syrup) on this for the Chicago PPK Halloween Potluck, and it was delicious! I've been talking about it to everyone I meet. Mmm, pumpkin! I have leftovers, and I'm spreading them on toast with slices of pear.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'm so glad you liked it!
ReplyDelete