Sunday, December 22, 2013

Vegan Roasted Garlic Cashew Aioli

This is a great recipe to use as a mayonnaise substitute.  It's rich, creamy and has a wonderful tangy flavor that is a perfect addition to your favorite sandwich or as a dip for veggies with less water added, and it makes a tasty salad dressing with more water added.

We always have roasted garlic on hand for various recipes such as this one and it's easy to roast a lot at one time especially if you can buy bags of peeled garlic.  We buy peeled garlic cloves in a bag at Costco and roast a baking sheet full of them at once.  Here's how we do it: line a baking pan with parchment paper, spread garlic out in a single layer, seal the parchment paper over the top and along edges, roast in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about 15 minutes or until garlic starts to turn brown and becomes soft. Roasted garlic keeps in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Using a high speed blender such as a Vitamix will make this even creamier but a regular blender or food processor will work well too, though you'll probably need to blend for longer.

Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
1 heaped cup raw cashews
12 roasted garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/3 cup soft silken tofu
1/4-1/2 cup water, more/less as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

DIRECTIONS
Blend cashews with roasted garlic, vinegar, juice, mustard and tofu until mixture begins to form a paste. Blend in water to achieve desired consistency. Blend in salt to taste. This will thicken somewhat as it spends time in the refrigerator.


For a fabulous variation add 1-2 teaspoons of chipotle powder or 1/2 teaspoon of canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, or to taste. Chipotle peppers are HOT so go easy on this unless you really like it spicy!