Caught Taking a Leek: A Grilled Leek Dip

Week 4 Browns v. Bengals

Things have changed for the better in Cleveland. The Indians are in the playoffs and the Browns are tied in first place after a convincing win against their division rival.  I'm pretty convinced the karma of the vegan tailgate had something to do with it.  We had 5 people eating exclusively vegan at our tailgate this past Sunday, our biggest yet!  I got things started off with the phenomenal grilled leek dip that, because of time spent preparing ahead, required little work except grilling and slicing the leeks.

If you're a reader on this blog, you know I love dips to warm up the belly prior to eating a big meal.  This one really was a crowd pleaser and vegans and non-vegans alike really enjoyed it.  It comes from Tamasin Noyes, a vegan chef and writer I met earlier this year at the Cleveland Veg Fest.  Her cookbook, "Grills Gone Vegan" is one of my favorites.  Only next time, I'll have to triple the recipe!

The grilled leeks are key for this recipe.  They kinda come out nowhere and some people had never heard of them before.  But they perform well.  Kinda like a quarterback starting for the Browns right now!  Enjoy!



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup water
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 tbs apple cider vinegar 
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 cup Vegenaise (I used Follow Your Heart brand, but feel free to make your own!)
• 1/4 green pepper, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs dried italian herbs (any mix will do)
• White pepper and salt to taste
• 2 medium sized leeks or 3 small leeks
• Crackers to dip

Recipe

Can be prepped in advance

1. Put the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar and nutritional yeast in a high speed blender and blend until smooth (if not using a Vitamix, be sure to soak the cashews for an hour)
2. Put in a large tupperware and stir in the Vegenaise, pepper, garlic and spices. (Note: this can be done a day in advance, then all you have to do is bring this to the tailgate and add the grilled leeks)
3. Grill the leeks, about 5 minutes on each side.  
4. Slice thin and stir into the dip
5. Serve with crackers

Slicing the grilled leeks

Action shot!

The rest of the tailgate was a lot of fun.  Remember, anyone who wants to join can just comment on a post or hit me up on Twitter. Lets beat the record number of vegans for the Lions game on the 13th!