Roasted Red Pepper & Cashew Dip

Ingredients

• 150 g raw cashews, unsalted, not roasted
• 400 g water, plus extra for rinsing
• 1 pinch fine sea salt or pink Himalayan salt, plus ¾ level tsp
• 1 pinch dried chilli flakes or ¼ fresh red chilli pepper – see tips
• 200 g roasted red peppers (capsicums/bell peppers), drained, or 400 g fresh red peppers (capsicums/bell peppers), roasted, peeled and de-seeded – see tips for method
• 1 tsp unpasteurised/raw apple cider vinegar or kombucha or sauerkraut juice
• 50 g extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tsp to drizzle

Method

1. Place a bowl on TM lid, weigh in cashews and water, then add the pinch of sea salt and set aside to soak for 4 hours (no need to soak if you have bought activated cashews – see tips). If roasting your own red peppers, do this while the cashews soak – see tips.
2. Place simmering basket into sink and pour cashews and water into it to discard soaking water. Rinse cashews under running cold water then set aside to drain for a few minutes.
3. Blend drained cashews, chilli flakes, ¾ tsp sea salt, 200 g roasted red peppers, cider vinegar and 50 g extra virgin olive oil 20 sec/speed 7 or until evenly blended with a bit of texture. Transfer to a pretty serving bowl, drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil then serve – if making your dip ahead, chill in fridge until serving time.

Janie’s Tips

1. If you are able to buy activated cashews or have some in your cupboard, there is no need to soak them for this recipe, so omit steps 1 and 2. ‘Activated nuts’, sometimes called ‘sprouted nuts’, have been soaked then dehydrated so they are already properly prepared for easy digestion. By the way, they are a great crispy snack to nibble on too.
2. If you prefer a mild spice level, remove the ribs and seeds from the fresh chilli pepper – most of the spicy heat is held in the white ribs where the seeds are attached to the inside wall of the chilli pepper. If you prefer no spicy heat, omit chilli.
3. If you happen to have some pre-soaked cashews in your freezer (i.e. soaked then frozen without being dehydrated), use 200 g instead of 150 g raw cashews. As I make cashew milk quite often, I usually have some of these on hand.
4. For homemade roasted red peppers, preheat oven to 200°C with fan/220°C without fan/400°F/gas 7/Aga roasting oven, roast 400 g red peppers on a baking tray until skins are blistered/blackened and peppers have collapsed, transfer roasted red peppers to a glass or metal bowl and cover with a plate so the skins will loosen as they cool, then once cool enough to handle remove and discard skins and seeds and stems. If you end up with more than 200 g roasted red peppers, use the excess in an omelette or quiche, add to a salad or soup, or use in other recipes.
5. The raw apple cider vinegar adds live probiotics to this dip – they can help improve gut health. Kombucha or a little juice from a jar of homemade sauerkraut does the same thing.
6. This recipe is gluten free (GF) – please read ingredient labels to ensure all your ingredients are gluten free.
7. This recipe is dairy free (DF) – please read ingredient labels to ensure all your ingredients are dairy free.
8. This recipe is vegetarian and vegan.