The terms “vegan” and “gluten-free” are so hot right now that sometimes I worry about using the words, in case they make a recipe seem trendy for trend’s sake instead of just good food. As you may know, neither Alex nor I are strictly vegan or gluten-free but eat a mostly whole food plant based diet. Turns out the word vegan is one of the best ways to describe foods without dairy, so vegan it is, for this recipe at least.
Eating whole foods has never tasted so good
If there’s one person who makes special diets look particularly enticing, it’s Lindsey Love of the blog Dolly and Oatmeal. Her photography is drop dead gorgeous, and it’s hard to believe her recipes are 100% gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian. It more looks — delicious, like seasonal, real food. Which it is. Lindsey is committed to a whole foods approach to gluten-free eating, which includes, get this: whole grains.
How to make vegan queso dip
In her new cookbook, Chickpea Flour Does It All, Lindsey explores chickpea flour, a whole-grain flour that’s known for its nutritional value and thickening power. We had never cooked with chickpea flour before, but after this recipe we were intrigued to try more! As I paged through the book (mouth watering on nearly every page), it fell open to this vegan queso, and I knew we had to try it. It’s made with both cashews and a chickpea flour sauce that’s similar to a roux, which thickens nicely and much easier than standard flour. That, along with some jalapeno peppers, chipotle powder, nutritional yeast and turmeric, made a dip with just the right flavoring and amount of heat, with a texture very similar to a standard queso! I was hooked, and can’t wait to make this again. Congratulations to Lindsey on a gorgeous book and one very fine healthy queso dip recipe.
Where to find chickpea flour
Where to find chickpea flour? Lindsey does not recommend making your own chickpea flour from dried chickpeas since it can damage your blender. However, we couldn’t find chickpea flour at our neighborhood grocery for this vegan queso and had some dry chickpeas on hand. We threw them in our Vitamix and they blended right up into chickpea flour. However, I think we’ll stay away from doing this on the regular to keep our Vitamix shiny and new. Next time we’ll look a little bit harder for chickpea flour. If you can’t find chickpea flour, you could try our Vegan Nacho Cheese instead! Find the book: Chickpea Flour Does It All
Looking for party appetizer recipes?
Outside of this vegan queso dip, here are a few of our favorite party appetizers:
Garlic Herb White Bean Dip Happy Hour Platter with Caramelized Onion Dip Paprika Goat Cheese Spread Mexican Cheese Dip Pumpkin Yogurt Fruit Dip Baked Brie with Roasted Cranberry Sauce Very Verde Cilantro Dip Healthy Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip
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