Spicy Cashew Red Pepper Dip

Roasted sweet mini peppers with toasted sweet cherry and grape tomatoes, creamy cashews, (of course!) garlic and a bit of serrano pepper to give it a kick, this dip has only a few ingredients, but it packs a lot of flavor.

I had an interesting dilemma that led to this dip. First, I had over-purchased ingredients at Aldi (who me? I never do that!? LOL!) and had a great surplus of mini sweet peppers and lovely little multi-colored baby sweet tomatoes. I roasted them all, knowing that roasting extends their life and intensifies the flavor, but at the time I was not quite sure how I would use them.

Then also there was my daughter, who loves to have toast for breakfast, but doesn’t like the crusts. We had this lovely crusty bread (not the crappy white loaves loaded with preservatives, but the real bakery kind of bread that has a good chewy crust and great flavor) and she would eat the middles and not the lovely crusts. Day after day I threw the gorgeous crusts away, thinking “oh what a shame” … and “couldn’t we find a better use for these crusts?” … and then it dawned on me: these crusts were the perfect dippers for a good dip!

And my mind turned to remember those lovely roasted veggies, just waiting for a purpose. So I tossed them into my mini food processor with some garlic and salt and a little bit of chopped spicy hot serrano pepper that I had tucked away into my freezer last summer. If you don’t have serrano, use the hot pepper of your choosing, or leave it out and just bask in the sweet, creamy goodness of the little sweet peppers or maybe add a pinch of cayenne or chipotle powder, enough to get the dip to dance on your tongue.

I have been happily munching on crusty bread crust dippers with roasted cashew red pepper dip for many days … and oh, by the way, this creamy, spicy, sweet pepper dip also makes a great spread for sandwiches, wraps, or rollups.

Spicy Cashew Red Pepper Dip

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients

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• 10 mini sweet peppers
• 24 sweet cherry or grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas)
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cashews
• Serrano peppers, to taste

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the tomatoes and peppers on the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until the peppers are browned (possibly even a little blackened) and the tomatoes have burst and reduced, turning the peppers over once they are browned on one side to let the other side roast.
2. Remove from oven and let the peppers and tomatoes cool a bit. Pull the stems and seeds from the peppers, then put both peppers and tomatoes in a food processor (or mini food processor) with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Serve with your favorite dippers … great with veggies, toasted pita chips, crusty bread rounds/toasts or crackers.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friends Friday, What to Do Weekends and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.