Cashew Butter Cups
Bars and cookies, Desserts, Paleo, Vegan
Coming to America 6 years ago I discovered a number of foods I’d never seen before. Some of them I’m happy to remain a stranger to but one of them…
Sometimes my favorite part of a dinner party is the second dinner that happens in the kitchen at the end of the night. The one that happens with shoes kicked off and only a few guests left, or reviewing the night over a stolen extra slice of dessert when everyone has gone home, or the moments loading the dishwasher with another glass of wine in hand. At the end of our cooking class last night when most people had left I found two sweet girls sheepishly standing dipping zucchini remains into the pad thai sauce. I loved it. I let them know that after-parties in the kitchen are more than fully legal and we chopped up some more zucchini and dug in.
This pad thai is one of my all time favorite things to make and eat. It’s really simple. I love to use the sauce in different ways: over zoodles, over chopped veggies, in a thicker version in lettuce wraps or as a dip.
Most times I cook anything I do it by eye and to taste, I know some people like to stick to the recipe completely but this is one recipe where you should draw outside the lines. I dare you, adjust this one to taste as you cook. You might like more garlic or ginger (I put lots extra!), or a thicker sauce, or more lemon, or different veggies… so play around.
Sauce to feed 4:
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup tamari/coconut aminos
Juice of a small lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 inch of ginger root, finely grated
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cilantro (coriander) finely chopped
1/2 cup cashews or almonds, chopped
Reserve half of the cilantro and all the nuts for topping at the end. Then you can simply throw everything in a food processor or mix it by hand with a whisk. If you do it by hand, mix the almond butter with the tamari first so that it is well combined then add the ginger, garlic and lemon juice and finally the coconut milk until it’s the thickness you want. I like it thicker (less coconut milk) for a dip or to use in lettuce wraps, and thinner (more coconut milk or some water too) for a sauce over veggies. If I have the sweet water from soaking dates I’ll add 1/4-1/2 cup of that in too to thin it, I like the little hint of sweet.
Veggies: just chop them up and throw them together!
1/2 head cabbage
1 bell pepper
1/2 cup peas
1 cup mushrooms
2 cups bean sprouts
2-3 carrots, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
