7 Layer Dip

One of our favorite things is having friends and family over.  I love to entertain, decorate the house and cook up yummy food (obviously).  We had a bunch of friends over last Saturday night so it was a FULL house.  I knew I needed to make something that would go a long way and would also be pretty quick to put together because I worked until 3 in the afternoon & everyone was coming over at 6:30.  I decided to make a 7 Layer Dip to snack on and Nanaimo Bars for dessert. I was having one of those days where I got up early & even went the store before work so I wouldn't have to go after work (trying to save me some time) just to realize once I had dove into the cooking that I didn't have the powdered sugar that I thought I had, ugh!  So frustrating, soo off to the store I went again!  I also felt like I couldn't concentrate at all to what I was doing and everything I kept trying to do wasn't working.  It was as if I was just walking in circles in my kitchen all afternoon.  But all ended well when I finished both recipes with just enough time to spare to clean up the kitchen and race off to tidy myself up before the doorbell rang!  Perfect timing!  Stat tuned, the Nanaimo Bars recipe is to come and was a HUGE hit!

7 Layer Dip
adapted from Oh She Glows

1 1/2 cup Pico de Gallo
4 Avocados
salt, to taste
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1 can black/kidney/pinto beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tub Vegan Sour Cream
1 packette taco seasoning
1 1/2 raw cashews
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon mustard
green onions, for topping

Peel and core the avocados.  With a fork, mash them up until only small lumps of avocado are present.  Next stir 1 cup of the Pico de Gallo and the avocados together to create your guacomole.  Season with a little salt to taste.  Set aside

In a food processor/blender or with an immersion blender, process the beans, olive oil and cumin to your desired consistency.  You can process until completely smooth or choose to leave some full beans. Set aside

Chop up the spinach. Set aside

In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and the taco seasoning packette until combined.  Set aside

Prepare the "Cheese" Sauce:  In a food processor or blender, add the cashews and process until a fine crumb mixture forms similar to corn meal.  Then add the soy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, salt, nutritional yeast, black pepper and mustard until smooth.  Set aside

Chop up the green onions, just enought to sprinkle on the top of the dip.  Set aside

Now start assembling your dip.  Start with spreading your bean mixture evenly in the bottom of your dish.  Follow that with the "cheese" mixture, then the spinach, guacamole, sour cream, remaining 1/2 cup pico de gallo and then the green onions on top.  Yum!