Artichoke Crostini

A few weeks ago Dan and I decided to go to a vegan cooking class at Whole Foods, and boy am I glad we did!

One of the items Chef Hillori Hansen made for us was phenominal and made Dan a believer in just how tasty artichokes can be. Finally!! We have made this several times since then, and will for many years to come. It was also our first experience since the diet switch to making some sort of sauce out of cashews-which made me a believer. ;)

So, here it is. Get ready for your minds to be blown!

Artichoke Crostini-

Ingredients:

1T. EVOO

1/2 Yellow Onion, finely chopped

1/2c. Raw Cashews

1t. Miso

1T. Lemon Juice

1T. H20

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

2T. Nutritional Yeast

1can Artichoke Hearts in H20, drained and chopped

1 French or Sourdough Baguette

Green Onions or Chives, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Soak Cashews overnight in H20 (enough to cover them completely).

In a medium saucepan, saute the onion in EVOO until translucent and tender (about 5-10 min).

Drain and rinse the cashews and place them in the food processor with the onions, miso, lemon juice, garlic and H20. Blend until smooth. If needed for consistency, feel free to add a little extra H20, but do so cautiously a little at a time.

Once the sauce is smooth, add the artichokes, nutritional yeast and the S&P to taste. Blend just enough so that the ingredients are well mixed, but you do still want pieces of artichokes present in the dip.

Slice the baguette on an angle, set the pieces onto a baking sheet and spray or brush each piece of bread with a little EVOO.

Place the baguette in the oven on the top rack under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes until lightly toasted (about 2 minutes on each side).

Remove the toasted baguette, and top each slice with about 2T. of the artichoke dip. Garnish with green onions or chives and serve.

*This will keep a few days in the fridge-provided you can resist the urge to eat the entire thing in once sitting that is...

Enjoy!