Muhammara – Turkish Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Spread

MeetTheShannonsRedPepperSpreadTurk2

It’s only October 2nd and we’ve already gotten a bunch of emails asking when Rocktober-fest starts… it’s coming. Don’t worry.

I’m just a few days behind because last weekend Dan and I were in Washington DC for Vegfest and visiting with some of our favorite people while we ate some of our favorite foods… including the dish we’re featuring today.

DC Vegfest is one of my favorite events all year! The night before we went to a benefit at Sticky Fingers to benefit the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing that featured food from John Schlimm’s new book The Cheesy Vegan. I won’t lie – it was a lot of fun and not just because I got to hangout with Doron Petersan and The famous Joel from our Sloppy Joels recipe.

The next day started out kinda intense… the line to get into Vegfest was down right biblical but on a positive note – I finally got to meet a few of you readers and apparently DC also has some of the cutest vegan kids on the planet. We stuffed out faces with Amsterdam Falafel and Vegan Treats before doing a whole lotta prep for our cooking demo. I think you’d be surprised how many hours go into a 40 minute demo. We brought down a whole lotta baked tofu in a little cooler for the demo and the kick-ass animal activist Robin Walker was kind enough to do all the shopping for us in DC. The folks over at Just Mayo donated a few jars for the demo. I guess what I’m saying is in the end – it took a village to do our demo. We made our Ranch Dressing (page 110 in Betty Goes Vegan) and The Black Pepper Tofu Macaroni Salad (page 118 in Betty Goes Vegan) and everyone was really polite about my cornball jokes. SO really who could ask for more… OK I can. I wish I hadn’t accidentally switched off my mic while I was talking with my hands like some stereotypical New Yorker in a Woody Allen movie.



That night we got to hangout with some of my favorite friends (including the famous Sarah who used to be our poster girl on our Facebook page) and got Turkish food (some of my favorite food)… basically it was a weekend of favorites.

This simple spread is not only easy to make but it’s versatile. You can enjoy it on a bagel or pita or in a sandwich with some vegetables or my favorite mixed in with some mashed potatoes… I know it sounds weird but you know I wouldn’t lie to you. It’s frankly the definition of AMAZING… in both ‘the mall girl’ and ‘literal’ sense of this over used word*.

Muhammara

2/3 cup Roasted Red Pepper with oil
1 cup Raw Walnuts
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 teaspoon Cumin
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Juice from 1 Lemon
1 tablespoon Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids


Blend all your ingredients in a blender or food processor until it’s a creamy spread. Serve at room temperature with bread or like I said potatoes… seriously – try it out.

* I know. I know. I promised a few years ago to not over use this word anymore… but sometimes it fits.

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