Cheezy Artichoke Crostini

PPK Cookbook Challenge Week Three: Colleen Patrick Goudreau


Since the folks over on the PPK website are cooking from Colleen Patrick Goudreau's cookbooks, I decided to take  some inspiration from them and follow suit.

Although I do have Joy of Vegan Baking and Vegan Table, this dish was inspired from Color Me Vegan.  Colleen was nice enough to post some sample recipes here, on her website.  For the dish above, I used the cashew cream part of the Black Olive Bruschetta with Cashew Cream.  Since I had no black olives on hand, I decided to mix in a can of artichoke hearts instead.  I then added some extra garlic and nutritional yeast to give it a bit more cheezy artichoke dip flavor.

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional oil for brushing
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon miso (white or yellow)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 -2 garlic clove, minced
1 -2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can artichokes, chopped
1 baguette, sliced
fresh chives, minced, for garnish

Directions

• Soak the cashews overnight in just enough water to completely cover them. The next day, drain and rinse the cashews, then set aside.
• In a medium sauté pan, sauté the onions in the 1 tablespoon of oil until translucent and tender, about 5 to 
• Place the soaked cashews, sautéed onions, miso, lemon juice, minced garlic and water into a blender and process until smooth.
• Mix in the chopped artichokes, and nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, to taste.
• In the meantime, preheat broiler to high.
• Brush the baguette slices with a light layer of olive oil and broil for 2-4 minutes, watching closely to not burn.
• Top each toasted slice with 1-2 tbsp of the cheezy artichoke spread then sprinkle with chives.

I was fortunate enough to hear Colleen speak at a book signing here in little Rhode Island.  I actually found out about it by accident, but had time to rush down to the Barnes & Noble in Warwick with my books to get them signed!  I have listened to her podcasts many times, and I must say, she is EVERY bit as inspiring and enthusiastic about veganism in person ^_^