The recipe makes enough for three huge carrots cut into sticks – it might seem like there’s not enough dip, but there is. Since the flavor is pretty intense, I wouldn’t consider this a party food. I think this is best enjoyed as a snack, or maybe a light meal for the rare warm summer days when we don’t feel like staying in the kitchen for more than five minutes. I’ve also made this dip with natural peanut butter and that’s all good, but the cashew magic makes it super delicious.

The Dip:

• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons natural roasted cashew butter
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

I just stir everything together with a fork until smooth and serve with a pile of carrot sticks.

I think this amount would be enough as a side dish for 2-3. The quality of carrots really does make a difference here – I used a bunch of organic carrots that still had a nice protective layer of dirt on them when they reached us. Root vegetables keep better and stay much more flavorful if they’re not cleaned after harvesting, but unfortunately the supermarkets rarely carry “dirty” veggies.

The chipotle I used in this recipe is the adobado kind. Heikki mashed a can of chipotles in adobo sauce when he made the black beans from Veganomicon, and we still have some of the paste in the fridge. Chipotles are amazing in their depth of flavor, but I’m sure these fries would turn out well with other spices if they are hard to find.

The Carrots:

• 4 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into sticks
• 2 teaspoons mashed chipotles in adobo sauce
• salt to taste
• a dash of olive oil to coat

I cut the carrot into thin fry-size sticks and then tossed them with the chipotle and the olive oil. There’s no need to use much oil, just enough to coat the carrots. Then I spread the carrot sticks on a baking sheet in one layer, and sprinkled them with salt. I baked my carrots in 200 degrees Celsius on the upper rack of the oven: first for 35 minutes, then tossed them around, and then another 10-15 minutes until slightly charred here and there.

The Avocado Dip:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 3/4 dl plain soy yogurt
• pinch of salt
• pinch of sugar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

I simply mashed everything together with a fork and chilled while the carrots were baking.

This spread thickens a bit in the fridge, and is wonderful with the Finnish hapankorppu - very thin and very sour rye bread that has been dried. For extra smooth results, the almonds could be soaked overnight, or even cooked in a little bit of water.

• 100 g almonds, lightly toasted
• 1 medium carrot, sliced
• 1 big clove garlic, sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons plain soy yoghurt
• 4 large sage leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

I started by toasting the almonds until they were just a little brown, and set them aside to cool. Then I placed the carrot slices and the garlic in a small cooking pot, added just enough water to cover them, and cooked until the carrots were very soft. Then I placed the carrots and the garlic in a fine sieve and rinsed them with cold water to cool them down a little bit.

Now, I placed the carrots and the garlic, almonds, sage leaves, salt, and 3 tablespoons of soy yoghurt in our mini food processor, and processed them for about 5 minutes. I checked the spread and decided it needed a bit more soy yoghurt, so I added one tablespoon more of it, and continued processing until the spread was very very smooth and light orange in color. It might need even more soy yoghurt if the texture is still grainy at this point.

This is how my almonds looked after toasting.

Baking the beets in the oven instead of deep-frying makes them shrink quite a bit, since the moisture content isn’t replaced by the oil. This batch made a nice light snack for the two of us, but I plan on making a double batch the next time, so good they were. Then I’ll just have to use two baking sheets, alternating their places halfway through baking. To save a little energy, it’s best to make these after cooking something else in the oven, when it’s still warm – it won’t take much electricity to maintain the low temperature required to bake the chips.

The Chips:

• 2 medium-sized beets, peeled and thinly sliced
• olive oil (from a spray bottle)
• salt to taste

I peeled the beets, and sliced them very thinly with a cheese-cutter. I covered a baking sheet with parchment paper, and sprayed a thin layer of olive oil over the paper – you can also brush the paper with a little oil as well.

I arranged the beet slices on the baking sheet, snugly but not overlapping, and sprayed them with some more olive oil. Then I baked them in 100 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes, flipped the chips, and baked for 40 minutes more. At this point they were very crispy and dry, but not yet burnt – I did check on them every 10 minutes or so just to make sure they wouldn’t get charred. After baking, I salted the chips, and let them cool for 15 minutes before digging in.

The Dip:

• 3/4 dl plain, unsweetened soy yoghurt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon finely grated horseradish
• chives for garnish

I mixed all the ingredients and refrigerated the dip while the chips were in the oven, and then sprinkled with the chives right before serving.

Raw beetroot slices.

Fava beans have a distinctive taste, nutty and strong. That’s why I didn’t mess up the recipe with too many spices. I added a bit too much cooking liquid to the puree, and it ended up too soupy, so I had to add a can of chick peas. They didn’t affect the taste too much, but using only fava beans would result in a creamier consistence.

• 1 small onion
• 3oo g dried split fava beans
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 dl olive oil
• 1 dl frozen parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• some cooking liquid for the consistence
• 1 (400 g) can of chick peas

I soaked the beans overnight, and then cooked them in plenty of water. In the cooking water, I added one sliced onion, two sliced garlic cloves, some salt, and a few teaspoons of olive oil. Then I cooked the beans until they were mushy, for about one hour.

Now, I pureed the beans in some cooking liquid, and as it became clear that the dip resembled a soup more than a puree, I had to add a can of chick peas to make it firmer. To prevent this procedure, I would omit adding cooking liquid at this point, and instead mash the beans in the olive oil and lemon juice required in the recipe. Then, I would add some cooking liquid as needed. It is always possible to add liquid in a dish, but removing it is considerably trickier.

I seasoned the dip to my taste, refrigerated it for a few hours, and served with some crackers and freshly baked bread. The photo above was actually taken the next morning, when we had this for breakfast on some Finnish sour rye bread.

Ingredients:

• 1,5 dl plain (Alpro) soy yogurt
• 1 dl coarsely chopped arugula
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 teaspoons raw cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried basil

We always cut fresh herbs with scissors in a cup, a technique learnt from my step mom, and that’s what Heikki did with arugula in this recipe. First, he stuffed the leaves in a cup, and then just cut them with scissors until they were fine enough. Then he just mixed all the ingredients and checked the taste balance.

Even with dried basil, this is a very fresh tasting dip, but obviously fresh basil would be even better. It’s just pretty expensive in Finland, so I replace it with the dried kind if it doesn’t affect the taste of the dish too much.