Carrot Lox Spread

I have this weird fascination with vegan food. I love turning a normal recipe into it's vegan counterpart, or tricking my family into eating a full plate of vegetables and legumes without them knowing it! Mwhahahahaha!!!!

The funny part is that I'm not even vegan. I just like the challenge. I do, however, think veganism is a great idea. I love animals and I understand the health and environmental benefits of eating a plant-based diet. Knowing my dinner hurts animals, pollutes our clean air and water and is probably giving me cancer and/or heart disease is not a happy thought. But, hey! I was raised Mormon! My people know how to "Turn it off, like a light switch!" If there are thoughts/ideas we don't want to confront, we just look the other way and focus on what we do like... like the taste of bacon... or real half and half in your coffee... or visiting teachers with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

I was raised on meat, and meat tastes delicious, and it's a hard habit to break. Part of the challenge for me is that I don't actually know enough quick easy foods to satisfy me that are vegan. I'm sure they're out there, but in my mind, they all require a lot of thought and planning and cooking and I need to be prepared for those emergency hunger moments where, "I MUST HAVE FOOD NOW!!!" My mind and my kitchen have not yet been trained to be ready for the vegan version of that. I do believe, however, that if I just keep adding vegan recipes to my culinary vocabulary that it is better than nothing. At least I'm eating plant-based meals some of the time, and, if nothing else, I'm getting a more balanced diet, which I think everyone agrees is a good idea.

So, with that said, I have created a vegan version of one of my favorite recipes. I've had this Ina Garten cookbook for years - Barefoot Contessa PARTIES! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun - and one recipe that I've used over and over is her Caviar Dip recipe. You can find it on the Food Network website here. Since salmon roe can be hard to find, I have often used loosely chopped smoked salmon instead. It makes a great addition to the brunch table or Christmas gift for any of your pescatarian friends.

Before I get started, let me first warn you that this entire recipe takes about 2 full days to complete!

I started with making the Carrot Lox in this recipe from Olives for Dinner. I have only made it once, and I was a little skeptical that it wouldn't be fishy enough, but, for some reason, the liquid smoke really does the job here. I will, however, try it again with less liquid smoke, maybe some smoked salt instead and some hijiki seaweed in the marinade to get that fishy flavor. But that's just because I can't help but mess with things!!! It's really an impressive smoked salmon substitute just as it is.

The vegan cream cheese was equally impressive to me, too. Here is the recipe from Yup, It's Vegan! You really do have to be patient with the cashews in the blender here. She says 5 minutes, but I'm sure I was sitting at that blender pushing things around for more like 20 minutes. I think the heat created by the motor helps release the oils, so just keep going until the motor gets hot! I ended up adding about a half cup of water to loosen it up. I used the So Delicious yogurt she suggested and the results were amazing! It is very much like real cream cheese with that same nice tang. I kept it on top of our radiator for about 24 hours and it seemed to be the perfect temperature. Keep in mind that we have water radiators, not steam, so they never get so hot that they can burn you.

So, now that you have your fake smoked salmon and your fake cream cheese you can make your awesome Carrot Lox Spread! See my recipe below:

1 full recipe of Olives for Dinner's Carrot Lox, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
1 full recipe of Yup, It's Vegan!'s Cashew Cream Cheese
1 cup of chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup nonpareil capers
lemon juice to taste
salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste (my husband felt no extra salt was needed)

Mix it all in a bowl until combined. Serve on toasted bagels or with crackers. Makes about 4 cups of spread. To be honest, I did not actually measure out things exactly as I made this recipe. I'm guesstimating, so really, every ingredient is "to taste." Experiment with the proportions until you find a combo you like. But, now you know the main ingredients: fake smoked salmon, fake cream cheese, fresh dill, chopped red onion, capers, lemon juice, and salt & pepper.

For an added treat, end this meal, or serve along side it, some pickled ginger, like they have at sushi restaurants. I found it in the Asian section of my grocery store. It cleanses the palate nicely after all that fishy smoke.  And you burp up nice ginger burps afterwards, instead of fishy burps.

One last note: I highly recommend this for any newly pregnant moms out there who are missing their smoked salmon. Who knew lox would be off the menu when you get knocked up!?

Enjoy!