Peppered Chocolate Dipped Chips

I wanted a fun, fancy, decadent finger food to go with my cocktails the other night. Now you can see exactly how classy I am: fancy + decadent = chocolate dipped potato chips. After I got this whole thing rolling I decided that pink peppercorns would have been waaaaaaay better but I didn't have any. So I'm telling you: Use pink peppercorns.

Serves 2-4
20 minutes

A bag of your favorite salted potato chips
1 cup Vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Almond milk
2 Tbsp Powdered sugar (possibly more)
Pink peppercorns (or in my case black)
Parchment paper

1. Heat chocolate in a double pot* Vegan chocolate needs a little help melting sometimes so I add a little bit of almond milk at a time to get it to a nice consistency. Add powdered sugar. You want a balance between the salty and sweet so, if your chips are super salty make your chocolate more sweet.
2. Once your chocolate is smooth and sweet enough, start dipping your chips, shimmy any extra chocolate off and lay on parchment paper.
3. About every 10 chocolate dipped chips grind fresh pink peppercorns over the top. Repeat, allow to set and enjoy!

*When I say double pot I'm referring to a pot inside a pot. If you have a set great! If you don't it's easy to replicate. Take a big pot and fill it half way with water. Set another, smaller, pot inside this pot. If the water flows into the smaller pot dump some water until it doesn't anymore. The smaller, interior pot is where you'll be doing your melting (if that wasn't obvious)

These Nuts

My sister gave me the idea to make my Dad's favorite treat for a Christmas present. I thought it would be fun to give him a variety of flavors, not that it matters too much because he inhales them. These would be great for a house party, movie night or while listening to Dr. Dre's "Deeez Nuuuts"

Makes 4 cups
30-45 minutes

4 cups Raw cashews, or raw nuts of your choice

Base
1/3 cup Vegan butter
1/3 Light brown sugar

Spicy Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/4 tsp Salt

Garam Masala
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp Salt

Rosemary
2 Tbsp Fresh rosemary, finely diced
dash Cayenne pepper

Dill
1 Tbsp Fresh dill, finely diced
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
Black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Split nuts into 4 bowls, 1 cup each. Melt butter in microwave, add sugar and mix.
2. Split "base" between the four bowls of nuts and toss each. Add spices to separate bowls and toss again.
3. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Keeping flavors separate, spread out evenly (I baked in two sets, consecutively, to make it a bit easier) and bake for 15-20 minutes.
4. Serve warm or cool.

Each flavor is measured out to one cup of nuts.

City O' Wrap

 

I feel as though I'm being mean mugged by this sandwich

This wrap comes from a joint in my hometown called City O' City. When I lived there, I lived there. When ever I'm feeling a little home sick I throw this puppy together. It is not Gluten-Free so I make it when my sweetheart isn't around.

Store bought hummus is expensive and bland and inferior to homemade from scratch. I included my general recipe but you can, of course, switch it up however you would like (i.e. extra garlic, basil, sun dried tomatoes)

Serves 4
20 minutes (due to the cooking of the fries)

Hummus
1 15oz can Garbanzo beans, rinsed
2 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp Salt
2-3 Garlic cloves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Water as needed

Wrap Makings
4 Pita wraps
Small bag Frozen fries, cooked
2 dozen Pitted green olives, diced
2 hand fulls Mixed greens
Sriracha Sauce

1. Start cookin' ya fries. Throw all your hummus ingredients in your food processor and process. If it's too thick add a tablespoon of water at a time till a nice spreadable consistency
2. Spread hummus onto your pita, line up your nice hot fries down the middle; top with olives, greens and sriracha to taste.
3. Fold and shove into mouth.

I added some raw-cotta to mine, if you're non-vegan feta works swimmingly.

Also, don't forget the Lucky Peach Giveaway!