Hearts of palm & sun-dried tomato dip
Hearts of palm have always been one of my favorite salad additions. My mom introduced me to them at a young age and I was the kid in the kitchen snacking on this wallflower of the vegetable world when I came home from school. I had never really thought to do much else with them aside from tossing them into a salad until I came across a recipe for a vegan BLT that included a hearts of palm spread.
I love sweet roasted tomato on a BLT, so I thought I would try adding bold sun-dried tomatoes to my own variation of this spread. The combination was more delicious than I imagined—sweet, tangy, and a little salty, it will bring any sandwich to life. But my favorite way to enjoy it is as a dip. It’s versatile, tasty, and simple to make.
Ingredients
1 14 oz can hearts of palm in water (drained)
7 oz jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
Oil from sun-dried tomatoes|
1-2 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Water
How to make it
In a food processor, combine the hearts of palm, sun-dried tomatoes, the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, and 1 clove of garlic and blend until smooth (depending upon how powerful your food processor is, you may want to cut the sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces so they blend more easily).
You want the dip to become really smooth. Taste the dip and decide if you want to add a little extra virgin olive oil and/or water to help smooth—it depends upon how punchy you’d like the flavor to be. This can vary depending upon the brand of sun-dried tomatoes. Water will help mellow the flavors a bit. You can also add the second clove of garlic if you prefer a more garlicky flavor. Note: you most likely won’t need to add any salt as the sun-dried tomatoes add plenty of saltiness, but if you prefer a bit more salt, you can certainly add it, but start with the tiniest pinch and add as you taste.
Once everything is blended together, transfer to bowl and serve as a dip or spread on your favorite sandwich in place of mayonnaise.
