It’s Super Bowl weekend and the Oscars are March 12! If you plan on having friends over to cheer for your team and favorite movie stars, you can make your celebrations cruelty-free with a vegan charcuterie board and plant-based dips and snacks.

Here are some ideas and dip recipes from our own cookbooks to get you started!

Crackers and bread:
Store bought crackers. Many are vegan—just double check the ingredients)
Breadsticks
Tortilla chips
Slices of baguette
Homemade crostini

Cheeses:
Cashew cheese
Vegan cream cheese like Violife or Toffuti
Vegan feta
For artisan vegan cheeses, we highly recommend Miyoko’s Vegan Cheeses!  Miyoko’s makes 100% non-dairy cheese and butters from organic foods like nuts, legumes, and other plant-based ingredients. Their classic chive cheese wheel is deilcious.

Vegetables and fruits:
Raw veggies, like carrot and celery cut into sticks
Cucumber slices
Radishes
Bell peppers
Fresh cherry tomatoes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Apples
Apricots

Dips (from our cookbook, Dining With Friends, available here in our online store)

Tofu Hummus with Toasted Cumin Seeds

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 cups of drained chickpeas, either home-soaked or canned
12 ounces of soft tofu
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley, and more as desired for garnish
1/4 teaspoon or more of sea salt Ground pepper

Preparation: In a dry heavy skillet, toast cumin seeds over moderate heat, shaking pan until seeds are a shade darker. Transfer the seeds to a cup. In food processor, purée chickpeas, drained tofu, the cumin seeds, lemon juice and one tablespoon of the olive oil. When the mix is smooth, stir in the parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place hummos in serving bowl. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and garnish with more chopped parsley.

Baba Ghanouj

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1/4 cup tahini (sesame butter)
Juice of 1 plump lemon
1 clove of garlic, pressed (or finely minced)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
One chopped tomato and/or a sprig of fresh parsley\
Pinch of black pepper (optional)

Preparation: Prick skin of eggplant in several places and roast directly on rack of oven at 400 degrees F for 55 minutes, or until soft throughout. When it has reached that point, a bit of juice will begin to trickle out. (You might wish to put a thin pan under the rack to catch the drops of juice.) Turn the oven off, leave oven door ajar, and let the eggplant cool on the rack for 15 minutes. Using mitts, remove it from the oven.

Carefully remove the stem top with a knife; then cut the eggplant in half. You’ll notice that the skin easily separates away from the baked pulp. Spoon all the pulp out of the skin, and mash the pulp in a bowl or a shallow baking dish (any spacious container in which you can easily mash ingredients). Add lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, pepper if desired, and one teaspoon olive oil, mashing the mix thoroughly as you go.

To serve, spread the mixture into a shallow bowl and drizzle the remaining half-teaspoon of olive oil over the top. Garnish with chopped tomato or a sprig of fresh parsley, or both. Serve with pita crisps, crostini, or flatbread.

Friends’ Dip:

Ingredients:
1 pound block of firm tofu
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 generous teaspoons of tamari or soy sauce
Clove of pressed garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons brewer’s yeast
1/2 packet of onion soup mix
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup water
1 small potato, cooked, peeled and thoroughly mashed (or 1 tablespoon of whole-wheat flour) 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Baguette or bakery roll (look for a simple bread made of flour, water, yeast and salt)

Preparation:

Slice the tofu thinly using a cheese-slicer or knife. Place the strips into a large, nonstick frying pan along with the olive oil, which will generously cover the bottom of the pan. Heat at a medium-high setting, flipping the strips occasionally, until they turn golden. (You might wish to have a small paper bag on a platter to rest and drain the golden strips as you add more new strips to the pan.)

After about 35 minutes, when all the strips have turned a rich golden (they will be a bit tough in consistency at this point), put them all into the pan together, turn off the heat, and add a generous teaspoon of tamari or soy sauce. The sizzling liquid will impart a rich brown hue in some areas.

Place the soup mix, garlic, and brewer’s yeast into the pan over the strips. Then add the water, wine, and another generous teaspoon of tamari or soy sauce. This makes the delicious gravy for the Friends’ Dip. Simmer over low-medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the tofu strips to absorb some of the essence of the gravy. To thicken the gravy, add the small mashed potato to desired consistency, or add a tablespoon of flour. Experiment with this one to discover your own preferences. Serve hot with a sprinkling of black pepper.