The other day, I went over to my friend’s house for a bit of a traditional family potluck to celebrate Diwali (the Hindu festival of light). The rules were simple: each family member creates a different dish to contribute to the dinner. On this specific occasion, I had dropped by on a whim so I found myself scrounging their fridge(s) and pantr(ies) for something to whip up.
Seeing that there were cashews on the counter and a bag of frozen shelled edamame, I began with the dip (I followed PureWow’s recipe pretty closely).
What you’ll need for the Edamame Cashew dip:
- 1 1/2 cups soaked raw cashews (30 minutes at least)
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (maybe more)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 1½ tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped (didn’t have it, so I omitted it)
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 1 scallion, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced (about 1 tablespoon) (didn’t have this either)
- ½ cup water
- Salt
Pretty much, the key to the dip is blending the cashews with the dry ingredients first, then adding the wet ingredients as you please. Feel free to taste as you go along. I found that I needed a larger portion of lemon juice and cilantro, for that extra kick.
How To Prepare the Veggie Balls
The veggie balls were kind of a cop-out if I’m being completely honest. A bag of Gardein veggie burgers caught my eye in the freezer (all vegan!) so I snagged that quick and allowed it to defrost on the counter. After mashing the 4 patties with my fingers, I added in chopped edamame and some diced fresh green chilis. Then, I scooped a tablespoon amount of the “dough” and rolled them into individual balls.
Now here comes the fun part… we brought out the air fryer (see below for more details) and dropped the balls into the wire basket. In total, it only took about 13 minutes to crisp up completely. When we pulled them out, they were b e a u t i f u l and golden brown.
Dip that into the hummus dip (perhaps even with a side of chipotle mayo or sriracha) and you’re good to go!
More information about Air Fryers:
The Air Fryer I used was the Philips Avance HD9641 , which was pretty easy to use and relatively quiet (bonus!). If you’re on the fence about purchasing an air fryer, I’d recommend visiting Reviews.com’s latest comparison both between the Philips and the T-fal.
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