VEGAN CHEESE BALL--Lynne Snyder

I had forgotten how good this was.

1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup water
1 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 Tbs. arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Real Salt
1 tsp. prepared mustard, Dijon if possible
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 (8 oz.) container Better Than Cream Cheese
Chopped nuts (optional)

Put flour in a dry pan over medium heat; stir constantly until the flour is a bit brown. Wisk in remaining ingredients (except oil, Better Than Cream Cheese and nuts) stirring until mixture is very thick. Remove from the heat and add the olive oil; let cool until barely warm. Stir in Better Than Cream Cheese and refrigerate until very cold. Form mixture into a ball and roll it in the chopped nuts.

Note: I don’t usually form it into a ball, I just put it in a storage container and refrigerate. When I serve it we put it into individual smaller containers (like a custard cup) to eat with crackers, etc.

VEGAN CLAM DIP--Lynne Snyder

When we were Vegan two of our boys "stole" the Vegan Clam Dip and barricaded themselves in a bedroom with a bag of chips. They thought they had the "real" non-vegan version. They practically ate the whole batch before coming out. When we told them they blustered and stammered but they had been caught--they couldn't tell the difference!

1 (8 oz.) pkg. Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
½ cup soy milk
1 Tbs. A-1 steak sauce
1 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
½ cup dry Chicken TVP (or plain TVP or seafood TVP if you can find it)
additional soy milk if needed

Blend everything (except TVP) together well; then add TVP. It will take about 15 minutes for the TVP to re-hydrate and the dip to thicken (if it gets too thick add more soymilk, a few drops at a time). Serve with fresh vegetables and chips.

CLAM DIP--Lynne Snyder

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 can clams
½ tsp salt
½ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. black pepper (very important)
1 good glug Worcestershire sauce, about 1 ½ tsp. to one Tbl.

Put cream cheese and all seasonings and calm juice* in blender and blend until super smooth. Add clams and blend until a little chunky. Taste and adjust seasonings.

*I have noticed that as the years progress the canning companies are putting less clams and more clam juice in the cans. You may want to hold a little of the juice out and add only if the dip is too thick.

Serve with chips and all kinds of veggies.

SPINACH PARMESAN BALLS--Lynne Snyder

I got this recipe off the food network and modified it just a bit. I love these. We served them at our boy's wedding last year.

1 pound package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
5 eggs
1 Tbs. onion powder
10 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. garlic powder
1/4 slightly rounded tsp. cayenne pepper*
1 3/4 cups Italian bread crumbs

*Less if the heat bothers you. They aren't hot but they do have just a tiny bit of a bite.
Preheat the oven to 350°

Squeeze excess water from spinach and put in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Form into 1-inch balls. Place the balls closely together on baking sheet. Cook in top half of oven until firm to the touch, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, serve immediately.

KNOR SPINACH DIP—off the Knor Vegetable soup package

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
1 cup Knorr Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 Green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Cut the top of a loaf of French bread; tear insides out, leaving an intact crust. Fill bread with dip and serve with torn bread as “dippers.”

ARTICHOKE DIP—Lynne Snyder—originally from JoAnne Young

This is really good! We serve it at Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes Easter.

1 cup mayonnaise (or less, see note at bottom)
1 cup Parmesan cheese (just the dry sit-on-the-shelve kind)
8 ounces cream cheese
5 pressed garlic cloves
1 can and a half artichoke hearts, Reese (or use marinated artichoke hearts, see note), chopped

Put in quiche dish at 350 for 20 minutes to one half hour. Scoop up with thin slices of baguette.

Note: I used marinated artichoke hearts because I buy those humongous jars at Costco (to make a couple of pasta recipes) so I cut the mayo down to 3/4 cup because the artichoke hearts have oil on them.