Recipe Time! Vegan Pâté

This is another recipe I played around with earlier this week that actually turned out pretty well, something that doesn't often happen the first time I try a new culinary conquest.  I had gotten a few carrots in my CSA package this week, and I wanted to find another use for them aside from raw carrot sticks and oven roasted veg-medly.  I also came into possession of a new kitchen toy last weekend: a food processor.  I’ve wanted to try making my own peanut butter and pesto for some time, but I decided to test the processor’s capacity (and prevent my carrots from going to waste) with a recipe for vegan pâté I had read about in a food justice book.  In addition, Heidi left a comment about how she can’t cook in my entry about squash bread; the great thing about this recipe is that it requires no actual cooking, and can be a real crowd-pleaser if you’re hosting a party or potluck.

Pâté is usually a mixture of meat and fats processed into a paste and shaped before being served.  Often times recipes call for the liver of the animal to be used, such as in foie gras, and might include spices, herbs and other flavoring agents.  Meat pâté is (supposedly) really rich and tasteful, but it’s horrendously bad for you (liver is one of the worst organ meats you can eat) and more expensive than a college student’s budget can afford.  By contrast, vegan pâté is simple and relatively cheap to make, and is loaded with protein, fiber and healthy fats (not to mention flavor!).  Plus, as mentioned above, it requires no heating, roasting or cooking, just some time with a food processor and any fruit skin-peeling that might be needed.

The basis of vegan pâté is a nut or seed, or a combination depending on how big a batch you’re making and the flavor combination you’re aiming for.  I decided to use raw brazil nuts, since they’re a good source of calcium and protein, plus mono- and polyunsaturated fats (the good kind, in small doses!).  I soaked a cup of them overnight room-temperature water to make them a little more malleable when they were processed.  I first processed 1½ raw carrots, peeled and chopped with a little olive oil, into a slightly grainy mixture before processing the nuts into a thick paste.  For flavor and a smoother mixture, I added more olive oil, cinnamon and a little bit of raw (unpasteurized) apple cider.  I love raw cider because it has a better flavor than when it’s pasteurized and contains a lot of healthy bacteria and enzymes, somewhat similar to yogurt.  After the nuts were well blended, I added the carrot mixture and a little more cinnamon before processing everything together into this:

The result: Although the combination looks a little like vomit, it tasted great and has enjoyed as both a dip and on a sandwich.  My roommate (again, my culinary guinea pig) said it reminded him a little of charoset, a Jewish-European dish generally served at Passover.  My next venture will be a savory pumpkin-curry-seed-brazil nut pâté.

Try this out on your own.  You can use a blender in lieu of a food processor, and the possibilities of combinations are infinite!  And remember: no cooking required!