Egg Trick

Hate peeling hard-boiled eggs? Try this!

I tried it, and it (pretty much) worked. I think the best part of the advice is to add baking soda to the water before you boil the eggs. Two tablespoons per quart is probably about right. This reduces adhesion, and makes them really easy to peel.

Vegan French Onion Dip

I'm not a vegan, but I know lots of them, and vegan cooking interests me just like any other engineering challenge: "Hmmmm..... how can I make something similar to X, which tastes good, and uses no animal products?" I actually think of vegan food as just another nationality of cuisine (yes, I'm aware, there's no country called Veganistan, but damn it, there should be!). Anyway, the following is my second attempt at vegan French onion dip, and it turned out wonderfully.

Vegan French Onion Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 box of silken soft tofu (12oz). It must say "silken" and it must say "soft". These are two very important properties. I prefer the unrefrigerated Mori-Nu brand, from Cost Plus World Market.
• 1 heaping half-cup of raw (unroasted) unsalted cashews. I prefer the ones from the Whole Foods bulk bin.
• 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• 2 table spoons of dried onion slivers.
• 1 pinch of salt (to taste). This can be tweaked at the end.

Instructions:

1. In a blender (not a food processor), add the tofu, lemon juice, and cashews.
2. Blend the living hell out of it (you want it to be creamy).
3. Dump it into a small container, and fold in the salt and the onions.
4. Let sit over night, and give it a stir before serving.

Looking at some other french onion dip recipes on the web, it appears there are some many ways to spice up this dip. Feel free to experiment with some or all of these:

• Worchestershire sauce (if you want it to be purely vegan, you'll have to find a bottle with no anchovies)
  
• Soy sauce
  
• Miso
• Garlic
• Black pepper
• Chives
  

It is great on unflavored, unsalted crackers (Triskets especially), potato chips, and carrots.