Easy, delicious dips for your SNACKLINS chips
By Catherine Neville
SNACKLINS creator Samy Kobrosly set out to make a vegan pork rind as a joke … one of his friends bet this Muslim son of Tunisian immigrants that he couldn’t create a crispy, crunchy, craveable mimic of the popular gas station snack … in case you’re wondering, his friend lost the bet.
Samy is one of the talented makers I met during our Union Kitchen shoot. Union Kitchen is a culinary business accelerator for food start-ups and SNACKLINS is one of their biggest success stories. The snacks are available in shops across the country and their popularity can be attributed to their healthy ingredient list and calorie count, but really, it’s the flavor and crunch that makes these a stand out.
When you reach for a chip to pair with dip, that chip has to be able to stand up to the dip itself — it can’t crumble under the pressure of the dip (I hate when chips break in my dip!) and the flavor and texture have to enhance, rather than cover up, the dip. SNACKLINS are light and airy and still study enough to pick up whatever dip you have on offer …
I thought it would be fun to make two entirely different styles of dip for these chips. One, a virtuous vegan lentil dip that I paired with the Chesapeake SNACKLINS and the other? A creamy, decadent, definitely not healthy pimento cheese that I paired with, of course, their Nacho flavor. Both of these dips are very easy and require only a bit of time. They're so much more flavorful than their pre-packaged counterparts from the store.
Both recipes make enough that you’ll probably have some left over, so use your lentil dip on a sandwich with sprouts, tomato, cheese and cucumbers. Pimento cheese is perfect on burgers, rolled into a bean-and-cheese burrito or even used for grilled cheese.
Spicy Lentil Dip
1 cup lentils
½ onion, chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp celery seed
1 tsp cayenne pepper or hot paprika
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp granulated garlic or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 or more serrano peppers, chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for serving
| Preparation | In a small pot, add the lentils, onion and carrot with a bit of salt. Add water to cover by an inch or so. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender, adding water as necessary, about 30 minutes. If you’d like you can add a couple of garlic cloves and more or less onion and carrot to adjust the flavor to your preference.
Once the lentils are cooked through, add them to the bowl of a food processor along with all of the spices and the serrano pepper. Process until smooth. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and pulse to combine. The mixture might be very thick, depending on how much water was left in your lentils, so add water as needed to achieve a hummus-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning – you may want to add a bit more lemon juice if you like a citrus tang in your dips.
Serve in a bowl drizzled with olive oil and topped with more sliced serrano peppers if you want a bit more spice and crunch. And, of course, pair with Chesapeake Bay flavor SNACKLINS!
Lentil dip tips:
Bean There // No love for the lentil? You can use this recipe to make a white bean dip or a spicy hummus with chickpeas.
Make It Your Own // Adjust the recipe to your own taste. Add cilantro or use poblano peppers rather than serrano. Try adding turmeric or even a bit of clove – play around!
Creamy, Spicy Pimento Cheese
1 red pepper
1 lb extra sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup plain yogurt, mayo or sour cream
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp granulated garlic or 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp adobo sauce
¼ to ½ jalapeno pepper, diced
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
| Preparation | Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place red pepper on a sheet tray and roast, turning frequently, until charred on all sides. Remove to a lidded container and cover tightly. Allow to steam and cool for about 20 or 30 minutes. Remove from container, remove stem and slip the skin off of the pepper. Scrape out seeds and shop the flesh. Add pepper and any accumulated juices left in the container to a large bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients, stirring to thoroughly combine. Taste and adjust seasoning – and if the mixture is too thick, you can add mayo, milk or cream to achieve the consistency you prefer. Pair with SNACKLINS’ Nacho flavor!
Pimento dip tip:
DIY // Don’t buy those bags of pre-shredded cheese. They’re more expensive and a bunch of additives are included to keep the cheese from sticking together in the bag.