Mushroom Green Pepper Dip/Filling

The secret to the smooth body and texture of this recipe? Tofu - blended until smooth. This adds lots of protein and calcium to the dish, and is also a great alternative for those who love the idea or texture or nutrition that hummus provides, but cannot tolerate beans.

Mushroom Green Pepper Dip/Filling
cooking oil
1 package (8 ounces/250grams) white button mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, finely diced
1 small or 1/2 large white onion, finely diced
1 package firm tofu, well drained and patted dry
1/4 cup tahini paste
1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, green pepper, and onion and cook, sweating the vegetables but not coloring them, until just softened but not mush. Remove from heat and cool. You may prefer to cook the vegetables one at a time in the pan, they won't take long.

Place remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary, adding more mustard, vinegar, or oil as needed. Stir in the vegetables. 

Now this can be used as a dip, spread or filling. I used it as a filling for Mushroom Green Pepper Pinwheel Bites, using yesterday's vegan pie dough recipe. I rolled it out as thinly as possible, spread thinly with this mixture (I did have some leftover), and rolled it up and sliced it, just like making cinnamon rolls. Then since the dough was very soft I popped them in the freezer for an hour to firm up, then baked them at 350◦F for half an hour until golden. I cut them in half to serve. This made about 25 whole pinwheels, or 50 halves. Makes a nice hors d'oeuvres that freezes well too.