Olive-Tofu-Pecan Dip for Game Day

In honor of our hometown Seattle Seahawks winning the wildcard game this afternoon, I thought I'd post one of the "football party snacks" we served to the raving crowd...

Pardon the picture, I know it looks like a bowl of oatmeal, but I promise it's a delicious and crazy-simple dip (more of a "spread" texture) that NO ONE will ask, or care, if it's "weird vegan food" or not.

This is my stand-by when I need a 'spread-y-dippy' sort-of party-food at the last moment, and have to impress non-vegan sorts with too. Don't TELL them it's tofu, for goodness sakes, wait until they've licked the bowl clean and are asking for the recipe. (*gloats*)

This dip is good with crackers, with celery and carrots, or in a sourdough bread bowl. Also great for sandwiches, should you have any leftovers!

Olive-Tofu-Pecan Spread

1 cup firm tofu, mashed fine with a fork

1/3 cup pecans*, chopped super-fine, but not into powder, in food processor or blender (there should still be tiny bits of nuts)

2/3 cup black olives, chopped (I just buy the canned, already-chopped black olives here, to save myself the work - you can use a couple Tbsp. kalamata olives if you want extra tang and saltiness, but it's good with standard old black olives too).

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 finely chopped onion (or chop celery and onion in food processor, but I like the uniform tiny chunks you get by hand chopping...)

1 1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

1/2 cup Vegannaise vegan mayo (or equal parts Tofutti Sour 'Cream' and vegan mayo)
dash Tabasco if desired, not to make it spicy, just to bump up the flavor

Mix ingredients well. Chill several hours.

Enjoy! That's it!

*I prefer my pecans toasted in this recipe, but it's hard to toast them without burning, so do so at your own risk.