TwoFaced: Heart of Palm

"TwoFaced Tuesdays" is a joint venture between CupcakesOMG! and Jenna from The Paleo Project. Each week, we select one secret ingredient and put our own paleo spin on it. You can catch up on the entire series here. Also, if you have any special ingredient requests, you can always tweet us (@CupcakesOhMG and @ThePaleoProject) using the hashtag #TwoFacedTuesday.

Last weekend at the lake, Megan's mom put together an incredible antipasto plate with cured meats, marinated olives, and what looked liked mozzarella cheese. Feeling about 6 years old, I hurriedly reached for the stringy cheese. What I then proceeded to eat was not at all cheese, but in fact, heart of palm.

When you pull one of these bone-looking things apart, it's almost identical to cheese, I kid you not. And while it doesn't taste like mozzarella, it's still totally delicious. The texture is that of a cooked bean. I realize that's a weird thing to say, but I'm sorry, it's true. Which got me thinking, as anything bean textured does...this would make a perfect dip!

So, there at the lake, in the pool, I told Jenna we were going to feature heart of palm as our next TwoFaced ingredient. 

 In the biggest shock of the day, heart of palm is exactly what it sounds like. It's the heart of a palm tree.

It's super mild in taste, making it the perfect base for a dip that could be transformed in so many ways. Since it reminded me so much of a white bean, I decided to take on a white bean dip and blended it with lemon, olive oil, and italian parsley.

And since I just had my mind blown at Bandolero, I realized that pork rinds would be the perfect vehicle for getting this dip into my mouth.

Would you believe I had to go to three stores, only to finally end up snagging these from Walgreen's?!! Of course you can! They're pork rinds.

 But dammit if they aren't delicious.

You could also easily turn this dip into the paleo hummus 20-something ladies have been dreaming of by adding tahini and omitting the parsley. In fact, I think I'll do that this weekend. Big plans, folks. Big! Huge! Plans!

Click here for Jenna's take on the Heart of Palm!

Heart of Palm Dip

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1 can heart of palm
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 Tbsp. Italian parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve with pork rinds or carrots and sliced cucumber.