My Dad Bruce's Famous Veggie Cream Cheese!
Coming from a long line of New Yorkers, I take bagels and cream cheese very seriously. In a world filled with sub-par veggie cream cheese, one day my dad took matters into his own hands, and started making his own veggie cream cheese. Now it’s famous in my extended family - critical to any bagel breakfast!
A truly good bagel store will have 1) baileys and a 2) veggie cream cheese exactly like this, but if yours doesn’t - you need to take matters into your own hands too!
You haven’t lived until you’ve had the perfect veggie cream cheese shmear on your bagel!
Ingredients.
(measure with your heart, this is an estimate for 5 servings but the general rule of thumb is 3 parts scallions, 2 parts radish and carrot, to 1 part cucumber)
2 Blocks of Cream Cheese
2 Scallion Stalks, thinly sliced
2 Radishes, Grated
1/2 Carrot, Grated
1/4 English cucumber, peeled, de-seeded, and small diced.
Method.
Let your cream cheese come to room temperature on the counter for about an hour. Warning: Do not pop it in the microwave to speed up the process! I swear that heat changes the taste even if it’s a few seconds! If you’re pressed for time, leave it out for as long as you can - this is just to make mixing everything easier, not the end of the world. Add your softened cream cheese to a large bowl.
Grate your radishes and carrot with the second smallest side of a box or cheese grater into your bowl with the softened cream cheese. Slice your scallions and add those to the bowl as well.
Peel your cucumber portion and cut it in half width wise, exposing the little seeds. Take a small spoon and scoop out the center of the cucumber and discard the part you just scooped - this will prevent the cucumber from releasing any moisture into the cream cheese. Now small dice your cucumber and add that to the cream cheese too!
Stir everything together so all veggies are distributed throughout the cream cheese. Pop in the fridge until you’re ready to serve - the longer this sits the better it gets!
Enjoy! And don’t you DARE add red bell pepper to this!!!!