A couple of weeks ago I stumbled acrosss a company called Vivapura. I was on the hunt for food grade cacao butter (for experimenting with homemade dairy-free chocolate), but I discovered so many temptations on this superfood site ... rich coconut creme in various flavors (chocolate, vanilla, and even confetti!), assorted superfruits, and of course, wonderfully raw nuts and nut butters.

After emailing them, Erika of Vivapura offered to share one of the recipe from the Vivapura blog that uses some of these delicious nuts, a simple yet luxurious Basil Red Pepper Spread ...

"For ages I have been obsessed with the combination of fresh red peppers and macadamia nuts. The first time I had this combination was in a dehydrated nut cheese from Pure Food & Wine. Since then I have made dips, dehydrated cheeses and crackers featuring these two ingredients ...

The other night a dear Patagonia friend had a going away party, I decided to make a macadamia red pepper spread to bring to the party. While I was waiting in line at the amazing Red Mountain grocery store to buy my red peppers I found myself very distracted by the bags of fresh basil sitting next to the register. I had never put any herbs in this spread in the past but the basil could not be resisted! And now, I think I have a new favorite!"

Recipe by Erika of Vivapura. She let us know that this recipe is "excellent served as a dip, with raw crackers or on top of your salad garnished with Spirulina Crunchies."

• 2 cups Macadamia Nuts
• 1 tsp mineral rich salt
• black pepper
• 3 tbs. nutritional flakes
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 2 tbs. Red Pepper Miso (by South River Miso Company) - [Subsitute a light miso if you can't locate this one]
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves

Place macadamia nuts in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely chopped and starting to clump up. Add the salt, black pepper, nutritional flakes, garlic, lemon juice and miso and start running the food processor. Slowly drizzle the water in the through the spout while your processor is running. Once water is added start feeding the red pepper pieces through the spout as well. Once ingredients are well combined stop the processor. Add the fresh basil and pulse the machine until the basil is chopped up but not totally blended in.

About Vivapura ... Vivapura is passionate about providing the highest quality Superfoods available in the world market. We have searched the globe to find rare nutrient dense foods that are organically grown or wild harvested.  We focus on procuring and making food in small batches to ensure that our products are fresh and flavorful. For more information, visit the Vivapura Website.