May have

If you know anything about me, you know that I love bagels. One time when I was young, I may or may not have eaten as many as seven bagels in one sitting. And when my friend Maria visited me from New York, she may or may not have purchased bagels from Absolute, froze them, stored them in California for a couple weeks, and then flown them up to Seattle.

Years ago, my mom made a copycat veggie cream cheese. Most of the recipes I found on the internet didn't mention my mom's tip of draining the chopped veggies before folding in the cream cheese, which is pretty critical since vegetables have lots of water. 

The blend of vegetables you choose isn't too critical, but you'll want to include bell peppers, carrots, and onions (or green onions) if you want that store-bought taste. Other recipes recommend celery, radish, and other vegetables, which I think would be great as well. I added a serrano pepper since it came in our CSA box.

Veggie cream cheese

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened

1/2 carrot, peeled

1 bell pepper, seeded

3 green onions, or a quarter of a yellow/white/red onion
1 clove garlic

salt to taste

Roughly chop vegetables into smaller pieces, and then grind in food processor. Transfer to a wire mesh strainer, and sprinkle ~1/2 t salt over it. Using the back of a spoon, mash down the veggies to drain out excess liquid. Transfer veggies back to food processor and add cream cheese. Blend. Taste for salt. Slather onto a perfectly toasted bagel, one bite at a time, so that the cheese is cold and the bagel is hot.

Chomples!