After the Great Pistachio Mousse Overdose of Last Weekend 2012, I think I am finally ready to look at excessive photographs of pistachios again. My preparations for Meatless Monday A-Z involved soaking both raw pistachios and cashews for a few hours…and in the interim I tossed the words sweet and savory around in my head. Having become enraptured with cashew cream after my friend-through-blogging Lauren made some for me during my marathon weekend visit in October, my first inclinations leaned toward the sweet.*

*See: Pistachio Baklava Mousse Overdose. But nut creams can easily become savory faux cheeses , so why not take something that is so often sweet–do I even need to mention pistachio gelato?–and spice it up in a different way? This is less like cheese, and more like sour cream, but I hesitate to really call it a ‘vegan substitute.’ Adding soy or almond milk helps smooth out the soaked cashews and pistachios mixture into something that could be sugared up if you wanted…

…but why not tart it up instead?*

*Pist-sassy-yos [noun] green nuts from the block whose anger is reflected in their ability to deliver a pursed-lipped, cross body snap on command

You put the lime in the (coco) nut cream… 

With the lime juice and the salt, you might get ideas for a pistachio margarita, but take it to a slightly different place and toss in some spicy chili powder and smoky cumin.

And from there, the world is your brown-shelled purple-and-green-skinned oyster.

You can dollop it on top of chili, like you would sour cream. Or, lacking chili, you could stir it into the Smoky Sweet Potato, Kale, and Tomato Soup of the Week .  You could also thin it out further and drizzle it on roasted veggies……including winter (kuri) squash and the most ginormously beautiful Brussels sprout flower you have ever seen. It will also thicken up to dip consistency should you refrigerate it, making this nutty cream a perfect lunchbox addition.

What are you waiting for? Go soak your nuts!*

*Which, depending on your intonation, could actually make a very effective insult, no?  Chili Lime Pistachio Cream

[Makes about 1 1/4 cups]

• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. raw pistachios, soaked, drained, and skins removed