Nothing screams comfort food to me quite like nachos.
When I’m feeling uninspired and lazy, I simply whip up a batch of nachos using whatever essentials I’ve got laying around. In this case it was black beans and tempeh. I had leftovers of each and didn’t want them to go to waste. So I mustered up some energy to incorporate them into a new recipe, since I have anxiety every time I don’t have a fresh blog post every weekday. True Life: I’m Addicted to Blogging.
Generally, I would top some chips off with tomatoes, corn and onions and smother them in Daiya cheese. And although Daiya will always be my favorite vegan product, I realized that I need to cut back a bit. I recently discovered that many of my favorite animal-free products WERE full of an unsavory ingredient. Carrageenan is a food additive that is commonly found in meat and dairy as a protein binder, but it’s also in tons of vegan products-like my beloved Daiya and coconut and almond milk products. I found myself becoming intolerant to it as it gave me a severe upset stomach upon consumption. Oh She Glows wrote about it, and you can read more about it here. It’ symptoms include things like stomach cramping and irritable bowel syndrome-WHAT THE HECK?
Even the organic products include it, which makes me very sad. I will still use these products-but sparingly now, rather than when I used to use them all day, every day. Trust me, I am not happy about this discovery, but I’m glad I am well informed. Dontcha hate it when vegan food goes bad?
Anyways, this prompted me to make my own creamy vegan cheese, and for that, I am thankful. Queso seemed like the perfect pairing to a tower of nachos and let me tell you-it is ten times better than Daiya (sorry, Daiya, you still hold a special place in my heart). It’s super easy to make and this beautiful layer of chips, veggies and homemade queso was a deliciously lazy-albeit, impressive-dinner.
SPICY CASHEW QUESO
1 1/2 cups organic raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours
1 cup water
1/2 cup organic salsa
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp jalapeno mustard (can be omitted)
1 tbsp tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
- Combine all ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy
- Pour mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly
- Once it reaches a boil remove from heat and pour over nachos
- Store in the fridge and reheat in a saucepan when using again
NACHO ASSEMBLY
Organic chips of your choice
Halved grape tomatoes
Package of tempeh, crumbled
1 cup black beans
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
Fresh cilantro
Seasonings to taste
- Crumble tempeh and cook in a skillet with beans, onion and jalapeno over medium heat for about 10 minutes
- Pour over chips and bake at 350 degrees until chips are hot (5-7 minutes)
- Remove from oven, top with tomatoes and cilantro and pour queso over nachos
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Yum!!
Yummmmm for sure!