Spicy Cashew Queso (Tempeh Black Bean Nachos)

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