My new obsession is nachos. Well, it isn’t that new, I think it was spring when I started to make these. It is all the fault of my friend; we were talking about lunch one day and she said she had been on a nacho kick. It was all over at that point. I came home that very day and started making nachos. It switched to taco salad for the summer, but as soon as it started to cool down again I’ve been back to nachos. I think the ingenious thing she said that made me “have” to try nachos that day was she was putting refried beans in the BOTTOM of the pan, then the chips on top. This, of course, makes the most sense ever as the chips get all crispy and warm, the beans warm up, and they don’t make everything soggy.
This recipe is just for the cheese sauce, but I’ll give you a quick run down of the rest. I heat my cast iron on the stove, saute a few cups of sliced veggies with a little salt and pepper, then dump them in a bowl. In the still hot pan I swirl a tablespoon of oil, then spread refried beans on the bottom. Top the beans with chips and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes until the chips are toasty brown and perfect. I then dump it on a plate, and pile on the veggies, nacho cheese sauce, and salsa. I then eat it all for lunch while watching my husband work out.
The cheese sauce. It is a variation of my cheese sauce from my cashew mac n cheese with some spice added. I made a nice big batch and freeze any I don’t use within a few days.
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup peeled and cubed russet potato (1 small)
- 2 TBL sliced carrot (1 very small)
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 3/4-1 cup reserved cooking water
- 3 TBL nutritional yeast
- 2 TBL tahini
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
- additional salt to taste
- 1 small can diced green chilis
- 1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder or one chipotle in adobo sauce
Instructions
- Place potato and carrot in a small saucepan and cover with cold water.
- Add the vinegar and 1 tsp salt to water, bring everything to a boil partially covered, and boil for about 10 minutes.
- Add the cashews and continue to cook until the potatoes and carrots are completely tender, about 5 minutes more. They are done when they slide off a fork that is inserted into a piece of potato or carrot.
- Drain potatoes and carrots reserving at least 1 cup of the cooking water.
- Transfer potatoes, carrots, cashew, and 3/4 cup cooking water to a blender.
- Add nutritional yeast, tahini, mustard, and tomato paste and blend until smooth.
- Add more cooking water if you want the sauce to thin out a bit.
- Add green chilis and chipotle and pulse to combine.
- Taste, and adjust salt as needed.
Happy Food Ninja 