Vegan Nacho Cheese with a Kick — erinlamb

At a farmers market last summer my husband and I tried this AMAZING vegan nacho cheese and they said it was potatoes (of all things) that made it so yummy, sooo….

During the re-introduction phase of my elimination diet I was getting quite creative. On this day, I was adding cashews back in. We were having nachos..because we love nachos for date night…so we decided to try to make a cashew nacho cheese ft potatoes!

What I DIDN’T know, is the foods you are reintroducing should be eaten independently of any other foods you think may be effecting you so you can more easily pin point a connection between a food AND possible symptoms.

Count my lucky stars I didn’t notice any symptoms from cashews (because they are amazing) but it might not always be as simple as this case as there were a lot of ingredients in this recipe.

For my dairy free pals… or my nacho lovers this is the perfect addition to your Super Bowl snacks.

Vegan Nacho Cheese with a Kick

Ingredients

6 tablespoons my homemade vegan butter

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon hot sauce (sriracha)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1/4 c nutritional yeast

4 ounces potato (about 1/2 medium), peeled and thinly sliced

4 ounces roasted cashews (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup coconut milk

kosher salt to taste

2 teaspoons pickling liquid from a can of pickled jalapeño peppers (if you used canned jalapeños, if not its just an extra bonus for flavour)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Melt vegan butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeños and cook, stirring, until completely softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and chipotle chilli powder. Cook, stirring, until fragrant and mixture starts to sizzle, about 1 minute.

  2. While your mixture is in the skillet, roast your cashews in the over until browned. (unless you bought roasted cashews)

  3. Add potatoes and cashews and cook, stirring, until cashews are lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Add water and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, until potatoes are fully tender, about 10 minutes.

  4. Transfer mixture to a high-powered blender (I used a Vitamix). Add hot sauce, jalapeño pickling liquid, nutritional yeast and a pinch of salt. Start on low speed and slowly increase speed to high. Blend on high speed until completely smooth, about 2 minutes, adding water a few drops at a time as necessary to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste with more salt.

  5. Cheese sauce can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 1 week. To reheat, microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, or reheat in a small pan on the stovetop, stirring constantly, and adding extra water to loosen sauce as necessary.

NOTES

*you can swap the vegan butter for avocado oil, it will just be a bit more runny.

Happy Super Bowl! xo