Julie Hasson is the author of 9 cookbooks, including 125 Best Chocolate Chip Recipes, 125 Best Chocolate Recipes, 125 Best Cupcake Recipes and 300 Best Chocolate Recipes, Vegan Diner, Vegan Pizza and Vegan Casseroles. You can visit julie at www.juliehasson.com
Julie’s Trashy Nacho Cheese
- Yield: 2 1/2 C 1x
Description
This stuff is awesome on tortilla chips for vegan nachos! You can spread it on tortillas for quesadillas or serve with vegetarian chorizo or smoky link sausages. You can even warm it up and serve as a nacho fondue. Anything goes! If you don’t have a powerful blender, see note below.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water, divided
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 5 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tsp granulated onion
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet or regular paprika
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 5 tbsp Instant Clearjel
- Pickled jalapenos, chopped or a couple tablespoons juice from pickled jalapenos
Instructions
- In jar of blender, combine 1 cup water and cashews. Blend mixture at high speed until completely smooth and no bits of nuts remain. Add the remaining water, nutritional yeast, onion, garlic, smoked paprika, regular paprika, salt and cumin, blending until very smooth.
- With machine on low speed, add the Instant Clearjel, blending until smooth. If desired add a couple of spoonfuls of chopped pickled jalapenos or juice, and blend again briefly. Alternately, you can stir the jalapenos or juice into the cheese. The cheese will take about 10 minutes to thicken completely.
- Serve right away, or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Flavor Tip: Stir about 1/4 cup salsa into the cheese for a great flavor combo. Some finely sliced scallions are nice too.
Tip: If you don’t have a powerful blender, soak the cashews in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes (or in cool water refrigerated overnight). Blend water and cashews until completely smooth and transfer to a food processor to blend with the spices and Instant clearjel.
Copyright © 2009 Julie Hasson