Vegan Queso {or something like it}
slightly spicy, creamy and incredibly tasty, this sauce is a suitable companion to many dishes!
. . .
serve with tortilla chips, alongside roasted vegetables, drizzle on a salad, you can even use it for sandwiches!
To be honest, this sauce was born trying to correct one of my mistakes - the mistake was that I tried to process the ingredients for the Vegan 'Parmesan' Cheese in a blender instead of a food processor, so instead of getting this nice ground-nuts consistency that I needed, I got a paste-like concoction … “so what do I do with this ?!” I asked myself a little annoyed (haha) and at that moment I remembered this incredibly delicious sauce that I have had at Tex-Mex restaurants - the mighty chile con queso (you know, the one served with tortilla chips and it is cheesy and spicy and just straight-up delicious)! So I decided to create something like it to accompany this Roasted Broccoli dish that was almost ready to come out of the oven!
The ingredients are almost the same as the vegan 'parmesan', plus a few extras. And now a little information on the nutrition and benefits of the nuts used here:
Brazil nuts are excellent source of plant protein and selenium - powerful antioxidant, which plays an important role for our immune system and the normal function of the thyroid gland. According to ScienceDirect, it is important to limit your daily intake to one to three brazil nuts, to avoid overconsumption of selenium.
Cashews are rich in fiber, plant protein and unsaturated fats - a category of fats aiding in decreasing the risk of cardio-vascular related illness. They are also a great source of copper, magnesium and manganese - nutrients important for energy production, brain health, the immune system and bone health {resource}. To ensure you are taking full advantage of the nutrients, cashews should be consumed raw, but if you would like them roasted, it is best you roast them yourself to avoid added oils and/ or salt.
needed ingredients:
brazil nuts
cashew
nutritional yeast
garlic powder
salt
dr. greger’s spice
chili powder (or a red chili)
tamari
yuzu ponzu* (see below)
non-dairy milk
preparation details
A little explanation about Yuzu Ponzu sauce - a Japanese dipping sauce (for tempura or sushi), which combines soy sauce (or tamari) and yuzu juice (citrus fruit). It is normal for most people not to have it in their kitchen pantry, so I suggest you replace it with a combination of equal parts tamari (or soy sauce) and lemon juice.
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend for a minute or two until the sauce is creamy in appearance. I suggest you try the sauce to see if you would like to add more chili to make it more spicy. If so, add the chili and blend a little more. If you would like it to look more like a real chili con queso, you can add a deseeded and finely chopped red chili.
Transfer the queso sauce to a glass jar and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
recipe
Vegan Queso (or something like it)
Slightly spicy, creamy and incredibly tasty, this sauce is a suitable companion to many dishes - serve with tortilla chips, alongside roasted vegetables, drizzle on a salad, you can even use it for sandwiches!
Author: The Kitchen Plot
Cook Time: 5 min.
Serves: -
Perfect for: tortilla chips, roasted vegetables, salads, sandwiches
Keeps for: in refrigerator - 1 week
Ingredients:
1 cup brazil nuts
1/3 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp universal spice blend
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1 Tbsp Yuzu Ponzu sauce (or 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 Tbsp tamari)
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
Method:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for about a minute or two until the sauce is creamy in appearance.
Serve the queso sauce alongside roasted vegetables, tortilla chips, drizzled on a salad for extra density or you can even use it to spread on your sandwich bread!
Store in a glass jar for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Bot Appétit!