Yield: 32 Tortilla Chips, 2.5 cups Nacho Cheese
Time: 20-25 mins
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| Nacho Cheese & Tortilla Chips |
This morning I went to our local market for the first time since I've been at uni and I wish I'd been sooner! The market itself is a 20 minute walk from my house, but the walk back with all the fruit and veg was made worth it by the amazing prices. I got 3 avocados for £1, 3 of them! I absolutely love avocados but refuse to buy them when the supermarkets sell them for £1 each, it just seems silly when I'm on a student budget to pay that just for one item, but I bought a whole weeks worth of fruit and veg for just £10 at the market and I couldn't be more excited to start cooking with it all! I would love to be able to grow my own fruit and veg and hopefully in the near future I will be able to, but with temporary accommodation growing your own veg just really isn't practical. But for now I am so glad I have found somewhere to buy fruit and veg that is reasonably priced and is sold by people who are just as excited about fresh produce as I am! Here's what I got below:
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| Fruit & Veg from the Market |
In this next recipe I have made my own tortilla chips by baking tortilla wraps in the oven until super crunchy and I've combined two staple veg for a nacho cheese sauce that is oozy and delicious. The recipe for the nacho cheese is one I have seen a lot of people make in the vegan community so I'm not clear on exactly where it originated but this is my version. If you're going to have something like tortilla chips then its definitely worth cooking them yourself, that way you can control what's added to them and they won't be deep fried! I don't very often buy junk food but if I do I usually finish it in the day of purchasing - by making them yourself you can control the portion size you make and make as much as you intend to eat, rather than finishing the whole bag of crisps just because they're there. I actually prefer these baked tortilla chips to the ones that you buy, they're super crunchy, not greasy at all and pair perfectly with this dip!
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| Nacho Cheese & Tortilla Chips |
You can use either flour or corn tortillas in this recipe, both will work! I also used lemon juice as the acid for the nacho cheese but cider vinegar or even the brine from a jar of jalapenos would work, if you're planning on adding a few jalapenos for some extra spice, just use 1 tbsp instead of 2. Depending on how many chips you make, you may need to cook them in batches. You'll also need a high speed blender like a nutribullet to make this sauce really smooth like proper nacho cheese. To make regular cheese sauce, leave out the cayenne pepper and add to pasta for some extra tasty mac 'n' cheese.
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| Tortilla Chip Dipped in Nacho Cheese
Below I used this cheese sauce recipe for Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese, where I replaced half of the nutritional yeast with some violife dairy free cheese.
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You'll need:
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Large Saucepan
- Colander
- Measuring cups
- Baking Tray x2
- Grease-proof paper
- Blender
Ingredients:
- 2 medium potatoes (2 cups, medium dice)
- 1 large carrot (1 cup, medium dice)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp stock powder
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (leave out for normal cheese sauce)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1-2 tsp white miso paste*
- 4 Tortilla wraps
- Pinch salt
*White miso isn't aged as long as regular miso paste and it holds a distinct tangy flavour that brings this cheese sauce to the next level, optional, but I'd highly recommend including it! How much you need to add will depend on how strong the paste you have is, so add 1 tsp to the first blend of the sauce and gradually add up to another tsp to adjust the sauce to your liking.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C & line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
- Peel and dice the potatoes & carrots and add to a large saucepan with plenty of water. Boil until soft (~15 mins).
- Meanwhile slice the wraps into 8 and place on a baking tray, cook for 6 minutes on the first side, turn them over and then 4 minutes on the second - they should be perfectly crisp and golden brown by this stage. Remove the chips from the oven, lightly sprinkle with salt and leave to cool.
- Drain the veg, add the veg to the blender with the rest of the ingredients (water down to miso paste) and blend until completely smooth.
- Serve up the chips and dip and enjoy! Cassidy
- Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days after making. The nacho cheese is best served warm so heat up slightly before enojying if it has been in the fridge.
