Nacho Moms Weeknight Nachos

Man have I been busy!  Spending hours redoing the site makes my eyes feel like they are burning out of my head.  So, last night when I had not posted any recipes in a while and was tired of my husband coming home and staring into the fridge and pantry complaining about having nothing to eat, I tried to think of what I could throw together that he would approve of.  When I was a kid, my family's go-to super easy, quick and cheap meal was something they called Nachos.  Not your typical Mexican Nachos with salsa and cheddar, but they would use Tortilla chips ot Doritos (<---Don;t use those!  Hello MSG, Please feel free to disrupt my nervous system!) spread out on a baking sheet and smother them with a can of meaty chili beans and then with sliced monterey jack cheese.  Thats it.  Easy, quick and cheap.

So, I had multi-grain (and gluten free!) tortilla chips in my pantry, beans and enough stuff to throw together some 'meaty' nachos.  They take a little longer to make, but it is really easy and pretty quick.

I'm going out of town today and won't be back for a few days so I won't be able to post any more recipes this weekend, but have some really good ones planned for next week.  I will, however, likely have some hopefully good reviews from some local veg restaurants where I'll be staying.  


Nacho Mom's Weeknight Nachos
Cheese Sauce1 1/2 Tbsp Vegan Butter, divided
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Minced Pimentos
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 C Soymilk (or other non-dairy milk - NOT Rice, too watery)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

Meaty-Ness1 1/2 Tbsp Vegan Butter
2 C Boca Crumbles
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Oregano
pinch Cumin
S & P to taste

Beans1 Can Vegetarian Refried Beans
1/4 C Water (or I used some juice from soaking jalepenos)

Tortilla Chips
Optional ToppingsDiced Tomatoes w/ Green Chilies
Jalepenos
Sliced Black Olives
Salsa
Guacamole
Shredded Lettuce
Vegan Sour Cream (plain or mixed with chipoltles or ancho chili powder)

Preheat oven to 350º^.
To make the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat, careful not to scorch.  Add nutritional yeast and corn starch and make a roux.  Add seasonings and pimentos.  Slowly pour in soymilk 1/2 C at a time, whisking the whole time.  Whisk until sauce thickens a bit, up to 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined.  Remove from heat and set aside to thicken a bit more while you prepare the rest.

For the meat, melt butter in skillet and add Boca crumbles.  Add seasonings and stir until no longer frozen and heated through.  Remove from heat.

Put beans and water in small saucepan and stir until well combined so that its not a thick paste anymore.  If you like it hot, add cayenne or chopped green chilies, etc.  I was making this for my family and although my husband and I would have preferred more heat, my 4 year old would not have!  You can let this sit on low while you assemble the Nachos.

Layer tortilla chips in a thick layer on a cookie sheet.  The toppings will be thick, so you'll want a layer hiding underneath to help scoop it all up.  Spoon Beans on top.  Layer meat over that, trying to cover most of your chips.  Then pour your cheese sauce over all of that.  Bake for about 10 minutes until chips are somewhat crispy and cheese is melty.  Use a spatula to serve it up and dig in! 

I'm pregnant and to get my omega fatty acids and DHA for my growing stowaway, I mashed up 1 avocado with about 1/4 C cilantro and a quick squeeze of lime juice.  Nothing fancy.  Easy and quick.  I also added some fresh sliced red chili pepper to one side for my husband.