Vegan Nachos

I have been vegetarian for about seven months now and am really interested in becoming a vegan for health purposes, but the hardest part in my mind is giving up cheese. I have always loved cheese, in fact my first word was cheese! This is the main reason for my next recipe, I chose to make nachos. Nachos are a fan favorite for most people, including myself and this was the perfect opportunity to try out some vegan "cheese". This cashew based cheese sauce is supposed to taste just like the real thing and I couldn't wait to try it out.

Ingredients:

Queso:

3/4 cups cashews

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon mellow white miso

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion 

2 jalepenos 

Meat Substitute:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 coves garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups cooked lentils (from about 1 cup dried)

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Cholula)

Spice Mix:

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

The first step after gathering my ingredients was to make the queso. This was pretty simple and I didn't run into any problems. I basically just threw all of my ingredients into the pan and it also took very little time as there were few items that I needed to cut up. 

The ext step was to cook my lentils. This was a fairly easy process of boiling them in water and then setting them aside to add to the rest of the ingredients later and give it some flavor. 

Next, I was to combine all of the ingredients for the Spice Mix into one bowl. This was by far the simplest part of the recipe as all I has to do was measure my spices, toss them in the bowl, and give it a little mix. 

Then I was to sautee my garlic and onion in oil and add the spice mix. 

The last, but most difficult, step was to add the lentils and remaining ingredients. Isa warned me about this when she said that usually the lentils can become difficult to mash and they often block up (Chandra, pg. 233), so I was prepared. Once the lentils were added, they did become quite difficult to mash, but I used a technique that she explained, "if your spatula isn't strong enough to accomplish [mashing the lentils], just use a sturdy fork (Chandra, pg. 233). This worked out much better than the spatula just as she claimed and I was quickly able to resolve the issue.

Now I was finished and all that was left to do was to top my tortilla chips with my "meat", "cheese" sauce and chopped veggies. This came out fantastically and was incredibly simple to make. Using lentils was a very enjoyable meat substitute as was the cheese sauce. 

Would you be willing to add any meat or dairy substitutes to your diet? Why or why not?

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.