[vegan] Junk-food Nachos

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Listen! Sometimes it's okay to treat yourself! Being vegan doesn't mean you need to deprive yourself of the tasty snacks you once loved. In moderation, you can enjoy a crispy, cheesy treat just like you used to. Now, I will say that I am not a huge "faux-meat" eater. I will enjoy a nice 365 Smokey and Spicy Plant Based Burger or Gardein's 7-Grain Chik'n Tenders, but I eat these in moderation and pretty seldom. I try to fuel my body with whole foods - I like to create fun recipes with tons of veg and grains, but every once in awhile I will toss in a "faux-meat" whether it's to boost the protein content of the dish or to get that "meaty" taste that we sometimes crave.

Now, I can't take all the credit for this yummy concoction. My fiancée, Rob (nickname, Bo) LOVES nachos and I suggested he make some to treat himself for dinner. So, in essence this was my idea 😉 BUT I will give him credit for making the kitchen smell like a movie theater back in the early 2000's. For this recipe, we used Beyond Meat "Brats", but we normally would use vegan chorizo. These are pretty scrumptious, sometimes we even just throw them on the grill. But on these nachos ... they were pretty tempting.

Photo credit: www.beyondmeat.com

To assemble the nachos we started off with a base of Jalapeño Lime tortilla chips, and built on that with Beyond Brats, Cholula, Kite Hill Medium Queso (melted), shredded Violife Epic Mature Cheddar, diced fresh jalapeños, baked all these flavors together and then topped with shredded romaine, tomatoes and served with a side of my Scrap Salsa Picante. Like I said, this isn't healthy and is heavily processed - so I'd eat them in moderation, but ... sadly Rob finished the ENTIRE tray before I could even taste one!

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[vegan] Junk-food Nachos

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 7 oz, tortilla chips (half bag)

• 2 Beyond Meat Brat Links

• 1 tsp. olive oil

• 3 tbs. Kite Hill Medium Queso

• 1/4 C. Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Block, shredded

• 1/4 C. shredded romaine

• 1/4 C. tomatoes, chopped

• 1/2 of a small jalapeño, diced

• Cholula to taste

• Optional: vegan sour cream, salsa, guacamole, red onion

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add in your Brats and cook for roughly 4-5 minutes on each side - or until fully cooked.

3. Remove the brats from the pan and slice on a cutting board, set aside.

4. Chop your romaine, tomatoes and jalapeños, set aside.

5. Shred your Violife Epic Mature Cheddar block, set aside.

6. Assemble your nachos. Put a base layer of tortilla chips, cholula, Kite Hill Queso, Brat slices, Violife Shreds and fresh jalapeños.

7. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with romaine lettuce and chopped tomatoes.

8. Optional: serve with a side of salsa, guac or vegan sour cream!

9. Enjoy!