The Real Super Bowl MVP: Vegan Queso

JK- I <3 You Edelman

[So it wasn't the most thrilling game but I was ecstatic with the outcome.]

Until recently, it has been difficult to perfect the low protein nachos.

The key you ask? Spicy queso sauce over veggie loaded nachos.

Spicy, vegan queso makes the nachos gooey and flavorful. This sauce provide a combination of flavors that is out of this world. Topped over everything I love most, cilantro, cheese, spicy chili, avocado and green onions. I am now nacho obsessed.

1. Lay out your low protein chips. SIDE NOTE: I always suggest Seite, which is my favorite and as close to all natural as you can get with PKU. No fake, over-processed flours in their products. Lucky for us, cassava (derived from yuca) is extremely low. More to come on that.

2. Load them with all the low pro toppings and favorite low pro cheese. Layer salsa and then cheese to best meld the flavor. If you feel like it, sprinkle a dash of vegetable oil over the cheese to facilitate melting. I always use Follow Your Heart. For. Everything. It is the ONLY low pro cheese I like and is much lower than any you can buy through the low protein food vendors. Shocking, I know.

3. Bake (or microwave if you are trying to get after those delicious flavors sooner). Load up after with the avocado, green onions and cilantro.

4. Pour over the low pro and vegan queso and try not to devour in one bite.

I have loved mayonnaise mixed with ranch since I was a child. This has now been perfected and dressed it up with basil and garlic, which was a modification of my mom's famous blue cheese dip. Only recently did I start putting dollops of this on everything. It adds a sweet flavor in the mix. The key with these nachos is variety of flavors.

I even added marinated jackfruit, which took it to a new level. This was insanely good!! I used the Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce to marinade the jackfruit. The sweet flavor imbedded in the salt nachos was the perfect combination.

Vegan Queso

225 mg phe, 6.2 gm protein, 94 calories

15 servings: 15 mg phe, .41 gm protein, 6 calories

1 Cup Cauliflower Florets

1/4 Cup Carrot

1/4 Cup Diced Red or Yellow Pepper

1/2 Small Jalapeño Pepper

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Plant Milk (I used Flax because it is phe-free)

1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast

2 Tablespoons Juice from Pickled Jalapeños (may sub pickle juice but add a dash of cayenne pepper)

1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika

1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Pepper

Any other toppings of your choice for nachos

1. Bring a pot fill with water to a boil.

2. Add cauliflower, jalapeño & carrot to boiling water and cook until tender.

3. As the vegetables cook, start prepping your nacho toppings. I used- chips, Follow Your Heart parmesan, cilantro, green onion, salsa verde, tomato, red salsa.

4. Once vegetables are tender, drain them. Add to blender with flax milk, nutritional yeast, diced pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper and pickled jalapeño juice. Blend until smooth.

5. Assemble the chips on cookie sheet. Add salsa then cheese.

6. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until crispy and melted.

7. Add any desired toppings. Pour over queso. Add a spritz of lime juice over the top.

Other super bowl must haves: veggie dip and buffalo cauliflower. YUM!

All the toppings, sauce, and jackfruit makes for excellent leftover lunches. I ate the most amazing salads for lunch the days after the superbowl.