Vegan Queso Dip--the unqueso

Margaritas and queso--perfect together.

Who doesn't love queso? I'll reword that: who in Texas doesn't love queso and chips? My favorite is at Matt's El Rancho here in Austin. The Big Bob is a bowl of warm goodness, topped with guacamole, pico de gallo, and ground taco meat. Others copy it, but you can't beat the original version. Just the mention of a BB and my mouth waters. I would be happy with my own bowl, a basket or two of tortilla chips, and a Mexican Martini for dinner any day of the year. I've rarely met a queso not worth eating though; and surprisingly, there is a vegan version now included in that declaration.

Not a Matt's El Rancho Big Bob--but all the necessary ingredients.

My side kick/cooking buddy, Erin, always gets me to try weird (healthier) things that I would never think to eat: sun cheese (is that like sun tea?), sprouted lentil salad (why?), tofu scramble, egg-less egg salad (what's the point?), beet chips, tofu chocolate pie (did you just read my cream pie recipe!), nutritional yeast (for bread?), flax seed ice cream cones (if I ever actually ate ice cream I'd want the real thing!)..the list ventures on and on into the unknown world of eating vegetarian or vegan.

When Erin comes over we slice beets with a mandoline to make baked veggie chips.
Don't ask me why! My fingers are still stained from that endeavor. They were beautiful though.

While not a tofu fan unless it's fried and served with great Chinese food, I have to admit Erin's vegetarian and vegan dishes are pretty darn good. She takes my teasing well. I'm addicted to her roasted chick pea, olive, and cauliflower side dish, and her soups are yummy. If you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or yeast-free diet, or just want to be more creative with your veggies, check out Erin's blog for inspiration. Now if I could just get her to stop changing my baking recipes to spelt, rice, or teff flour.

She also makes me turkey and spinach burgers with feta cheese--yum.

For a while, I had several vegans/vegetarians to feed. Seems a lot of college students go through this food discovery path. When Erin suggested I make a vegan queso for Thursday taco night, I admit that I scoffed at the idea. Let them eat--well, you see, that was the problem.--they couldn't/wouldn't eat real queso.

Vegan Queso--it's even the right color!

So without letting the non-V eaters know that the cheese dip was special (aka no cheese), I slipped the warm bowl onto the counter next to the guacamole and homemade tortilla chips. They all gobbled it up without question. When I explained my experiment, even the non-Vs declared it good. Of course, guys will eat pretty much anything when they are starving, so I was forced to give it a taste to confirm. Darn if it wasn't full of flavor and, well--cheesy tasting. If I hadn't made it, I would just have thought it was someone else's version of queso. Not Big Bob, but twas tasty enough.

Make your own corn tortilla chips to serve with the queso--so much healthier.

So go ahead now--give it a try, even if you're not a vegan. If I can do it, so can you! You'll be more than surprised...I guarantee. Sorry--only two pixs--it was all gobbled up too fast.


Vegan Queso 
makes about 2 cups
by Donna Green-Goodman*

2 cups water
¼ cup raw cashews
One 4 oz. jar pimentos, drained
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin, heaping

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Serve as a dip with tortilla chips and vegetables.

Variations: Add vegetarian burger crumbles, black olives, or salsa. 

The recipe is from Something To Shout About by Donna Green-Goodman, which chronicles her recovery from aggressive breast cancer by following a healthy, plant-based diet. Donna's book can be purchased from her website.

"Seriously, I don't know why Debbie doesn't like beet brittle!"