Two Mind Blowing VEGAN Summer Dips

 Back when I was 19 and in my first year of post secondary, I had cheesy potatoes, cheese and crackers, nachos, cheese with my salt and vinegar chips—you name it. Everything I ate had cheese.

 

But unfortunately, as you grow older your body can’t handle the same high-fat diet you use to put it through. Even though I am only 23, my body can’t recover after eating cheese.

 

I feel the grease running through my body and skin. It’s physically draining. It makes me instantly regret my decision every time.

 

I had a weakness for nachos and use to justify my nacho binge eating with the fact that I added a bunch of vegetables. But I still was ashamed of my inability to have any willpower to stop myself.

 

Thankfully, a friend gave me a recipe for a vegan nacho dip. It’s been a game changer for me!

 

In celebration of the long weekend, I wanted to share two of my favourite dishes: vegan nacho dip and organic guacamole. I make these for any social gathering with my family and friends and they’re always a hit. These dishes have room for customization and are fun to experiment with. I personally enjoy mixing both dishes together on my chips to have the ultimate nacho experience.

Vegan Nacho Dip Ingredients:

Vegan Cheese Sauce

1 cup of raw organic cashews

1 cup of organic carrots; peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons organic lemon juice

1 clove organic garlic; minced

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

¼, or ½, or ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• (¾ teaspoon is very spicy!!)

 

Vegan Dip Sauce

1 cup organic marinara sauce (I prefer to have chunky marinara!)

1 cup organic sweet onion; chopped

3 handfuls organic spinach; chopped

2 organic green onions; chopped

½ cup organic corn chips; crushed (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Soak cashews in water and cover for at least 2 hours, then drain and rinse
2. Preheat oven to 400
3. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish
4. Boil chopped carrots for 5 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork
5. Blend cashews and carrots until creamy and smooth
6. Combine yeast, lemon juice, garlic, salt, chili powder, onion powder, cayenne powder and 2/3 cup of water to the blender and mix. More may be needed if the mixture is not blending thoroughly, so splash in extra water until the mixture blends properly
7. Pour blender mixture into a large bowl and mix in marinara sauce, chopped onion and spinach.
8. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and even out
9. Sprinkle crushed chips if desired – I prefer to eat the dip with corn chips and find sprinkling them on the dip is a bit too much!
10. Bake for 30 minutes
11. Garnish with green onion
12. Serve with corn chips or crackers

To reheat this dish: heat oven to 400 for only 15 to 20 minutes

 

Organic Guacamole

4 organic avocados; chopped or blended

3 organic roma tomatoes; finely chopped

1 organic onion; finely chopped

1 organic lime

1 organic jalapeno; finely chopped

Cilantro (optional)

 

Directions

1. Chopped all ingredients and mix or blend avocado alone and mix with chopped vegetables
2. Squeeze the juice from the lime – The lime is my favorite. Sometimes if I’m not satisfied I add in another half a lime! It adds a great fresh flavor.
3. Serve with chips

 

These dishes are great for social gatherings, poolside/lakeside, or watching the Blue Jays game. Non-vegans will be amazed with how good these dishes are, especially how cheese tasting the nacho dip is. I’m happy to report that I’m back to binge eating nachos but I’m left without the guilty feeling of ruining my progress - ain’t nobody got time for that!