Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Horrah for the Fifth of May!

Most Americans can't tell you why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We just do. It's a Mexican holiday commemorating their army's victory over the French in 1862. Absolutely nothing to do with America. In fact, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the holiday is more widely celebrated in the U.S. than in Mexico! I guess we figure Mexico's right across the border and they have margaritas and yummy food. So why not celebrate, right? Americans love any excuse to consume themed dishes and booze.

I always make some sort of Mexican-themed dish on the fifth of May. This year, I opted for the We Will Rock You Three-Layer Nachos from 30 Minute Vegan:

Technically, I didn't follow the whole recipe, but I used the 30 Minute Vegan instructions as a guide. I did go with the tempeh-bean dip base called for in the recipe — a mixture of refried beans, tempeh, bell pepper, and onion.

The dip went into the bottom of my pie pan, followed by smoky sauteed Swiss chard (NOT in the recipe ... I just had some local chard that needed cookin'). That's topped with my favorite Margaritaville tortilla chips. Atop the chips is melted Teese creamy cheddar sauce (delicious!!), salsa, avocado, tomato, Tofutti sour cream, and a few pickled jalapenos.

The 30 Minute Vegan recipe actually includes instructions for a homemade nooch-based cheese sauce, and I would have made that, but I had creamy Teese. And Teese trumps nooch.

The whole pie plate — before adding the sour cream and avocado of course — went into the oven for about five minutes, so the chips were all crispy and the Teese was all meltly-melty.

Later in the evening, I sipped on a few margaritas. Horrah for Mexican victory!

14 comments:

T said...

Yummm.... oh how I miss nachos... can't find any decent faux cheese around Berlin, but will have to keep looking!

The Health Sensei said...

that is seriously yumtastic looking!

great blog too, i'm now a follower...come check mine out sometime too :D

Anonymous said...

Oh gurrrrl that looks awesome

jessy said...

i love that tempeh-bean dip - it looks awesome! the tofutti, teese, and swiss chard are most delicious, Bianca - yum! and i've gotta admit, i totally love any excuse to consume themed dishes and booze, and dan & i did just that last night. w00t!

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

I also indulged in some margaritas, but I WISH I'd had your nachos to go alongside.

Babette said...

That sounds like a lovely dish! I'm very curious about the tempeh/refried bean base.

I love your blog and am looking forward to your cookbook!

Sarah S. said...

Well done! I have a tube of the teese cheddar and a batch of homemade vegan sour cream that need a home, and I think I found it.

dreaminitvegan said...

I still haven't made nachos since going vegan, well not that I used to before that even. This looks so freakin good.

I think here in American we celebrate everything. Maybe that's part of our problem, we party way too much! ha!

Sheridan said...

Nachos are my favorite food group! This is making me soooooo hungry! I want some! That tempeh bean dip base sounds fantastic!

Rachael said...

That looks amazing!

miss v said...

margaritas and nachos sound like my kind of celebration!

Anonymous said...

Cinco de Mayo is the best! I used to love going across the border to celebrate when I lived in AZ.
I love nachos! Olé!

HaleyCalifornia said...

these nachos look DIVINE!!! thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Even though I've had the pleasure of enjoying Mexican twice this week, your nachos have me craving more - they look out of this worldly!