Chili cheese nacho day!

Since my husband is such a supportive and wonderful man, today I decided to reward him for doing such an awesome job of keeping an open mind and dealing with my process of trudging through this mire of information. He loves chili cheese nachos, and we haven't had it in awhile so I decided to make a vegetarian version of our favourite chili, and since I have not yet sought out a recipe for vegan sour cream (though I am sure it exists), and Kevin is not a huge fan of the vegan cheese I currently have in the fridge, I opted to make the warm nacho dip to go with the chili. This recipe is identical to the one found in the oh she glows! cookbook, but it doesn't appear on her website, apparently.

Pre-baked nacho dip

It smells incredible, and tastes just as good.

While I know what I do not want in my diet anymore (meat, fish, dairy, and eggs), it is sometimes difficult to come up with healthy choices on the fly. It is also difficult to eat out on the fly. This city has a sparse number of restaurants that cater to vegetarians, let alone anyone who is dairy-free. If you don't want meat, cheese or potatoes, well...fuck you. This means having to plan in advance, do my homework, and keep inventory of all the ingredients we currently have in the house. It is a decent amount of work, but I enjoy it: it is challenging, and exciting to make something new from scratch every day. And man, the cashew cheese sauce recipe is surprisingly delicious, so the warm nacho dip was a really great comfort food type of thing. Served with some warm corn chips or pita bites, this would be an excellent party food.

364 calories, including tortilla chips (not pictured)

Tonight, however, I served it as a topping to our chili in lieu of the usual grated cheddar and dollop or sour cream. The result was absolutely sensational. The chili was as delicious as always because, if I am being honest, the spices are paramount in this recipe. The meat was always just in it because that was what the recipe called for, but it was always my least favourite part: cubing, patting, flouring and browning beef makes a goddamned mess all over the kitchen. Grease splattering, bloody paper towels, and just not worth the headache. The last few times I made it with meat included, I used ground beef instead because it was less of a chore to clean up afterwards. Making the chili today took a fraction of the time it normally takes, and I added black beans to it instead of beef, and the addition of the nacho dip on top just took it up a notch.

Seriously, try it. You will love it.

On a whim last night, I decided at 11PM to put the leftover sushi rice in the fridge to use. Rice pudding had been on my mind, and I just knew the internet would provide me with a dairy-free recipe I could throw together for a sweet midnight snack/dessert. Thank you, Google. If you like rice pudding at all, this recipe is absolutely the best I have ever eaten. The coconut milk and cardamom really make it explode with flavour! I didn't have the almonds or pistachios on hand, but I did use everything else it called for and it was still amazing.

I hope every recipe I try is as encouragingly enjoyable as these ones. I could easily feed friends and family these things and they would never know each dish wasn't filled with dairy, and that is exactly what I want. Anyone who actually thinks vegans only eat bare leaves, bland tofu and dry seeds needs to crack a cookbook open and learn something, just like I did.