Southwest Cashew Cream

It's 2014, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some fresh, healthy, whole foods. 

So, my first post of the year is something I've been thinking about for a long time, but never made until now: cashew cream sauce! Cashew cream is a perfect dairy substitute if you're vegan or trying to cut back on dairy, but it's amazing even if you have no dairy aversions. It's smooth, rich, and creamy in way that sour cream or heavy cream isn't, and damn, it's good. Be warned: cashews aren't low fat, but healthy eating for me is about good-for-you natural fats. Get on it!

This sauce is pretty simple and mega flavorful, and goes great on everything from taco salads to brown rice to roasted veggies, or even as a dip for chips or carrots and celery. Also, it's 2014, and we're going to start this new year out by trying new things and having fun in the kitchen. So cashew cream it is! 

Plan ahead, the cashews need to soak over night. And, if you don't have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix (which, side-note, I bought with a year's worth of stored up credit card points and I'm obsessed with), then just blend a bit longer, or potentially even try to strain through a fine mesh sieve (it might be a tad grainy with a lower-powered blender). 

Southwest Cashew Cream Sauce

1 cups cashews

Water

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

Pinch cayenne

1 garlic clove
juice from half a lime

Heavy pinch sea salt

Cover cashews in water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse.

Add cashews to blender, and add just enough fresh water to come to the top of the nuts, but not cover them. Blend until nuts break down, and then blend another minute or two until smooth and creamy. If too thick, add a tad more water. Add remaining ingredients, and blend another minute. Taste, and add more salt as needed.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl...Salad

Some of my gal pals are really into the no-salad-salad, as they call it. The no-salad-salad is basically a big bowl of salady stuff that isn't leafy green and lettuce-like. They throw in a whole bunch of veggies, beans, and baby corn. 

Ugh. Can I tell you something? I hate baby corn. It totally freaks me out. When I was a little kid I loved it...until one time, at a fancy restaurant (ahem, it was the O'Callahan's restaurant at the Shilo Inn in The Dalles, OR... which I thought was like, the fanciest of fancy...it wasn't) I yoinked a baby corn off of Mel's plate when she wasn't looking, and it was pickled or something, and it tasted awful, and I threw up. I've been super anti baby corn ever since that day. PS. this is totally not food-blog friendly, but I have a lot of stories that end with "and then I threw up." 

But I digress, this post really has nothing to do with baby corn or my wimpy stomach. It's all about no-salad-salad.

So anyway, whenever I try to make the standard no-salad-salad, I feel like it doesn't come out quite as good as when my friends do it. It feels like a big, jumbled, incoherent mess. That's why I like themed no-salad-salads. Like Greek-style salads loaded with chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. Or, my favorite: a no-salad-salad with southwest flair. Otherwise known as a burrito bowl. Can we just call it a Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl…Salad? 

This one has so much goodness in it: sweet corn fresh off the cob (not the baby variety, thankyouverymuch), avocado, green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, black beans, and cotija cheese, all doused with fresh squeezed lime juice. You could definitely eat this as is. Or you could make it even better by tossing it with quinoa and a creamy southwest sauce. I vote you do that. I vote you do that right now. 

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl Salad

Serves 4

Creamy Southwest Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon of each: cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano

Splash hot sauce (I use Tapatio) 

Juice from half a lime

Salt & pepper to taste

For sauce, whisk together sour cream through hot sauce, until smooth and creamy. Save the other lime half for salad. Salt & Pepper to taste. 

Salad 

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, diced

Fresh corn off the cob from 1 ear

2-3 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup crumbled cotija cheese

Juice from half a lime

Creamy Southwest Sauce

Cook quinoa: Rinse until water runs clear, drain. Add to a medium pot with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and cool before mixing with salad. 

Stir together black beans through cotija cheese, and toss with lime juice. Add cooled quinoa, and stir until just combined (gently, so you don't moosh up the avocado). Salt and pepper to taste. To eat, either mix in the sauce, or add sauce to each serving. 

Southwest Grilled Cheese

My friend Kristy is getting married, and I'm her maid of honor! Kristy was my randomly assigned roommate in the dorms freshman year, and we were pretty much inseparable from the moment we met. We had booze-addled study sessions to get through our philosophy homework together, stayed up until 4 am laughing every night, and had a million inside jokes. After freshman year, we moved into a big old house near greek row with a bunch of other girls, and then after that we got our first apartment together. Kristy was the one who introduced me to Evan, through her high school pal Bree (who's now one of my bff's too), and I introduced Kristy to her fiancé Mark, though my friend from high school, Jimmy. 

Kristy was the inspiration behind this boozy kahula cake, and this chai-spiced biscotti. She also makes a killer taco salad with an unlikely combination of secret ingredients (including nacho cheese Doritos and creamy French dressing). When we lived together (for 5 years!) we pretty much always had an unending supply of black bean and corn salsa in the fridge. We went through phases where we practically lived on the stuff. We would mix up a giant bowl of black beans, corn, onions and bell peppers, sometimes with tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado, sometimes with sour cream. Then throughout the week we'd have it inside quesadillas, on salads, or simply with tortilla chips. 

It's also really good sandwiched between two pieces of chewy bread, grilled crispy, with melty cheese oozing out the sides. 

Southwest Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 bell pepper- diced

1/2 white onion- diced

1 tomato- diced

1/4 cup- finely cilantro

1/2 cup sour cream

juice of one small  lime

pinch cumin

salt, pepper

Unless you're making sandwiches for a crowd, you'll probably have extra salsa afterward, so get some tortilla chips too. 

Thick slices of sourdough bread

mayonnaise (I learned this trick from Ruth Reichl)

shredded cheese (I used white cheddar)

In a large bowl, mix together beans, corn, pepper, onion, tomato, and cilantro. Stir in sour cream and lime juice. Add cumin, salt, and pepper to taste.

To assemble: heat griddle over medium heat. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread. The mayo adds extra tang, and doesn't burn the way butter does. To assemble, add bread (mayo side down) to griddle, add a layer of cheese, a few big spoonfuls of the bean mix, and another layer of cheese. Top with second slice of bread (mayo side out) and grill several minutes on each side, until bread is crispy, and cheese is melty. Sometimes if the bread is crisping faster than the cheese is melting, I'll cover the griddle for a minute, which steams everything up to help melt the cheese. You might need to use two spatulas to flip without losing the filling.