7-Layer Nacho Dip

I could eat Mexican fare any time of day. This Nacho dip is hearty, flavourful and nutritious. Perfect for Saturday night or Sunday brunch.

7-Layer Nacho Dip

This Nacho dip is hearty, flavourful and nutritious. Perfect for Saturday night or Sunday brunch. What makes it so great, is that you can indulge without the guilt.

Estimated time: 40 minutes
Effort/Skill: Medium
Preheat oven to 425 F

7 layers assembled from the bottom to the top

1. Smoky Canadian Beans (recipe below)

2. Meaty Mexican Mushrooms (recipe below)
3. Salsa (your choice - I love Neals Brothers)
4. Guacamole (recipe below)
5. Lettuce, Tomato, Corn
6. Green onions, jalapenos
7. Creamy sunflower sauce (recipe below)

Ingredients & Directions

“Smoky Canadian” Beans

1 - 398 ml can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp maple syrup (dark organic if possible)
Salt & pepper to taste
½ cup water or vegetable broth

In a medium saucepan, boil beans and spices for 3 minutes. Then simmer on low for 10 minutes. Add more water or broth if needed. When beans are mushy, remove from heat and drain any excess liquid. Blend until smooth. Set aside to cool.

“Meaty Mexican” Mushrooms
(*Topped with salsa in photo)

12-15 medium sized white mushrooms, finely chopped
¼ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp nutritional yeast (for an added “cheesy” zest)
Drizzle avocado oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano

Place mushrooms, walnuts, spices in a skillet over medium high heat with a drizzle of avocado oil. Saute until mushrooms are well cooked.  Set aside to cool.

Guacamole

3 avocados
½ white onion
2 slices of tomato
Lime juice, garlic cloves, fresh cilantro and salt and pepper - optional

In a blender, blend well until smooth.

Creamy Sunflower Sauce

½ raw unsalted sunflower seeds
boiling water
¼ cup nutritional yeast - optional
Dash of cayenne
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
½ lemon - juiced
Salt & pepper to taste

Boil a kettle of water, add enough boiling water to cover the sunflower seeds in a small bowl. Set aside to soak and soften.In a blender, add the remaining ingredients. Add the soaked sunflower seeds and some of the water. Blend on high until smooth. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Nachoes

1 bag of nachos (Que Pasa’s Thin & Crispy are our go-to)
Chili powder
Maple Syrup
Jalapeno slices

Lay out chips on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle maple syrup, shake chili powder, smoked paprika and other desired spices on the chips. Add thin slices of jalapeno pepper and place in a preheated oven (425 F) for 7-10 minutes or until the maple syrup starts to bubble. Remove and serve. 

Serve up the 7-layer dip with some warm chips on the side.

NOURISHED FACT

Sunflower seeds. Most plant-based recipes these days call for cashews to make things creamy. So why use sunflower seeds over cashews?

1. Soaking time - Sunflowers win. They take very little time to soften up. Adding some hot or boiling water and letting them sit for a few minutes produces a soft texture that’s easy to blend into creamy sauces.

2. Sunflower seeds are lower in sugars and saturated fat. If you’re worried about your blood sugar, sunflower seeds are a better option.

3. Cashews may have slightly higher iron and zinc, but sunflower seeds are higher in magnesium, calcium and fibre.

4. Sunflower seeds are also much higher in a number of vitamins, including vitamins A, C, E, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5) and B6.

5. Sunflowers are grown in the Canadian prairies - making these a sustainable and (more) local choice.

6. Cashews production can be very cruel. These nuts are now in high demand thanks to the developed world’s new found love for vegan diets. However, most vegans are shocked to learn about the practices involved in the less-developed world when it comes to cashew production. Cashes are shelled manually. And most of us have never seen the shell. Why? Because in between the shell and the nute is a layer of toxic acid that can burn human skin. Workers that are hand-shelling these nuts are subject to boils, cuts, scars which take weeks to heal.