These loaded mushroom tacos are perfect for your summer get togethers and parties. Nachos really are such a great interactive sharing dish that pleases many. It’s hard not to with all the deliciousness and contrasts of Mexican flavours. In this rendition there are flavour packed, spicy hints coming from the mushrooms, sweetness and tang from the tomato salsa, creminess from the avocado and lots of savoury deliciousness from the cashew cheese sauce. Maybe these are not the most traditional nachos but they are yummy and utilises many of the components I have come to love as a vegan Swede exploring Mexican flavours in my Malmö kitchen far away from Mexico itself.

A huge inspiration for my new spark to cook and eat Mexican food comes from reading and cooking from fabulous cookbook Provechy by Edgar Castrejon. I cooked up his recipes in a recent video – you can check it out here, and I just loved everything I made. The mushrooms in this recipe is inspired by his adobo mushroom tacos which he kindly allowed me to share the recipe for here. Make them and thank me later, haha. After you make these nachos though, double haha! Or should I say jejeje!?

Malin x

Loaded Mushroom Nachos

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

Spicy mushrooms:

200 g chestnut mushrooms

150 g oyster mushrooms

0,5 brown onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp avocado oil

0,5 tbsp oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 tsp valentina hot sauce

Cashew cheese sauce:

0,5 cup raw cashews, soaked

0,5 medium carrot, steamed

0,5 cup unsweetened soy milk

0,5 lemon, juice only

0,3 cup nutritional yeast

0,5 tbsp light miso paste

0,5 tbsp pickled jalapeños

0,5 tsp garlic powder

Salt, to taste

Tomato salsa:

1 cup colourful cherry tomatoes

1 small red or white onion

A small bunch of coriander

0,5 lime, juice only

Salt, to taste

Guacamole:

2 small/medium avocados

0,5 lime, juice only

Salt, to taste

Layer and top with:

250 g corn chips

Sliced red onion, optional

Pickled jalapeños, optional

Lime wedges, optional

METHOD:

Soak the cashews for the cheese sauce in hot water for 15-30 minutes and steam/boil the carrot until tender.*

Clean and chop the mushrooms into small pieces, roughly 0,5-1 cm. Peel and finely chop the onion.

Heat the avocado oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion for a couple of minutes, until softened, and then add the mushrooms as well as spices. Mix well and saute on medium low heat for 7-9 minutes or until tender and nicely browned.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

In the meantime make the cheese sauce. Drain and rinse the cashews and add them to the jug of a high speed blender along with the steamed carrot and all the other ingredients for the sauce. Blend on high for a couple of minutes, until the sauce is silky smooth. Transfer to a jug or bottle and set aside.

Dice the tomatoes and finely chop the onion and coriander for the salsa. Transfer to a mixing bowl and drizzle with lime juice. Season with salt and mix well to combine. Set aside.

At this point the mushrooms should be nicely cooked. Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to the mushrooms along with the hot sauce. Use as much or as little hot sauce as you think is pleasant and mix well through the mushrooms and beans. Cooking for another minute or so to heat the beans and then take it all off the heat.

Layer half of the corn chips into a nachos-suitable oven safe dish, I used a rectangular enamel dish. Then spread half of the mushroom and black bean mixture across the chips. Repeat this one more time and then pop the dish into the preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until hot and a little golden around the edges of the chips.

In the meantime make the smashed avocado. Remove the peel and pip from the avocado and cube it. Place on a shallow dish and squeeze the lime juice over it. Season with salt and mash with a fork until you reach your preferred consistency, I like mine a little chunky.

Once the nachos are done cooking in the oven drizzle the cheese sauce over the top and dollop the guacamole over them evenly. Add the tomato salsa in spoonfuls and finish off with anything you like to top your nachos with. I like to add some sliced red onion for texture as well as pickled jalapenos for spice. I also always finish with an extra sprinkling of fresh coriander. You could add some lime wedges for squeezing over the top as well.

Enjoy immediately for full effect!

*You could use left over cooked carrot here, it can be steamed, boiled or roasted. The important thing is that it’s tender. You could also sub the carrot for pumpkin such as hokkaido.

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