Ultimate Vegan Nachos

The other night I created a vegan twist on loaded, ultimate, (whatever you want to call it), nachos. It turned out to be incredibly delicious.

Basically, it's multigrain tortilla chips smothered with melted vegan cheese (I recommend Daiya brand shredded cheddar), topped with seasoned rice, beans, fake chicken shreds, and homemade salsa.

For the salsa:

Half of a large yellow onion, diced

4 medium sized tomatoes (just about any variety will do), diced

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

2 tsp tobasco sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all of these fresh ingredients and you've got salsa.

For the rice:

Bring two cups water to a boil. Stir in 1 cup brown rice and let simmer for about 45 minutes, covered. When most of the water has been absorbed, add the excess liquid from the salsa to the rice. This way, you'll still get the flavor of the salsa, but the chips won't become soggy! Next, add 1 tbsp tobasco sauce, 2 tsp cumin, and 1 1/2 tsp paprika. Add salt to taste. Let this hang out until you're ready to put together the finished product.

For the beans and "chicken":

Take two pieces of Gardein brand chick'n scallopini and microwave for about a minute, until unthawed. Next, cut into small cubes. Don't be a perfectionist when chopping these, because you're aiming for kind of a shredded feel. Start heating up 2 tbsp of olive or canola oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. When the oil gets that liquidy look to it, toss in the chicken, along with a can of beans of your choice (I used great northern beans cause that's what was in the pantry :) ). Add some salt to taste, and 1 tbsp cumin. Yummy. Lots of cumin.

After the different components of the nachos are ready, it's time to start putting everything together. But first, cover the bottom of a 9x13in pan with the multigrain tortilla chips. Next, cover with 1/2 cup daiya cheddar cheese alternative. Put under the broiler until the cheese is nice and melted.

So you have your cheese-smothered chips. Next, start piling on the other ingredients in this order: rice, beans and chicken, and finally salsa. Garnish with some more cheese on top for good measure.

And voila! Ultimate Vegan Nachos!