loaded nachos

Back in Texas, before we were vegan, or even vegetarian for that matter, David was supremely fond of Chili con Queso, cheese sauce with chilies. Having grown up near the border, he tends to be particularly fussy regarding Mexican-style food - especially this cheese sauce. 

I have been working on making a cheese sauce that does not utilize commercial brands of cheese such as Follow Your Heart and Daiya and still tastes like cheese; this is just what I have come up with. David was extremely happy and satisfied with this recipe, and if you have fond memories of creamy, velvety, cheese sauce, I encourage you to give this a try. 

The sauce is great as is, but because he was a dedicated fan of the Chile con Queso, I made this version with diced tomatoes and diced chilies. 

 The recipe uses roasted red peppers, which have a tendency to mold before being used all up, so after giving this recipe a try and deciding that it will be a regular meal ingredient, measure out your three tablespoons portions into ice cube containers or just mounded on a cookie sheet. Freeze and move the frozen mounds of red pepper into a freezer bag. Thaw a portion a bit before making a batch of the sauce and you won't again be reaching into your fridge only to find ruined red peppers.

We wound up licking the bowl clean and making it a requirement that the kids learn how to make this in order to ensure them a more delicious future. The sauce is easy enough to make and truly worth the effort.

Cost Breakdown

beans: $2

chips: $3

olives, onions, jalapeno, lettuce, avocado: $2.50

sauce: $2

tomato and chili: $2

Total to make 5 servings:

$11.50

pat's cheese steak make over

To make the sandwich bigger,
click on the top bun.

Let's for a brief moment veer away from the casual dining restaurant and go to Philadelphia.  Pat's King of Steaks boasts of being the originator of the Philly Cheese Steak. The legend goes that Pat was selling hot dogs from his cart when, on a whim, he decided to cook up some steak meat instead. He was probably getting tired of hot dogs and wanted to eat something different for a change. 

A cabbie nearby was exposed to the succulent "aroma" and had the temerity to ask for Pat's lunch instead of a hot dog. Being the smart businessman that he was, Pat didn't have a hang up over this and, in fact, made some more for himself after the cabbie was gone. The cabbie enjoyed this steak sandwich so much that he spread the word to other cabbies who in turn spread the word and the rest is history. 

At this point Pat did not have cheese on his famous cheese steak; he added that later. 

Since I went to the trouble of making the SteaK Seitan, I decided that I needed more recipes for steak. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives loves to show cheese steaks on the show and Tami and Celine have their own version of cheese steak in their new cookbook, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day; I didn't want to be left behind.

Let's talk how to order this cheese steak as a local - not that you'll ever have the chance seeing as it isn't vegan, but perhaps you can get the family to play Pat's and "order" the sandwich from you.

Here is the lingo:

(1)

One sandwich with onions: "wit"

One sandwich without onions: "wit-out"

Two sandwiches with onions: "2 wit"

(you get it, right?)

(2)

specify the cheese: American, Cheese Whiz, Provolone

For the vegan version, you can have Follow (Your Heart), Teese, Daiya, or a great vegan cheese sauce. 

(3)

 Have your money ready 

(or chores for the at-home players)

So, review:

One sandwich without onions, with cheese whiz:

"wit-out whiz"

For those who want authentic, and nothing but, you will need the cheese sauce, which I have very conveniently invented for you (although, which at this point had to be removed from the site as it is appearing in my upcoming cookbook!). This is a fantastic cheese sauce, so please give it a go - it requires no Daiya, FYH, etc. I added peppers and onions to our sandwiches, along with the cheese sauce. 

Pat would be proud. 

*sniff*

Cost Breakdown

SteaK: $3

bread: $3

peppers, onions, mushrooms: $3

cheese sauce: $2

oil, garlic, misc: $1

Total to make 4 sandwiches:

$12.00

Their charge per sandwich: $9.00

Make Over cost per sandwich: $3.00

SteaK Seitan

Cheese SteaK Sandwich