Dairy free Queso Nacho Cheese

I confess that in college I ate more than my share of that queso cheese that comes in the jar. I swear it had an addictive chemical in it that made me crave it fort nightly. I miss it very much. I found this great recipe here on godairyfree.org.  I don't often eat cashews, so I was thinking about adding the tomatoes and chiles to this recipe here with some extra garlic, onion and cumin. Hopefully this will become an "experiment in the kitchen" post soon!

from godairyfree.org

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained (Robin uses diced green chiles and less chili powder, but I only had plain diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (mild, medium, or hot – your choice!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Grind the cashews in your spice grinder until powdered, about 30 seconds.
2. Place the tomatoes with juice in your blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add the ground cashews, nutritional yeast, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, and salt, and blend until smooth.
3. Lightly oil the insert of the slow cooker or spray it with cooking spray, and transfer the queso mixture to the cooker.
4. Stir in the water until well incorporated (use less for a thicker dip, you can add more later if it thickens too much).
5. Cover and cook on Low, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours, or until the mixture is thick and hot. If the mixture isn’t thick after 2 hours, turn the setting to High, remove the lid, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes longer.
6. When ready to serve, spoon about 1/3 cup of the queso into a small bowl, stir in the lemon juice, then stir the mixture back into the slow cooker.
7. Taste, add pepper to taste, and adjust the seasonings, if needed.