Raw Tostadas with Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce

As much as I love preparing raw food and delving into recipe books for inspiration, it’s rare that I follow a recipe to the letter. But there’s always that rare exception to the rule, and I humbly offer one here.

Kristen Suzanne’s Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce is, in a word, Perfect! I made it for the first time today and, truth be told, I found myself really, really wishing that I could unscrew the bottom of my Vita Mix to get every last drop into my greedy little mouth. MMM-MMM-Amazing is all I can say.

This sauce tastes a lot like a Mexican Salsa con Queso. But instead of goopy, mucusy cow cheese, it’s made with clean-burning, highly digestible hemp seeds!

Hemp seeds are one of my favorite vegetarian food protein sources. Besides tasting incredibly creamy and sweet and nutty all at the same time, hemp seeds are a whole food offering an ideal balance of beneficial essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They also boast a complete, well-rounded amino acid profile, providing 25% protein by weight. Additionally, tasty hemp seeds are rich in fiber, contain plenty of critical minerals like zinc, iron, calcium and magnesium and are a good source of antioxidant vitamins A and E.

Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce is not only nutritious and delicious but versatile, offering a variety of serving possibilities. It makes a great dip with raw veggies or raw chips, is sure to be incredible on top of zucchini noodles (I intend to prove this very soon!) and makes a superior nacho sauce, natch.

Come lunchtime today, I was fortunate to have some homemade chia tortilla shells in the fridge, along with a nice variety of fresh, bitter winter salad greens picked at the CSA last week. I warmed the shells in the toaster, chopped the greens, whipped up the sauce and voila! These delectable Raw Tostadas were born.

I made them two ways: 1) sauce on top of the greens (pictured on the red plate), and 2) sauce under the greens, with Herbamare-kissed avocado slices on top (plated on blue). Both were divine, as you might imagine from the photos.
No dehydrated tortillas on hand? Consider a simple wrap-style tostada instead, using nori sheets, romaine lettuce or collard greens to encase the sauce plus greens or any veggies of your choice. It's all good.

Kristen Suzanne’s
Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce

Add the following ingredients to high speed blender and blend until creamy.

1/3 cup water
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 cup hemp seeds
2 ½ Tbs nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsps tamari
½ tsp Himalayan crystal salt
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric powder

So easy! So tasty! Happy munching! And be sure to visit Kristin's blog for more yummy recipe ideas and high raw inspiration.