Sweet Potato Nachos with Hemp 'Cheese'

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning, it’s probably become clear that I have a thing for orange vegetables (see here, here, here, and here). It probably also comes as no surprise that one of my favourite things in the world is ‘veganizing’ or putting a healthier spin on comfort food.

Today, I combined my two passions into one plant-powerful nacho plate. Behold my mighty Sweet Potato Nachos!

I don’t know what got into me this morning, but boy, I had a precise vision for how I wanted these nachos to turn out, and I am happy to say that I nailed them on my first attempt! You know what they say… When life hands you sweet potatoes, make nachos. Heh heh heh.

So, how does one make these nachos? First, thinly sliced sweet potato is roasted until crispy. These are your ‘chips.’

While the sweet potatoes are baking, you whip together a raw hemp nacho ‘cheese’ sauce and gather the other toppings: thinly sliced cabbage, cilantro, black beans, salsa, avocado, and mango.

Once the sweet potatoes are ready, you transfer them to a serving platter and gussy them up with all your toppings. Fancy, fancy.

Finally, dig in. Utensils are unnecessary, although you might want to keep some napkins nearby. Take it from me. #messyeatersunite 😉

These nachos serve 3-4 as a main dish, and 6-8 as an appetizer. They make an excellent weekend lunch or hors d’oeuvre, and thanks to the beans, sweet potato, avocado, and hemp sauce, they are nutritionally balanced, providing lots of complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fat. Healthy nachos? It doesn’t get much better than that!

If you make this recipe, tag it with #holisticallie and @holisticallie on Instagram!

Healthy Sweet Potato Nachos with Hemp Nacho "Cheese" and all the Fixings

This healthy vegan spin on nachos is the perfect winter comfort food dish! This recipe replaces the typical chips with thinly sliced roasted sweet potato rounds that are dressed with a hemp ‘cheese’ sauce, avocado, black beans, vegetables, and salsa.

3 large organic sweet potatoes, unpeeled
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼-1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup finely shredded purple cabbage
1 large or 2 small avocado, cubed
½ cup salsa of choice
1 cup cilantro, stems removed
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup finely diced mango (optional)
1 cup hemp nacho 'cheese' sauce (recipe follows)

Hemp Nacho 'Cheese' Sauce

⅓ cup filtered water
1 cup hemp hearts
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon salsa
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 clove garlic
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne
⅛ teaspoon turmeric

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Leave peels on. Slice as thinly as possible and place in a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat.
Spread sweet potato in a single layer on the baking sheets. Depending on the size of your pans, you may need to bake them in two batches.
Bake sweet potato for 20-30 minutes, or until crisp and curling up around the edges. Some of them will start resembling chips as they bake.
While the sweet potatoes are baking, prepare the hemp ‘cheese’ sauce: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth and creamy. Transfer into a container and set aside until ready to use.
Once sweet potato chips are finished baking, transfer them to a large serving platter. Top with cabbage, avocado, cilantro, salsa, black beans, mango (if using) and hemp nacho ‘cheese’ sauce.
Divide among serving plates and enjoy.

Hemp nacho ‘cheese’ sauce adapted from Bloom For Life

Have a lovely, lively weekend, and I’ll be back soon with another winter comfort food dish involving pasta and tempeh meatballs. Until then, be well and enjoy these nachos!