Stacked Nachos with Dairy Free Lime Crema

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Clean up your football game party food with this super healthy stacked nacho recipe with lime crema! I figured it was time to come up with an alternative to my classic game day standby, 7-Layer Salad (although I must say, when it comes to party food, that one is always a big winner!)

But back to the stacked nacho recipe…

Choosing a Healthy Chip for Your Stacked Nacho Recipe….

From a manufacturer’s standpoint, there are two big reasons that get in the way with using a healthy oil: 1) cost and 2) oxidation. Nutrient-rich, antioxidant-rich, unrefined oils are expensive. And to complicate matters, most oils are not heat-stable enough to withstand frying.

What would be the perfect healthy chip? In my ideal world, the chip would be baked, not fried in the first place. The chip would be made from unrefined stone ground corn and the oil would used would be a heat-stable oil that is nutrient-rich, unrefined and rich in antioxidants such as macadamia nut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin coconut oil or unrefined red palm oil.

However, I can’t seem to find one single chip company to make such a chip.

Conventional tortilla chips such as Tostidos, use pure vegetable oil. This is a problem because not only is it highly refined, it is super rich in a very pro-inflammatory type of omega-6 fat. If you have our Clean Cuisine book, you know all about the problem with too much pro-inflammatory omega-6 oils. If you don’t have the book, be sure to read HERE. The “healthier” chip brands typically use high-oleic sunflower or safflower oil. High-oleic oils are still processed, but they have been processed in such a way that they have more heat-stable oleic-acid than pro-inflammatory omega-6 fat. High-oleic oils are still not a super good choice though because they are refined, empty-calorie oils.

When I have the time and inclination, I make my own baked tortilla chips ,which is actually way easier than you might think.  However, I realize it’s not always realistic to whip up homemade tortilla chips. When I just don’t have time to make homemade tortilla chips, I use the Garden of Eatin Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. The ingredients are: Organic blue corn, expeller pressed oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, sea salt. I wish they were baked, not fried (if they were baked they would say so!) and I wish they used a better oil, but it is what it is…

After you nail down the chip, the rest of the ingredients for the stacked nacho recipe are pretty straightforward. You’ll just want to make the Lime Crema first.

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And exactly is Lime Crema? It’s basically a savory limey cheese-like sauce that takes the place of cheese. It’s so good you’ll want to start drizzling it on everything from baked potatoes to whole grain dinner bowls. Here’s how to make it…

Dairy Free Lime Crema

• Author: Ivy Larson

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Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews (preferably soaked for 1 or 2 hours)
• ½ cup water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon unrefined sea salt (plus more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon raw honey

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Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender, like this one from Luvele or this one from Ninja and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

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Stacked Nacho Recipe

• Author: Ivy Larson
• Yield: 6 1x

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Ingredients

• 4 cups organic tortilla chips (such as Garden of Eatin brand)
• 2 cups steamed short grain brown rice
• 2 cups mashed avocado
• 1 cup of chopped grilled chicken or steak (optional)
• 2 cups salsa or pico de gallo (note: look for fresh pico de gallo in the deli section of your supermarket)
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 1 cup lime crema (see recipe above)
• 3/4 cup chopped cilantro

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Instructions

1. Divide the chips onto 6 small appetizer plates.
2. Divide the brown rice over the chips. Add a heaping spoonful of avocado, on top of the brown rice. Add a heaping spoonful of salsa or pico de gallo on top of the avocado. Sprinkle on the olives. Drizzle the lime crema on top. Garnish with cilantro.

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