Hi friends! We love great plant-based cheeses over here and one of our favorite brands, Daiya Foods, is launching a bunch of new, improved, and DELICIOUS products TODAY, March 10th, at Expo West! Expo is the biggest food show of the year and only the best products make an expo launch - so you KNOW they're gonna be great. How else can you trust that they're better than ever? Because (lucky me!) I got to taste-test all the new styles and flavors and I can promise you - they are SO good! They're still churning out delicious, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free plant-based alternatives, but are introducing a few new products this weekend as well - both the improved Daiya Shreds Cutting Board Collection and Cheeze Slices in several flavors. A noticeable improvement from the original version, Daiya is officially stepping up the plant-based cheese game with their new shreds and slices! The new cheeses are made with coconut oil but have the same incredible melt, stretch and taste as dairy-based cheese and can be enjoyed hot or cold. Plus, the cheeses do not contain any titanium dioxide OR carrageenan and are a great source of calcium!

I love that Daiya Foods is passionate about keeping their products plant-based for everyone - whether they’re dairy-intolerant, allergic, vegan, or simply living a healthy lifestyle. As someone with a lot of allergies and dietary restrictions, eating Daiya is a delightfully mindless indulgence. It's comfort food with a conscience! And it's available nearly everywhere these days! In over 22,000 grocery stores across the US and Canada, including Whole Foods, Kroger, Safeway and Publix.

Going to Expo West tomorrow? Or not and wondering what all the fuss is about? Check out our 2015 + 2016 blog posts to find out why EVERYONE in the vegan/ blogging/ health field will be there!

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. frozen or fresh-cut french fries
1/4 cup enchilada sauce
1/2 cup Daiya Pepperjack Shreds - Cutting Board Collection
1 cup cooked black beans
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1/2 avocado, halved + thinly sliced
cilantro, finely chopped
lime wedges, for garnish 

DIRECTIONS
Bake the fries on a baking sheet according to directions or at about 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. When finished, move the cooked fries to an oven-safe pan or container (this will be where you assemble your nachos) and set the oven to 'broil' or to at least 450 degrees.

Drizzle the enchilada sauce over the fries evenly, then top with the Daiya Pepperjack Shreds. Place the dish in the oven until the cheese is melty, about 3-6 minutes depending on the temperature. Remove the dish from the oven and top the nacho fries evenly with the cooked black beans, chopped tomato and onion, jalapeño, avocado, cilantro + lime and enjoy immediately! 

​NOTES
You could also sub in Daiya Shreds - Cutting Board Collection in Cheddar, if you prefer. We loved the extra kick of spicy that the pepper jack gave here!

Serves 2-4, depending on your appetites. 

Keep an eye out for these updated packages on the shelves from Daiya soon! (And if you'll be at Expo today, come visit me at the Ozery Booth in Hall E before heading upstairs to Hall D to try Daiya's samples 😊) The Daiya Slices are the perfect addition to your favorite sandwiches. They are round in shape for convenience, and come in an updated, re-sealable package. Available in four crave-worthy flavors, including Cheddar Style, Swiss Style, Provolone Style, and the newest flavor - American Style. The new Daiya Shreds – Cutting Board Collection are perfect on pizza, cheesy pastas, your favorite Mexican dish (like our Nacho Fries above!), or in a simple grilled cheese sandwich. With a more dairy-like flavor and texture compared to Daiya Original Shreds, the Cutting Board Collection features the same amazing melt and stretch in Cheddar Style, Mozzarella Style and Pepperjack Style. You can find more on the new - and all of - Daiya Food's products here. See you all at Expo this weekend!

Sometimes you want something a little spicy, sometimes you don't. If you don't, thats okay. If you do, this dish is for you! We used our flavor-packed, low-fat Cauliflower Queso Cheeze recipe to coat one of our favorite and underused pantry staples, wheat berries, and added plenty of fresh veggies and cilantro to kick it up to party-worthy appetizer level! We fell in love with wheat berries a few years ago at a friends wedding where they served a lovely vegetarian salad (that I literally picked the cheese out of) and have been incorporating them into our diets more and more ever since. Wheat berries are the entire kernel of wheat, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. This means that they are the purest, whole, unprocessed form of wheat. When ground, they make whole wheat flour! Wheat berries are high in fiber and rich in vitamins B1 and B3, plus magnesium, phosphorous, copper, manganese and selenium. And since they're so hearty and full of fiber, a 1/2 cup serving of cooked wheat berries does a great job of filling you up and keeping you fuller, longer. We love this salad as an appetizer or side dish alongside our Jackfruit Asada Street Tacos. Its a crowd pleaser and requires very minimal work on your part, plus is easily made ahead for parties. Let's eat! 

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup hard wheat berries
3 cups water
1/2 cup Queso Cheeze
1-2 tablespoons jalapéno, chopped
1/2 cup tomatoes, diced (we used yellow tomatoes from the garden!)
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro 
juice of 1 lime
chips for scooping (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium sized pot, boil wheat berries in water for about an hour, until the berries become soft enough to eat. Drain the water, and set the wheat berries aside to cool. 
If you haven't prepped the queso cheese, go ahead and do that. If you have, move on to the next step.
Prep jalapeños, tomatoes, green onion, and cilantro.
When wheat berries have cooled, mix in queso cheeze, jalapeños, tomatoes, green onion (save a little for garnish, if you like), chopped cilantro, and the juice squeezed from 1 lime. Mix with a wooden spoon to combine, garnish with remaining green onion, and serve with chips! Makes about 2 cups, serves 4. This dish will save well in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!

Okay, we're doing it again. Getting a little splurgy, right? Well, when you want to be the vegan hostess with the mostest, somtimes you've gotta pull out all the stops! This is a 'WOW' appetizer. I mean it! Your friends will be impressed. It takes a little prep time, but takes a classically bad-for-you appetizer and makes it better for you, vegan, and full of gooey, melty cheese. YUM. They're perfect for Sunday sports games, upcoming Cinco de Mayo, and finger food for dinner parties.
I was inspired by a hormonal craving for spicy, fried food (surprise, surprise), and was so incredibly pleased with the results. We used a similar flax wash/ breading recipe as we did in our Crispy Cauliflower Nuggets, and kept it gluten-free with GF breadcrumbs...but you can use whatever you want/ have on hand. I'm betting using panko here would be pretty delicious, too. Plus they're baked, so you get to feel much better about mowing them than if they were fried. Enough talk, I'm getting hungry again. Let's eat!

Ingredients:
10-12 medium sized jalapeno peppers, washed
3/4 - 1 cup vegan cheese (we used Daiya Pepperjack cheese)
Toothpicks

Flax Wash:
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup warm water

Breadcrumb Mixture:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (GF or regular)
1/4 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Cilantro Lime Mayo Dip:
1/2 cup vegan mayo
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, to taste
1 lime, squeezed (about 2 tablespoons of juice)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash jalapenos and pat dry. Using a small sharp knife, cut off the very top of the pepper (where the stem is). Set aside, and use the knife to de-seed the pepper. Try not to cut into the actual pepper as this will be holding all the melty, gooey cheese later. Repeat with all the jalapenos until each has been de-seeded. Fill each pepper with about a tablespoon of cheese each, not packing them completely full. Using toothpicks, attach the stemmed cap of the pepper back onto it, pushing the toothpick into the jalapenos flesh to hold the pieces together. Lay on their sides until breading is ready.
To prepare the flax wash combine the ground flax, almond meal, and warm water. Whisk together and set aside to thicken.
To prepare the breading mixture, mix in a large bowl the breadcrumbs, almond meal, nutritional yeast, garlic salt, smoked paprika, and cumin until combined.
To ready the cilantro lime mayo, simple mix together the lime, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once all the steps are ready, dip the cheese-filled jalapenos into the flax wash, using a spoon to help evenly coat the pepper. Next dip the peppers into the breadcrumb mixture, rolling them so they are evenly coated. Be gentle, as you want the toothpick-attached tops to stay where they are. Once coated in breadcrumbs, lay peppers onto a waxed papered or lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat until all peppers are coated & breaded.
Bake stuffed, coated pepper poppers for 30 minutes, until peppers soften and cheese melts. Remove from oven & serve with your chilled Cilantro Lime Mayo to balance out the spiciness. Enjoy!

Note: If they don't all get eaten, feel free to reheat later for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Be warned: they are best eaten sooner than later & reheating is probably best done only once.