Friends, I’m afraid I have something to confess to you all. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been doing quite a lot of celebrating here at Chez Recessionista: First our wedding anniversary, then my father’s and my trip to Alaska, then the Fourth of July, then my birthday, then good old Alexandria’s birthday. We’ve hosted friends, gone out to eat with loved ones at fancy restaurants, and toasted more than our share of cocktails if you’d really like to know the truth. All of this has made our presence on the scale a bit more weighty, if you catch my drift. And I think you do.
So enough of all that. We’re getting on the right path again. The party may not be over – who wants that? – but at least the party needs to ebb and flow a bit more than it has been of late.
Enter the joy that is the dinnertime salad. Tonight’s rendition: Nacho Salad Supreme!
Admittedly, the name of this meal doesn’t sound all that light. But it’s sort of a placebo attempt, honestly. If you call a salad “Nacho Salad Supreme,” it’s got to be sinfully delicious, right? Even if it’s heavy on the salad and light on the nacho supreme.
First off, I scrambled some tofu on the stovetop by using my favorite breakfast recipe. As the tofu and tomatoes cooked, I heated up a can of vegetarian refried beans and prepared some veggies.
Once the tofu had firmed up nicely and lost its liquid, it was time for plating! I started by placing a light handful or two of tortilla chips on each of our plates, and then topped the chips with some refried beans. Next, I added a generous helping of scrambled tofu, then topped the tofu with lettuce. I then dotted the dish with cherry tomatoes, and then piled on quite a few sliced black olives. Next, I cut up an avocado and split it evenly across our plates, and finally topped the whole shebang with nutritional yeast, vegan sour cream, and salsa.
Does one or more of those ingredients not do the trick for you? No worries. Sub any ingredients in and out at will! We used what we had on hand, and it worked just perfectly for us, but there are so many ways to customize this dish and make it your own.
The final results were A+! We cleared our plates and then went back for the rest of the refried beans and lettuce. And the tortilla chips at the bottom of the pile did make us feel like we weren’t toeing the straight-and-narrow line quite so much. Crunch without a ton of calories – not a bad combination! And a pile of veggies and scrambled tofu on top? Heaven!
Here’s to a better showing on the scale!
NACHO SALAD SUPREME
serves two (or more)
What you’ll need:
¼ bag tortilla chips
The ingredients for scrambled tofu
1 can refried beans
1 head or bag of lettuce
20 cherry tomatoes
1 small can sliced black olives
1 avocado, sliced
Nutritional yeast to taste
Vegan sour cream to taste
Salsa and hot sauce to taste
Vegan cheese, optional
Prepare the scrambled tofu according to the recipe and heat up the refried beans. When they’re ready, on two plates layer everything according to the ingredient list above (and feel free to sub ingredients in and out at will!).
:)