Ques-No Dip and Chips

Cheese Free Queso Dip? Be still my beating lactose intolerant heart!

Every year my husband plans his Super Bowl "party." Party is in quotations because anyone who knows my husband knows he neither throws parties, nor does he like to attend them. You don't see much of my husband on my social media for a reason-- he's not the social type. I, being the social butterfly that I am, have to compromise on the Super Bowl party thing each year. So after almost 12 years of marriage, we now have our own tradition of meticulously planning a Super Bowl party for two. All foods must be pre-approved by the Party Planning Committee (aka my husband), and the cooking must be mapped out perfectly to insure that the snacks are ready just in time for kick-off. 

Don't judge. It's our thing.

For the first several years of our marriage, the snacks were typical. Wings, chips & queso dip, pizza rolls, etc. YIKES! But, now we're a Primal/Paleo family, so last year's Superbowl snacks were different. We basically wrapped everything we could find in bacon. But boy did I miss that queso dip!

So, I set out one day to make a cheese-free queso dip even my lactose tolerant husband would love. It took me several tries, but I finally got it! So, if you're looking for the perfect Paleo snack for your Super Bowl gathering, look no further than this Ques-No Dip!

Ques-No Dip

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ghee* (I prefer OMghee's brand)

1/2 cup creamy cashew butter

3/4 cup unsweetened almond/cashew milk

1 tsp salt (you can always add more if you wish)

2 10oz cans diced tomatoes & chilis (or 2 cups of fresh chopped)

*You can use grass fed butter; however, I have made it with butter and I personally find the flavor is more authentic with ghee.

Directions:

In pot on med-low heat put ghee, cashew butter, milk, and salt. Stir with a whisk and heat until well blended. Add tomatoes and chilis. Continue to heat until hot, stirring constantly. You do not want it to bubble, but you want it to cook long enough to thicken a bit. Take care not to cook too long, as the nut butter can get a bad consistency, and NEVER STOP STIRRING. Keep in mind, it will thicken as it cools. 

Chips

This recipe is modified from a recipe on Tastebook.com

Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour

2 egg whites

1 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*F. In a bowl mix flour, egg whites, and salt until you get a dough. In between two pieces of parchment paper roll dough out as thinly as possible. Cut into desired shapes. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place chips on cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until chips reach a golden brown color. You may need to remove some chips before others, so you will need to keep a close eye on them. If they burn, they will be bitter. Remove from oven & allow to cool (they will get crispier as they cool).

Tips for chips:

Keep in mind that the more you have to roll out the dough, the oilier it will get making it harder and harder to work with (this is because of some almond oil that may still be present in the flour). You will want to roll it out as little as possible, so the goal is to get as many chips as possible from the first roll. I think it's easier to divide the dough in half and make two separate batches. As you can tell from the picture I tried every geometric shape possible and found that using a small metal round cookie cutter was the quickest and easiest method for cutting. If you don't have that available, using a pizza cutter to make squares is my second preferred method. As much as I love the idea of making them into triangles like traditional chips, that was very difficult and inefficient. Also, use a metal spatula to gently remove the uncooked cut chips from the parchment paper and place on the cookie sheet, as your fingers will more than likely tear them.

Place the dip & chips into your favorite chip and dip party tray, garnish with fresh chopped jalepenos, cilantro, or red pepper flakes and ENJOY!