Butternut Squash Queso

We’re renaming this crazy, creamy, cheesy vegan queso ‘Gone Baby, Gone.’ Deep bow to @loveand lemons for sharing this outrageous goodness found in her recent release Love & Lemons Everyday. We took some liberties - substituting lemon essential oil for the lemon juice in the queso and lime essential oil in the guacamole. The essential oils kicked up the flavors significantly and solved the common shopping-for-ingredients dilemma of not having access to organic citrus.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups peeled and diced Yukon Gold potatoes

1 cup peeled and diced butternut squash

½ cup chopped yellow onion

½ cup raw cashews

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

¼ cup nutritional yeast

8 drops dōTERRA lemon essential oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 avocado

8 drops dōTERRA lime essential oil

Pinches of sea salt

¼ cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed

¼ cup diced tomato

2 tablespoons diced red onion

1 small jalapeño pepper, diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tortilla chips

PREPARATION

Place the diced potatoes and butternut squash in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until fork-tender, 8 to 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a high-speed blender.

In a small skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion in a drizzle of olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.

To the blender, add the sautéed onion, cashews, the ¼ cup olive oil, water, nutritional yeast, lemon essential oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne, and salt. Blend until smooth, using the blender baton to help keep the blade moving or pausing to stir as necessary. If the mixture is too thick, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and blend until smooth.

Make a quick guacamole by mashing together the avocado, lime essential oil,, and sea salt in a small bowl with the back of a fork.

Scoop the warm queso into a shallow serving dish and top with the guacamole, black beans, diced tomato, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips.

Excerpted (and modified) from Love and Lemons Every Day: More than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal by Jeanine Donofrio. Copyright © 2019 Jeanine Donofrio. Photographs © 2019 by Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews. Published by Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.