Tex-Mex Udon Bowl and “Bronco Mama”

This morning, J Man and I watched a little of the Presidential Inauguration.

I was interested in Beyonce singing the national anthem. He was interested in seeing all the flags. That’s his new thing, apparently. Flags. He informed me the other day that Indonesia and Monaco have the same flag. Hopefully this question is on the Kindergarten placement test…

Taking advantage of the opportunity for a little current events education, I was pointing out different people to him – the First Lady, former President Clinton, etc.

His favorite?

Bronco Mama.

For those of you not fluent in 3 year old tongue, that’s Barack Obama.

Good ol’ Bronco Mama:)

So in honor of our President, whose mother is from Kansas and whose father is from Kenya, I bring you a little something else from two entirely different parts of the world.

That’s right – Japanese noodles with corn, avocado and cilantro. Probably not a contender for Sprint 2 the Table’s link up, but an odd combo nonetheless.

In reality, this bowl was born out of necessity. Cilantro, corn, black beans, red pepper and avocado are what I had in my house. There were no bamboo shoots, ginger root or other Japanese like vegetables hanging out in my crisper.

The sauce that binds Japan to Texico?

This cashew based, nutritional yeast seasoned deliciousness. There are a ton of vegan “nacho cheese” recipes out there.

I used this recipe from VegNews but really changed it up, so I’ve included my doctored recipe also.

With pepitas and without. I like a little crunch.

Did my kids eat this? Yes and no. Here’s some real life for you:

So, they ate every ingredient, just not together. And if truth must be told, J Man wasn’t really a fan of the avocado. Nor was he a fan of Michelle Obama’s new bangs.

That’s okay. At least Bronco Mama likes her new haircut…

Tex-Mex Udon Bowl

Ingredients

1/3 package of udon noodles
1/4 cup corn kernels
1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/4 avocado, diced
2 TBS cilantro, chopped
1 TBS pepitas, optional

Sauce ingredients

2 cups water
2 cups raw cashews
1 tsp chili powder (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin

Instructions

For sauce, combine all ingredients in a powerful blender (vitamix) and purée until thick and creamy. Set aside.

Cook udon according to package directions. In a large bowl combine remainder ingredients plus 1/4 cup nacho cheese sauce. Save extra for dipping countless tortilla chips.

I think this salad is best cold, so refrigerate for 30-ish minutes before eating. Or eat it now. Whatever.