For The Ground Round:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. You can chop everything by hand or use a food processor. If using a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are coarsely broken down. Remove the walnuts and add them to a large bowl. Chop your red onion and add it to the bowl. Next, add your mushrooms in small batches to the food processor. If you add them all at once you may get some that are over-processed while others haven’t broken down enough. Try not to chop them too small and it’s fine to have some larger pieces (see the photos in the blog post for reference).
3. Add the mushrooms to the bowl and stir in your spices.
4. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 – 40 minutes to dry the mixture out. Stir at the 20 minute mark. At 30 it will be dry enough but I like to stir it again and leave it in for 40 minutes to most resemble ground beef.

For The Queso Mac & Cheese Sauce:

1. In a small saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium low heat until it starts to sizzle. Add the minced garlic and red chilli pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes (turn down the heat if the garlic browns too quickly).
2. Slowly add in the flour, whisking to combine. Cook for another minute.
3. Slowly whisk in the milk ¼ cup at a time. Adding it slowly will allow you to whisk the clumps out of the flour. When all the milk is added let it cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
4. Whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt, turmeric, and pinch of black pepper until fully combined.
5. At this point, if you want a really smooth sauce you can use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a stand up blender if it can process hot liquids. You can blend down the garlic and chilli pepper OR skip this step and you will just have small pieces of garlic and pepper in the sauce. (I usually don’t bother blending it).
6. If you have removed the sauce, add it back to the same saucepan, continue to cook on low and allow to thicken for 5 minutes or so. If you decide not to blend the mixture, simply continue to cook for 5 minutes until the queso has thickened and the flavours have melded together.

To Serve:

1. Pour your queso mac and cheese sauce over your noodles of choice.
2. Top with crispy ground round, salsa fresca, and sliced green onion. 
3. Serve with tortilla chips or fresh tortilla on the side!
4. We find that the leftovers stay nice and creamy!