Baked Jalapeño Poppers (on the Skinny)

I like things hot, really hot- so hot in fact that I actually developed a heat syndrome, whether that's deficient heat or not (hint: it is) is a whole other story (a little TCM humor for those that get it!). Moving on with the point here- these were too hot, even for me! And because this recipe was kick ass (literally, the heat will knock you down if you're not prepared) I will have to replace the Jalapeno peppers with Poblano peppers next time I make this, and I suggest you learn from my mistake and make the switch the first time around.

10 jalapeño peppers (REMEMBER what I said about the switch! I would say 5ish Poblano peppers, it depends on how big they are)
2 tablespoons raw macadamia nuts, soaked for 30 minutes
2 tablespoons raw cashews, soaked 30 minutes
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon basil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 cup + extra Daiya Cheddar shreads
1 teaspoon dried ground cumin

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the peppers, cut them lengthwise, and remove seeds. If you're ignoring my suggestion and using jalapenos, then please wear gloves while preparing these. I didn't, and I am currently typing this with a chemical burn! ((too dramatic??)) on my ring finger and middle finger of my left hand, the two fingers of course that were involved in the seed removal. Place halves cut side up on a baking sheet sprayed with some non stick cooking spray. In a food processor add the nuts, lemon juice, salt, 3 tablespoons of the basil and the nutritional yeast- blend until completely smooth. Using a spoon fill the halves with the mixture. Rinse the food processor and return it back to it's base, process the remaining basil, sunflower seeds, hot sauce, 1/4 cup of the Daiya, and the ground cumin- don't get carried away with the food processor here, you want this mixture to have a nice crunch. Spoon a layer of this mixture over the pepper halves, then sprinkle each stuffed pepper half with some remaining Daiya cheese. Pop these bad boys in the oven for 20 minutes, remove and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Jacqueline Fisch