Healthy Nachos

If I could reverse  in time, I’d skip the mounds of chips  and only make nachos this way.

Few things are better than nachos…even a paper plate with chips and melted shredded cheese tossed in the microwave is damn tasty.

Recipe first, b.s. story about my love for nachos later.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz ground turkey breast, cooked with your favorite taco seasoning

• 1/2 cup cooked black beans, with salt, cumin, garlic powder

• 1 ear grilled corn, kernels removed

• 1 fresh jalapeño, thinly sliced

• ½ cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or light cheddar)

• ¼ cup Cotija, crumbled

• 12 round corn tortilla chips

• Smoky chipotle salsa

Instructions:

• Build your nachos, roast at 400 degree F oven for 5-7 minutes.

• Top with avocado slices, radish slices, Smoky Chipotle Salsa (see previous blog) and Cotija cheese.

The best nachos I ever had were at Margaritaville in Cozumel. As silly as it sounds, the reason was balance. My biggest frustration with mini nachos served at restaurants is that it’s a giant pile of chips with all the garnishes and tasty ingredients on top. And once you make your way through about a third of the pile, all your left with is a bunch of unsalted and cold tortilla chips.

At the first restaurant I ever cooked at we solve this problem by using a quarter sheet pan and even layer of chips, pressing them down with our hands and then adding an even layer of toppings throughout once they were pull out of the salamander we used a large spatula to cut them in four squares and plated them. What we ended up with, was every bite tasted the same. That was pure bliss and was one of our most popular items I believe for that very reason.

Fast forward to us at home, we can take that same approach and do what slightly more responsibly from a caloric intake perspective. Yes, it’s a few seconds of extra work, but it’s worth it as once again every bite tastes the same. Wherever you are, whoever you are, I stand with you in solidarity… All hail the nachos.