Nachos are always popular in our family. So the girls were particularly happy that the meal plan had nachos for last night. By coincidence I made nachos with one of my classes last week. We made the usual, lots of meat – no vegetable variety. The kids at school loved it and we all sang “Nacho Nacho Man” (a Simpsons reference) for the rest of the afternoon.
At home I make nachos differently to the “proper” way. One of the ways I get the kids to eat more vegetables is to “hide” them in food. Nachos is a great recipe to do this, because it tastes great, and they are too busy eating with their fingers to notice the vegetables. Hannah counted 10 vegetables in this one and was very impressed!
The only down side is that once again I am singing “Nacho Nacho Man” in my head.
Ingredients – Meat and Vegetable Sauce – Serves 6
1T olive oil
400g mince
1 onion – finely diced
1 celery stick – finely diced
2 garlic cloves – chopped
1 carrot – finely cut*
1 zucchini – finely cut
1t cumin
1t coriander
1/2 t chilli powder (or to taste)
1 can of borlotti beans – drain and rinse well (trust me on this), then mash or puree.
1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
Ingredients – salsa
2 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 avocado
Nachos
1c grated cheese
1/2 c low fat sour cream
1 packet corn chips (I tend get mine in a deli – they often have other vegetables in them, which makes them look pretty, and they contain a lot less salt than Doritos or similar. Their fat contents are much the same though.)
1. Brown the meat in the oil.
2. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until softened.
3. Add in the carrot and zucchini and cook a further 2 minutes.
4. Add in cumin coriander, and chilli powder.
5. Add in the corn, tomato and pureed beans.
6. Add a small amount of water to bring the ingredients together.
7. Adjust seasoning.
8. Allow to simmer 10-15 minutes.
9. Place corn chips around the edge of a dish.
10. Put the meat and vegetable sauce in the center. Top with cheese.
11. Place in oven or under grill until cheese is melted and almost golden.
12. Dice tomato, cucumber, and avocado. Combine in a bowl.
13. Top with salsa and sour cream.
This made heaps more than we ate for dinner, but the country boy happily volunteered to have the leftovers for lunch!
* I have a cheap Japanese mandolin which I use to finely cut vegetables. They are quite lethal looking, but make cutting up veggies much easier, especially when there is a lot that need to be finely cut – just remember to use the guard.
