Healthier Nachos!

Its football season in America and I am sure a lot of households are currently exhibiting this sign "This Marriage is currently on hold because of football". I for one had never been a football fan.

In fact for the longest time after I moved to the States I wasn't sure why a game which involved so little of the foot touching the ball was named so. Football to me meant soccer (not that I watched much of that either). Anyways the husband has always had a natural affinity towards watching sporting events of any type so quite a few times did I have to sit through these games. And believe me I had no idea what was going on. The husband even tried running around the house in a bid to explain. But it didn't help. Till I saw Tom Brady. And then I was suddenly interested in the well being of the New England Patriots. And the game was suddenly so clear.

This year the Patriots are out but no fear since I have also been introduced to Brett Favre. So now I am all for the Minnesota Vikings. In fact now I even offer to make finger food for a Viking game such as these nachos. Traditionally nachos are quite calorific so in my take I am trying to make them a bit healthier by baking my own chips instead of using the fried ones. I also omitted sour cream, replacing it with guacamole and topped it with lesser cheese. Results were still quite good. For a one dish meal I topped these with some grilled chicken which was marinated with the same marinade as the one from this fish tacos recipe. They would be good without this too. So no matter which team you are supporting this year (though I do recommend supporting the Vikings), do give these nachos a try!

Ingredients:

10 corn tortillas

1 can of black beans, rinsed well and drained

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped fine

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno, minced (seeded if you prefer less heat)

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

2 tablespoons cheese

1 avacado

1 lime

- Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with foil.

- Cut each tortillas into six-eight chips. Toss the chips with a little bit of oil and salt and bake for around 20 mins till crisp (turning them around mid-way). Leave them out uncovered after baking to cool and crisp up further.

- For the beans, combine them with paprika, cumin powder, cayenne powder, salt and lime juice. - For the salsa (pico de gallo), combine chopped tomatoes, onions, half of the minced jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro and salt.

- For the guacamole, mash the avocado and mix with the rest of the minced jalapeno, cilantro, salt and lime juice.

- To assemble the nachos, line a oven proof caserole/dish with foil. Then add the chips, top with the beans mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Broil in a 350F oven till the cheese melts.

- Get out of the oven and top with the pico de gallo and guacamole.

- Enjoy!

Makes a rather big plate of nachos.