Loaded Veggie Nachos

Does anyone else struggle to return to normal life after they have been away somewhere? After being at a festival at the weekend we then had to drive for four hours to pick Ringo up from my parents house, then another four hours home and it has all completely wiped me out. I feel like I need to sleep for a week but I have so much that I need to be getting on with that that really isn’t an option!

I have been trying to eat a little more healthily since we have been back after a couple of weeks of indulgence, but what I am really craving is these loaded veggie nachos. They are the best way to be able to eat a bag of tortilla chips for dinner and still be able to call it a relatively balanced meal.

What turns these nachos from a sharing snack into a full-blown meal is the beans. I used two kinds of beans – refried and black, and they make sure that these nachos are hearty and filling. Your dose of vegetables comes in the form of sweetcorn, a fresh Pico de Gallo tomato salsa and plenty of guacamole.

Obviously nachos aren’t nachos without cheese and I’ve used two kinds here – mature cheddar and a sprinkling of creamy feta (or use cotija) on top. The key to getting an optimal cheese-to-crunch ratio is layering up the chips and fillings; spread half of your chips out on a baking sheet, spread over half of your toppings then top with the rest of the chips followed by the rest of your toppings. This way you don’t end up with overloaded chips on top and dry chips on the bottom!

I originally made these loaded veggie nachos for DIYs, check them out for some awesome craft and recipe ideas.

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Loaded Veggie Nachos

Ingredients

Guacamole:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 green chilli deseeded and finely chopped
• small handful fresh coriander finely chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt to taste

Pico De Gallo Salsa:

• 1/2 red onion finely chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• juice of 1/2 lime
• small handful fresh coriander finely chopped
• 160 g (1 cup) tomatoes diced
• 1/2 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
• salt to taste

Nachos:

• 250 g (8 oz) tortilla chips
• 200 g (1 cup) refried beans
• 400 g (14oz) tin black beans rinsed and drained
• 150 g (1 cup) tinned sweetcorn drained
• 150 g (6 oz) mature cheddar cheese grated
• 50 g (2 oz) feta cheese crumbled
• sliced pickled jalapeños
• sour cream

Instructions

1. To make the guacamole, scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork. Stir in the chopped chilli, coriander and lime juice and season to taste with salt. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

2. To make the Pico de Gallo salsa, stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl and season to taste with salt. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

3. To make the nachos, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Mix the refried beans with a bit of water until they are easily spreadable.

4. Spread half of the tortilla chips out on a baking sheet. Top with half of the refried beans, half of the black beans, half of the sweetcorn and half of the grated cheddar cheese.
5. Spread the rest of the tortilla chips out on top and top with the rest of the refried beans, black beans, corn and cheddar.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling, keep an eye on them to make sure that the chips don't burn.
7. To serve, top the nachos with some of the guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream, serving the rest on the side for dipping, then add the crumbled feta and some pickled jalapeños. Enjoy!