Gluten-free
Vegetarian
Can easily be made vegan by subbing the natural yoghurt for a plant-based alternative
Makes 4 generous serves
This is my favourite Saturday night dinner. Flavoursome and fun. I love the fact this recipe isn’t too intense in the way that many nachos can be. By hero-ing plenty of fresh ingredients, these nachos are light and zingy, whilst still hitting the spot. In my opinion, there’s no better dish for summer grazing with friends or eating out of a bowl on the couch.
This is my favourite take on black bean nachos, but feel free to get creative with your toppings. Jalapeños, charred corn, pickled red onions would also work well. The ultimate formula for nachos is fresh + creamy + crunchy + spicy + protein. As long as you’ve got something from each of these categories, you can’t really go wrong when it comes to toppings.
If you can’t stand the thought of nachos without cheese, you are welcome to sub the cashew cream for grated cheese. However, after feedback from many a cheese eater, not one person has noticed or missed cheese, thanks to the tangy cashew cream.
While there are a few ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and a bit of chopping involved, but don’t be put off. Once you have done the prep it is all super simple and easy to bring together.
Ingredients
CASHEW CREAM
1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast + 1/2 tbsp
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2.5 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1.5 lemons
Salt + pepper to taste
SALAD
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1/2 red capsicum, cut into small cubes
1/2 yellow capsicum, cut into small cubes
1 cucumber, cut into small cubes
200g cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 bunch coriander, finely chopped
5 radish bulbs, thinly sliced
1/2 small head cos lettuce, shredded
BLACK BEANS
3x tins of black beans, rinsed and drained
4x garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
THE REST
1 cup natural yoghurt or sour cream (I personally think natural yoghurt is the way to go!)
1 jar good quality tomato salsa
2 avocados
1 big bag of corn chips
2x limes
Method
Start by preparing your cashew cheese. For the creamiest sauce, soak your cashews for 2+ hours. If you forget to do this or don’t have time, this isn’t a deal-breaker. You may just need to add a little extra water for a smoother texture.
Add all the ingredients for the cashew cheese to a high powered food processor or blender and blitz till smooth. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Prepare the vegetables for the salad as per the ingredients list. Add all the ingredients to a big bowl and squeeze with the juice of half a lime. Add a little pinch of salt and 1 tsp olive oil. Using your hands massage the oil and lime juice over the salad and then set aside.
Chop the avocados into cubes and squeeze with the juice of 1/2 lime. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat your oven to 200 ready for the corn chips.
While your oven heats it's time to cook the black beans. Add the crushed garlic to a large frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil, cumin and chilli flakes. Bring the pan to medium heat and then add the washed and drained black beans.
Add the stock and then bring to a boil. Once the stock is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high and keep stirring the beans until most of the stock has reduced. This should take around 10 minutes. Once done, remove the beans from the heat and set them aside.
Add your corn chips to a baking tray with high sides and pop in the oven for 5 minutes. Once they are heated through, remove the corn chips from the oven. Time to plate up!
I find the easiest way to serve this is in the same tray you cook the corn chips in and then people can just use tongues to portion the nachos up onto their plates.
Start by sporadically adding heaped tablespoons of your tomato salsa over the corn chips. Do the same with your yoghurt. Next, evenly sprinkle over the black beans and then scatter the avocado chunks.
Scatter the salad mix and then finish with a generous drizzle of your cashew cream.
Add a few grinds of pepper and a big squeeze with lime just before serving.
