Nacho Chips and Bean Dip with Salsa
Similar to the baked taco shells recipe, we can bake the no fat yellow corn tortillas (that I now make myself ) into nacho chips. Take a pile of of about 6 tortillas and cut them into 6 or 8 pieces. I use a long knife that spans across the tortillas and press down vertically on the tortillas with the knife like you would cut a pizza with a pizza knife. I cut around 20 tortillas so this gives you 120 chips for two people. This is a fairly high calorie meal so don’t make this a daily habit!
I put the chips on 3 metal trays that are covered with parchment paper. Try to keep the chips in one layer and not overlapped as much as possible. Pre-heat the oven to 400 and then bake until crispy. Make sure they get to the true crispy stage, if you take them out too soon they will have a partially crispy, chewy texture which isn’t as good.
Okay new rule: bake the yellow corn tortillas right on the oven racks and break them up into rough sized chips instead of cutting and baking on a tray with parchment paper. #crispier #easier #fun
Dip
1 package of guacamole (Wholly Guacamole) or make your own guacamole (see below). Leave out if wanting lower fat meal.
1 can of pinto beans or no oil refried pinto beans
Burrito/chili mix package (optional)
1 small onion (chopped, enough to cover layer or less if that’s too much onion for you. Optionally use green onion instead).
1/2 green pepper (chopped, enough to cover layer or less if that’s too much for your taste)
1/2 jar of hot extra chunky salsa (enough to cover layer, use your favourite salsa – I use President’s choice Extra Chunky Hot Salsa)
For the dip,
If using guacamole lay down a layer of it using a spoon. If using canned pinto beans, drain the can and rinse the beans. Mash them first using a hand masher. Mix in a little salsa which softens it up and add the burrito mix or some chili powder and cumin. Or use a good quality canned refried beans that is soft (I use President’s Choice medium refried beans). Add that layer on topic of the guacamole (if using).
Add a layer of chopped green peppers and onions. Then layer on the salsa. We like this dip to be cold so put it in the fridge if you make it before the chips.
To take this up a notch in taste but with added fat you can put a layer of homemade guacamole on the bottom as I mentioned. This would be one ripe avocado mashed, one diced clove of garlic and a little lime/lemon juice. I generally avoid fats but once in a while I like to indulge. It can be a slippery slope so be careful! If you’re at a healthy body fat percentage and are monitoring it you can introduce a little fat from whole foods but make sure it doesn’t become a daily habit!
People have their own preferences and I love to improvise, so you could add chopped jalapenos for example, but my salsa is really hot enough.
