I don’t think I have ever met someone who isn’t a fan of nachos. The big flavours, the crunch and the creamy guacamole really are a great combination. So when we get to the weekend and want an easy crowd pleasing dinner, veggie loaded nachos seem like a great option.
These nachos are clean, loaded with veggies and a decent meal being macronutrient balanced with protein, fat and carbohydrate. We have crammed in nine different types of plant based foods; black beans, corn, capsicum, zucchini, onion, avocado, tomato, coriander and lime with some corn chips, lean beef mince and optional sprinkle of hard cheese. You can leave the cheese off if you are dairy free or leave the beef mince out if you are vegetarian, vegan or plant based and they will still be full of flavour and crunch, just like good nachos should be.
You will probably find you have some leftover beef and bean topping too which is great for putting with some avocado, leafy greens or some black, red or brown rice the next day for lunch.
When choosing corn chips go for the original organic packet as flavoured varieties tend to be crammed full of flavours and processed ingredients that provide very little nutritional value. You only have to compare the ingredient list of the original corn chips usually with about three ingredients being corn, oil and salt against the 15 or more processed ingredients in the cheese varieties. Plus the cheese varieties often contain flavour enhancers that are usually numbered in the 600 range on the packet and these are there to improve the flavour and smell of the food making them much easier to overeat.
✓ Black Beans
Black beans are a great source of protein and fibre, as well as our B vitamins that have a key role in energy production – especially folate known as B9 and thiamine known as B1. This nutritional profile makes black beans a good protein source for vegetarians, vegans and even those of us meat eaters wanting to eat a bit more plant based. The outer black shell of black beans has also been shown to be rich in a number of phytonutrients and flavonoids such as anthocyanins that have antioxidant activity. This antioxidant activity can destroy free radicals and this is a good thing as excess free radicals is a driver linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease and ageing.
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