Nachos with mexican beans and hot salsa

I can eat, drink, sleep, and walk nachos. My friends will vouch for it. In fact, they are so exasperated with my nacho gluttony that they refuse to go out to a restaurant with me if I order any! And yet, I give them the sad puppy look as soon as I’ve scanned the restaurant menu and found my nachos. They gawk at the sight of them first, but after a while...everyone digs into the sour cream or the hot salsa.  And before you know it, everyone’s trying to lick the melted cheese off their fingers. It’s fate.

Without further ado, I present to you an easy to make Mexican bean mix, and hot salsa to go with your nachos...for the girl’s pyjama party, the stag game night or the kids’ weekend picnic...or just for the sake of simple indulgence!

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 45 min (including time for the beans to cook)

Ingredients

For Mexican bean mix

Mexican kidney beans, soaked overnight, washed, rinsed and cooked with salt

1 onion, chopped fine

1 green bell pepper, chopped fine

Mexican spice mix (available at gourmet stores, try brand ‘keya’)

1 garlic whole, unpeeled

Fresh curly parsley, chopped fine

Red chilli flakes

Juice of half a lime

Ground black pepper

A pinch of sugar

Olive oil

Salt to taste

For garnish

1 yellow bell pepper, julienned

Nacho liquid cheese (I use ‘Go’ Nacho Cheese)

Fresh curly parsley, 1 sprig

Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Method
Roast a whole garlic (smashed up with the back of a knife) with olive oil, sea salt and some fresh thyme in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 min. Remove, peel and use as required.

Heat some olive oil in a non-stick wide saucepan.  To this add the roasted garlic and onions; and sauté till well browned and caramelised. Now add the green bell pepper and stir for one minute. Add the cooked kidney beans. Season with salt, a pinch of sugar, pepper and red chilli flakes. Add the chopped parsley and the Mexican spice mix. Stir well; cover and allow the beans to soak in the flavours. Now partly mash the beans up and squeeze the juice of half a lime into the bean mix.

Serve up the nachos on a wide platter, layer with the bean mix, top it off with some nacho cheese and finally drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Garnish with a sprig of parsley. Place in a microwave oven for 20 sec and serve warm with a hot salsa dip ( click to find my blog for this recipe). Make your own sour cream dip for a spicy and subtle mix.