dinner:

pulled chicken and black bean nachos

Published 23rd May 2017

Everybody loves nachos! And while I wouldn’t recommend making this meal a weekly occurrence in your household, it is great for a once in a while or a starter if entertaining guests. It is more nutritionally sound than your traditional nachos as the chicken, beans and cheese add a good amount of protein and there is also a nice selection of vegetables included in there as well. We could almost call it healthy nachos!

This recipe was inspired by a recipe from the Gourmet Traveller magazine and has become a good one for something different every now and then. I find that the kids love all Mexican food we have, especially this one, as they can use their fingers and let’s be honest, they are pretty much just eating corn chips for dinner! As I said, an occasional meal.

 
 
Pulled Chicken and Black Bean Nachos.jpg
 
 

It is a good meal, as the ‘more nutritious part of the meal’ – the pulled chicken and black beans, the guacamole and the tomato salsa, can all be made in advance. This just leaves the pairing with the less nutritious part of the meal, namely the corn chips, until just before dinnertime…winning for everyone, except maybe the kids as there is less cooking needed after 5pm, so potentially less time needed for ABC kids!

The way I have made it cooks the pulled chicken in the oven, but there is no reason why you couldn’t do all the prep for this in the morning before work and pop the chicken in the slow cooker and come home with tender, falling apart chicken 8-10 hours later.

Enjoy xx.

 
 
 
Pulled Chicken and Black Bean Nachos 1.jpg
 
Pulled Chicken and Black Bean Nachos.jpg

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4 (as a meal)

  • 1 tbs olive oil

  • 2 chicken thighs

  • 1 brown onion, finely diced

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

  • 1 tsp cumin

  • 1 tsp coriander

  • 3/4 tsp smoked paprika

  • 1 tbs red wine vinegar

  • 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes

  • 1 red capsicum, diced

  • 150mL chicken stock

  • 1 long red chilli (optional)

  • 1 x 400g tin black beans

  • 200g plain corn chips or tortilla chips

  • 200g cheddar cheese, grated

  • 1 corn cob, kernels removed

  • 1 tbs coriander leaves, roughly chopped

  • Salt and pepper

Tomato Salsa

  • 2 tomatoes, finely chopped

  • 1/4 red onion, finely diced

  • 1/2 cup coriander, roughly chopped

  • Juice of 1 lime

  • 1 tbs olive oil

Guacamole

  • 1 ripe avocado

  • Squeeze of lime juice

  • 1-2 tbs natural yoghurt

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Heat oil in a medium sized ovenproof casserole dish with a lid.

  2. Add chicken and brown (2-3 minutes on each side), remove from pan.

  3. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add cumin, coriander and paprika and cook for 1-2 minutes (don’t let it burn).

  4. Deglaze the pan with red wine vinegar, add tomatoes, stock, 3/4 of the capsicum, chilli and chicken and bring to the boil.

  5. Once boiling, place the lid on an into the oven and cook for ~60 minutes.

  6. Once cooked, allow to cool slightly. Remove the chicken and shred it. Return to the dish, along with the black beans, 1/2 of the corn kernels and salt and pepper to taste.

  7. To make the tomato salsa, combine all ingredients in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate until needed.

  8. Increase the oven temperature to 180°C.

  9. To make the guacamole, place avocado into a small bowl and break up/mash with a fork. Add in yoghurt and mix until relatively smooth. Add lime juice and refrigerate until needed.

  10. To assemble the nachos, spread out chips onto a baking tray, top with pulled chicken mixture and scatter grated cheese over the top. Cook until cheese is melted and starting to bubble, 10-15 minutes.

  11. To serve, top nachos with guacamole, tomato salsa, remaining capsicum and corn kernels and coriander leaves