Catfish Out of Water

There is almost nothing better in the world than melted cheese. I had perhaps thought that I was going to do something else with this fontina. After all, it's a little bit fancy for nachos. However, cheese is at a premium at the moment due to a supply line shortage. So, I am utilizing what I already have! And it was fontina, kasseri, blue stilton, or Swiss cheese. Not that all of these couldn't potentially be great in nachos. I'm contemplating melting swiss cheese into the beans for bean dip. Although fontina more closely resembles the type of cheese that I would put in nachos. I also topped these Black Bean & Wild Rice Nachos off with a dollop of avocado dip.

I'm obsessed with avocado dip. It's kind of like a cross between guacamole and hummus. It's a great substitute for sour cream. I toss it on top of everything from nachos and burritos to omelettes and toast. You can easily swap it out for sour cream and avocados, though. That's one of the fun things about nachos: the sky is the limit. There are very few things that aren't absolutely delicious on top of crispy tortilla chips and melted cheese.

Gallery

Variations of Wild Rice Nachos

I tend to use brown rice when making nachos. I like the more robust flavor than white rice. Plus, if I'm going to eat nachos all day, they might as well have something remotely nutritious going for them! The wild rice here was incredibly fun and I can't wait for the season of summer produce to begin. But all sorts of rice and flavor combinations go great in nachos.

Nachos w/ Rice Wine Rice, Spinach Dip, & Avocados

Calabaza Black Beans & Brown Rice Nachos

Nachos w/ Brown Rice, Black Beans, & Lettuce

Nachos w/ Black Beans, Wild Rice & Fontina

These Wild Rice Nachos consist of sweet potatoes, garlic, yellow onions, lime juice, olive oil, black beans with shallots, and avocado dip with spinach and peanuts.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Latin American, Mexican

Servings 2 servings

Equipment

• Sheet Pan
• Oven

Ingredients

  

Black Beans

• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1 shallot minced
• 1 lbs. black beans (~2 lbs.)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. coriander
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 6 bay leaves

Wild Rice

• 1 sweet potato diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 1 lime juiced
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• dash cumin
• dash coriander
• dash chili powder
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 1 ½ c. wild rice
• 4 c. water

Avocado Dip

• 6 avocados
• 6 cloves garlic
• 6 limes juiced
• 1 serrano halved
• 1/2 lbs. spinach
• 2 c. peanuts unsalted, unroasted
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Nachos

• 1/4 c. black beans
• 1/4 c. sweet potato wild rice
• ~2 handfuls tortilla chips
• 1/2 c. fontina grated
• 1/4 c. spinach dip
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• Cook Stovetop Black Beans w/ Shallots & Garlic. I like this recipe better than opening a can of refried beans or actually having to go through the process of frying them! This does require some forethought, though, and takes about 6 hours to cook. It requires a large pot on the stove and a potato masher or food processor if you want to achieve the creamier texture.
• Cook Wild Rice w/ Sweet Potatoes, Yellow Onions, & Limes. This takes about an hour and requires a rice cooker or stove. You can also easily create a different flavor profile or utilize the produce that you have on hand. I almost always keep a batch of rice or quinoa in the fridge for exactly this purpose.
• I also topped this with Potluck Avocado Dip w/ Spinach, Serrano & Peanuts. This is entirely optional. You can easily substitute sour cream or omit it entirely. Although this avocado dip is my new favorite thing and I highly recommend giving it a try. It's kind of a mix between hummus and guacamole. And is absolutely delicious!

Cook Nachos

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Meanwhile, lay out tortilla chips across a baking sheet.

  Cover until you can't see the baking sheet any longer. They should be touching, but not overlapping too much. You really just want to be able to add toppings to every chip without it getting too much on the baking sheet!

  Exactly how much chips you use is largely a matter of personal preference as well. I've never sat there carefully measuring chips! Roughly two handfuls usually equates to about a serving. I tend to cook far more than I actually need, though. So, as always, adjust to personal preference!
• Spread toppings evenly across the tortilla chips.

  This acts largely like refried beans would in a typical nacho recipe. You can either spread across each of the chips or just drop little dollops across the chips.
• Sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the chips begin to toast.

Serve

• Once the nachos are done cooking, remove from the oven and top with avocado dip, hot sauce, and a dash of salt and pepper.
• Serve immediately. Once the nachos begin to cool down, the tortilla chips will absorb too much moisture and soften. Once this happens, there isn't a lot that you can do to crisp them up again!

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• For a more in-depth article on nachos, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Making Nachos. I make suggestions on settling the microwave vs. oven debate and give suggestions on serving size, topping order, and potential reheating tips and tricks.