Catfish Out of Water

I'm in a nacho mood lately. I've been making a lot of Macaroni & Cheese lately and really just am intensely craving cheese! It's really a comfort food. If anything is tiring or stressful or unexpected in my life, all I want is cheese. And warm gooey feelings of nostalgically being a child with a super human metabolism. Hence, daikon nachos!

The other day I made Quinoa w/ Daikon, Walnuts, & Lime. I didn't necessarily make this just to put in nachos... But I didn't not necessarily make it to put in nachos! Like I said, warm fuzzy nachos feelings. But is there truly anything better than tossing everything that you have leftover onto a plate of chips and drowning it in cheese?

The first time that I made these nachos, I just plopped some Greek yogurt on top, like I ordinarily do. But it was a little bit bland. So, the second time, I added some Hummus w/ White Beans & Roasted Tomatoes. Which really hit the spot! Not that you can't just use sour cream. But I really like to mix things up a little bit and see how gourmet I can make classic recipes.

Gallery

Variations of Daikon Nachos

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore nachos. I'll often find myself in a texting thread in the middle of the night where we're all randomly also making nachos. It's one the quintessential confort foods. I place it up there in the hierarchy with curry and macaroni and cheese.

Nachos w/ Daikon Quinoa & Queso Fresco

These daikon nachos consist of quinoa with daikon, onions, ginger, garlic, tahini, tamari, rice vinegar, walnuts, and tofu. Feel free, as always, to mix and match whatever you have on hand or your personal preference to taste. I highly recommend tossing some roasted tomato hummus on top with a dollop of hot sauce! But that may just be my bias towards putting hummus on absolutely everything.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese, Latin American, Mexican

Servings 2 servings

Equipment

• Oven
• Baking Sheet

Ingredients

  

Quinoa

• 1/2 c. daikon diced
• 1/4 c. red onion diced
• 1 tsp. ginger minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 lime juiced
• 2 tbsp. tahini
• 1/4 tbsp. tamari
• 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 1 c. quinoa
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. walnuts crushed
• 8 oz. tofu
• splash high heat oil

Tomato Hummus

• 2 c. navy beans
• 15 cherry tomatoes roasted (or 4 large tomatoes)
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. tahini
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. crushed ice (optional)

Nachos

• 1/2 c. daikon quinoa
• 2 handfuls blue corn tortilla chips
• 1/4 c. quesadilla cheese (or cheddar cheese)
• 1/4 c. queso fresco
• hefty dollop tomato hummus (or Greek yogurt, or sour cream, optional)
• dollop hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• Cook Quinoa w/ Daikon, Walnuts, & Lime. 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 used Hummus w/ White Beans & Roasted Tomatoes in this recipe sometimes. I'm always looking for a sour cream substitute and Greek yogurt or hummus are fantastic. This takes about an hour and a half and requires a stovetop, air fryer (or oven), and a food processor.

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!
• Sprinkle quinoa evenly across the tortilla chips.
• Sprinkle with quesadilla cheese and queso fresco.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the chips begin to toast.

  Note that queso fresco does not really melt. It will brown, but not usually in the amount of time that it takes to make nachos. You can also substitute other cheese here. Quesadilla cheese isn't something that's always readily available, which is why I tend to get it when I can! It's quite similar to cheddar cheese.

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.