Catfish Out of Water

It's been an incredibly long week and I want nothing more than nachos today. I've really been dreaming about them all day. I had a big omelette for breakfast and skipped lunch specifically because I knew that I was going to make a big plate of nachos when I got home! Because there absolutely must be room for a meal this epically massive. I have a difficult time making small plates of nachos. Perhaps I should get a miniature baking pan for such an occasion. But, when it comes to making nachos? More is absolutely more. And today's spinach nachos are no exception. I am incredibly thrilled for copious amounts of chips, rice, cheese, spinach dip, and freshly sliced avocados.

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Variations of Spinach Nachos

There are very few times in the entirety of my life where I would turn down a big plate of nachos. They're one of my favorite comfort foods. I almost didn't post nachos on my site here because I feel like they're the embarrassing dirty little food secret that so much of us don't talk about. But that is part of the point! Because I myself even think of nachos as being a guilty pleasure food. Nachos can absolutely be high class, though. And I make an epic amount of absolutely delicious nachos that ought to be shared with anyone else who has an obsession with nachos. Because they are quick and easy to make as well as being one of the best foods for utilizing leftovers.

Nachos w/ Brown Rice, Black Beans, & Lettuce

Tamari, Rice Wine Rice & Salmon Nachos

Nachos w/ Yellow Squash, Lettuce, & Avocado

Nachos w/ Rice, Spinach Dip, & Avocados

These Spinach Nachos consist of broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, shallots, jalapeños, garlic, turmeric, tamari, and rice wine rice with spinach dip and avocados. You can easily swap out sour cream, Greek yogurt, or any other dip of choice. Although I'm feeling in the St. Patrick's Day mood still and opted for the Green Tartar Sauce w/ Greek Yogurt & Spinach with spinach, dill pickles, shallots, serranos, lemon juice, and Greek yogurt.

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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 Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Latin American, Mexican

Servings 2 servings

Equipment

• Baking Sheet
• Oven

Ingredients

  

Rice Wine Rice

• 1 head broccoli diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1/2 shallot minced
• 2 red jalapeños minced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric minced
• 1/2 c. rice cooking wine
• 1/2 c. tamari
• 2 c. brown Jasmine rice (or rice of choice)
• 6 c. water

Spinach Dip

• 1/2 lbs. spinach puréed
• 1 c. dill pickles minced
• 1/4 shallot minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 serranos minced
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 c. Greek yogurt
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Nachos

• 1/2 c. rice wine rice
• ~2 handfuls tortilla chips
• 1/2 c. cheddar grated
• 1/4 c. spinach dip
• 1/2 avocado diced
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• Cook Brown Rice w/ Broccoli, Bell Peppers, & Rice Wine. 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 made Green Tartar Sauce w/ Greek Yogurt & Spinach for this dish. It takes about 15 minutes to toss together and is a great alternative for Mayonnaise-free tartar sauce or even just a spinach dip for any occasion.

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 10 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 spinach dip, avocados, 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.

This Page Contains Edited Images

As a general rule, I don't like to edit images. Food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm. Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes. My place has very warm lighting, though. So, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural hues. I've adjusted the hues, levels, and/or cropped the following images: