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Nachos w/ Ethiopian Lentils & Sautéed Spinach, Esmérelda

Nachos w/ Ethiopian Lentils & Sautéed Spinach

These Ethiopian nachos are a combination of black lentils, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and berbere spices ingredients with garlic and ginger sautéed spinach and English cucumber tzatziki. These were all of the leftovers in my refrigerator at the time. But feel free to experiment with what you have on hand! Nachos are for tossing everything that you have into something delicious.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican, Middle Eastern
Servings 2 servings

Equipment

  • Baking Sheet
  • Oven

Ingredients
  

Black Lentils

  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric fresh
  • 1 tsp. ginger fresh
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 red onions
  • dash cloves whole
  • dash cumin whole
  • dash fenugreek whole
  • dash coriander
  • dash allspice
  • dash paprika
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1 ¼ c. black lentils
  • 3 c. water

Sautéed Spinach

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp. ginger fresh, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 yellow onion roughly chopped
  • 1 lbs. spinach (~3 cups)
  • dash cumin
  • dash coriander
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1/4 c. olive oil

Tzatziki

  • 1/2 English cucumber (or 1 smaller cucumber), grated
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 2 c. Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • dash salt

Nachos

  • 1/2 c. black lentils
  • 1/4 c. sautéed spinach
  • ~2 handfuls tortilla chips
  • 1/2 c. cheddar
  • 1/4 c. tzatziki (optional, or sour cream)
  • dollop hot sauce (optional)

Instructions
 

Prepare Ingredients

  • Prepare Lentils w/ Ginger & Turmeric. This takes less than 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 quinoa in the fridge for exactly this purpose.
  • Cook Sautéed Spinach w/ Garlic & Ginger. This takes about 20 minutes and requires a food processor (optional) and stovetop.
  • Prepare Tzatziki w/ English Cucumbers. This takes about 15 minutes and requires a fine cheese grater.

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.
  • Top with a couple dollops of tzatziki or sour cream.
  • Bake for 10-15 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 hot sauce of choice.
  • 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.