While most of us today have become more health conscious than ever before, sticking to an oil free, less fat diet is not an easy task. Let’s face it, more we try to control, stronger is the craving for the sinful foods! One question that many of us have asked ourselves in this gastronomical struggle is, “can baked corn Nachos be a good alternative to fried potato chips”?
The answer in short is Yes!
First, potato chips have on an average 15 more calories per serving than nachos. Second, nachos have less saturated fat and sodium (salt) than potato chips. Therefore, nachos, in this case is a clear winner. However, a word of caution, nachos do have more trans-fat than potato chips and WHO guidelines permit only 2 grams of it per day. So, enjoy your Nachos, but don’t overdo it.
So, when and how did these Mexican baked corn fillings originate?
The story goes that in the year 1943, the wives of U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, went on a shopping trip, and arrived at the restaurant after it had already closed for the day. The chef, Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, invented a new snack for them with what little he had available in the kitchen: tortillas and cheese. Anaya cut the tortillas into triangles, fried them, added shredded cheddar cheese, quickly heated them, added sliced pickled jalapeño pepper and served them. He called it Nacho’s especiales or simply, “special Nachos”. Word of mouth travelled fast and this dish soon gained popularity. The chef Anaya went on to work at other restaurants and retained the same original recipe.
Gradually Lays Doritos launched Nacho Cheese flavoured tortilla chips in 1964 and the wide-scale marketing of Nachos chips followed suit.
Apart from cheese dips, Nachos has been mixed and paired with shrimps, chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb too.
There are dessert nachos available in the market as well. The nacho-dough can be made out of cocoa and baked into chocolate nachos. The toppings could be chocolate, bananas, strawberries, etc. The options are plentiful.
While there are plenty of recipes available online, my personal favourite is the Barbecue Chicken Nachos. The easy to cook recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
- 1 (10 ounce) bag baked Nachos
- 1 cup barbeque sauce
- 4 cups shredded roasted chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 and 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil and coat with vegetable oil
- Combine chicken, barbeque sauce, lime juice, cumin, and chili powder in a saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is heated through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Spread a single layer of tortilla chips on the prepared baking sheet. Top with 1/2 the chicken mixture and 1 1/4 cups Cheddar cheese. Place another layer of tortilla chips over cheese and top with remaining chicken mixture and cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven until Cheddar cheese is melted and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Your meal is ready to be served!
Live.To.Eat 