Give Her Healthy Nachos, Make Her Happy

It’s my favorite day of the week! Have I mentioned that before? Winking smile

Yesterday after work, I took Moose on a 4 mile walk around the neighborhood. The weather was cool and it was sprinkling which  made me want to keep walking on and on forever. Moose hung in there pretty well, too. We are working on building up his stamina after he had a couple of set backs this summer (a bacterial infection of some sort as well as tearing off a dew claw).

When we got home I started getting creative with dinner. For the longest time I have wanted to try to make black bean chips. I honestly couldn’t find any recipes out there that I liked, so I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl myself.

Black Bean Chips

I began by lightly pulsing a can of black beans until they reached a somewhat smooth, yet slightly chunky consistency. I added them to a medium bowl.

To the bowl I then added corn meal, garlic powder, cumin, nutritional yeast, egg, and salt and pepper, and mixed well.

I placed the bean mixture onto a non-slip baking mat (below) and placed a piece of parchment paper on top. I used a rolling-pin to flatten the bean dough into a thin layer. Then, I removed the parchment paper, used a pizza cutter to cut square chips, and baked in a 350° oven for about 25-28 minutes. I ended the baking process by switching the oven to broil to crisp up the top of the chips for a couple of minutes.

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The thinner you roll the chips, the more “chip-like” they will be. Since some of mine were kind of thick, mine were like a crunchy cracker. Pretty tasty, though and gluten-free too!

While the chips were baking, I prepared some salsa. I chopped 4 Roma tomatoes from our garden(!), 3 mini bell peppers, 1 small onion. I added in about a cup of prepared salsa, added a touch of garlic powder, salt and pepper, and it was ready to go. I was really wishing we had fresh cilantro on hand, but no such luck.

Next, I melted cheddar cheese on the chips in the microwave, topped them with some fresh avocado and semi-homemade salsa, and called it a meal!

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Black Bean Corn Chips

Ingredients

  • 1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup corn meal
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 1 egg
  • salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. In food processor, or with fork, mash beans leaving them slightly chunky.
  3. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.
  4. On a non-slip baking mat or parchment paper, place bean mixture. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the mixture. Use rolling-pin to roll mixture into a thin layer. Remove top parchment paper.
  5. Use pizza cutter to cut chips into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with salt.
  6. Bake for 25-28 minutes then broil on high for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Anytime I can eat nachos I am a happy girl, and healthy nachos make me even happier.

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Full of Tomatoes

I am so happy to say that our garden is flourishing with red tomatoes. We are eating them as fast as possible, giving them away to family and friends, but we still have an abundance. I am by no means complaining about this, I LOVE IT! I’ve simply been freezing the tomatoes so that I can use them at a later time. Here is how I do it…

1. Place tomatoes in a pot of water and bring to a low boil (this takes about 8 minutes). You will see the skins start to crack on the tomatoes.

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2. Remove tomatoes from water.

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3. The skin peels right off.

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4. Place into a freezer bag, seal closed, and pop them in your freezer for later. I like to smash mine in the bag but you don’t need to. It’s kind of a stress reliever to me.

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This is my second bag of tomatoes I have frozen. I can’t wait for the cooler weather to roll around so I can make up a batch of chili or tomato basil soup. Yup, I’d say I’m ready for fall.

I’m off to take on the day. Have a Fabulous Friday!

Question: What are your favorite tomato recipes?

This Post Has 24 Comments

  1. motivating jess

    I saw healthy nachos and had to click! Yum! Also love the tomato freezing tips, the whole canning process freaks me out so this is much simpler.

  2. Crystal webb

    Hi,
    I am so excited about this recipe! We buy Beanitos, but the price tag adds up. My son is allergic ti born corn and dairy. Is there something that I could substitute for the corn meal in this recipe? Thanks!

    1. Melanie

      Hi Crystal! You could try whole wheat flour or almond flour. I haven’t tried it with flour but I have a feeling it would come out just fine! Thanks for reading!!

      1. Sarah

        I saw a different recipe with rice flour. That might work for this one.

    2. J

      Tostitos black bean chips use rice flour and no corn.

    3. Red

      Flaxseed meal is super healthy with the same texture

  3. Adrian

    Wow What A Good Idea Ive Bean Craving This Soo Much! Your Awesome For Posting This!!! Thank You Angel!

  4. Jean

    These chips are marvelous; my husband and I are learning to enjoy low-fat and delicious food and these black bean chips superseded our expectations. I did add 1/4 cup Parmesan (My FitnessPal recipe nutrition calculated the calorie difference) and next time — and there will be a next time, probably before the Super Bowl — I will divide the dough in half and use two sheet pans so the chips are thinner and crisper. Thanks so much for this terrific. healthy recipe.

    1. Melanie

      This makes me so happy to hear and now I want to go make them again!

    2. SueK

      I split the batch into three… and rolled out as thin as possible. Turned out AWESOME! Also added a sprinkle of cayenne pepper to jack one tray up a bit.

  5. kristen

    they came out a little chewy, i think because they were a little thick in the middle!!! so next time I will split the mix and make them thinner!!!. are there any other spices that you would recommend?!? I would love to make my own chips instead of spending the money!! thanks

    1. Melanie

      Maybe cumin or chili powder or garlic powder or all of the above?!

  6. becca

    I’m about to make these now 🙂 I’m adding fajita seasoning! I love beanitos but the get costly and I don’t buy them more than a few times a year since I have to commute to get them. I always have a variety of beans on hand and will add this to my bean snack recipes!

    1. Melanie

      Yum! It has been so long since I made these but I really need to again!

  7. Cecilia

    Just made a batch of chips! Couldn’t be happier! 😀
    Have you ever tried using white beans instead of black? It should also work, right?
    Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!

    1. Melanie

      No I haven’t but that would be delicious!

  8. panna

    Hi Melanie, I usually freeze them as they are. When they come out of the freezer, wash them under the faucet water for a few seconds. They peel right off as everything inside is still frozen, only the peel defrosts.

    I discovered this trick when my refrigerator started freezing the veggies in my vegetable drawer. Believe me not fun at all! Atleast I got something useful out of it! 😉

  9. Daisy

    Can you substitute flaxseed meal for corn meal in the black bean chips?

    1. Melanie

      That is a great question! Do you want to experiment and let me know?!

      1. Lauren

        Hey, thanks for the recipe! I actually tried this because I recently went zero-waste, and don’t want to buy tortilla chips in plastic bags, and these are WAY easier to make than actual corn chips.

        Anyway I didn’t have cornmeal, but I threw in some coconut flour, and they turned out awesome! Sooo pleased. Thanks again

  10. Lauren

    Hey, thanks for the recipe! I actually tried this because I recently went zero-waste, and don’t want to buy tortilla chips in plastic bags, and these are WAY easier to make than actual corn chips.

    Anyway I didn’t have cornmeal, but I threw in some coconut flour, and they turned out awesome! Sooo pleased. Thanks again

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