Healthy Nachos

Hearty Healthy Cauliflower Nachos for your Next Meal 

Give your next meal a healthy twist with these delicious cauliflower nachos!  With just a few simple ingredients, you can create an easy and tasty dish that the whole family will love.

Do you know one of my favorite foods is nachos?  When I sat down and wondered how I could make this delicious dinner favorite (yep, we graduated nachos from appetizer to dinner) low GI (glycemic index) I was stumped, for a minute anyway.

Typically when I need inspiration I go to the internet, but I decided to fix this one by going to my kitchen and rummaging around to see what I had and what I could come up with.  Some days you just need to think outside the box, and by seeing what I had available afforded me a new idea, what luck!

Over the years, I have had to pick and choose what I can have with food allergies.  I tend to think about what it is that I like about a certain food, like nachos, and I figure out how to recreate a recipe as something I can have.  With nachos, I knew right away black beans was on the list of musts. I hopped onto the internet and asked Google, my go to friend these days to see where black beans fell on the scale.  

A stroke of luck since I found they fell on the scale at 30, which is still relatively low.  Well, this day is looking up already, isn't it?  I just may get those nachos I was wanting afterall.   

I knew chips were crossed off the list, too processed, and lots of carbs knocking at my door so I nixed that idea right away.  We did not even have cheese in the fridge so I was okay letting that menu item go too.  

I saw a head of cauliflower and thought why not nachos?  I mean we use it for pizza crust, so why could it not also substitute for my nachos too?  Then I saw homemade ranch dressing, and I thought here is the ticket!  

I am not a ranch dressing drizzle over everything type of gal, but I thought hmm... this surely could work for this meal.  I mean, people drizzle ranch dressing over cauliflower everyday.

Healthy Nachos AKA Twisted Nachos 

What you will need:

1. 1 head of cauliflower (GI 10) 
2. 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (GI 30)
3. Homemade ranch dressing (or you can use store-bought too) (GI 0)

What you will need to do:

• Place black beans in pot on stove and cook at medium heat until warmed through
• Wash and cut cauliflower from stems
• Place cauliflower pieces into glass dish, add enough water to cover the bottom of the dish, cover with saranwrap, and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes 
• Carefully remove dish from microwave and plate to your liking

Note: I did not give measured out ingredients for nachos, everyone's tastes and preferences differ, and you know what you like.  I just added about 2 tablespoons of black beans and drizzled the homemade ranch dressing over the top to my preference.  

TIP:  You could add grilled chicken to this dish, along with your favorite veggies.  I was in a hurry to see if my idea would work and I decided the more simple route was for me.  

I have heard can I eat nachos during weight loss?

• Yes, now we can have those gems.  They may not be in the typical form, but if you want something bad enough, you can figure out a way to have them.

What can I use instead of nacho chips?

• Well, this recipe has created a whole bunch of ideas for me.  Now we know we can use cauliflower as a low carb substitute for nachos.  I am thinking out loud here, but how about zucchini?  Oh, we have some in the fridge so that may be coming soon.  

Can I use Keto Nacho Chips?

• I am sure you can, but our goal here is we are going the less processed route.  Processed foods have too many hidden preservatives and additives we are staying away from.  I would do my research and see how they rank on the GI scale if you are following that lifestyle. 

I can tell you that I am finding low carb does not always equal low GI or vice versa.  It all depends on how the food enters the bloodstream.  I have been a researching machine, looking up where foods fall on the scale, etc... originally I thought low carb, low GI, but I found with black beans that is not the case.

If you read, black beans are considered a high carb food, but they fall low on the GI scale.  I was only too happy about this fact since we can all still have them, black beans were not recommended for the Adkin's Diet, but are just fine for low GI.  Whew... see what I mean when I say do your research?  It can be a long road figuring out some of this, that is why I just Google information I am seeking.  

We, and when I say we, I mean hubby heated up black beans on the stove and I went to work cleaning our head of cauliflower and cutting it from the stems.  I think he may have thought I was crazy at first, and whose to say on occasion I am not when I come up with some of these ideas, but he was on board a few minutes later.  

I was completely satisfied with our twisted nachos, in fact I loved them.  I would even go as far to say I did not miss regular nachos at all.  I know, can you believe it?  They were yummy, filling, and quite the treat.  This will be my new go to for nachos these days.

If you missed why we decided to begin a low glycemic index food plan, you can check out the post.  

Sometimes we do things to help others, and find in the end, we also help ourselves.  I can honestly say that is the case for us.  How can it get any better than that?  We have both commented that we have more energy, I am sleeping better which is a big thing for me.  

Too many years of stress really affected my sleep and sleep patterns, you know, like the not getting but a few hours a night kind of pattern.  Running on that for multiple years tired this gal out, not to mention caused a grumpy gal too.  Who wants to be grumpy, not I said the fly... not when there are so many more things to be happy about.  

I often found myself waking up in the middle of the night... sitting straight up, and wondering did I do this or that?  Did I send that email?  Did I put that on the schedule?  Oh yeah... that was me.  You know all this multitasking is not good for us, but it is what is expected in the work place.  I will save that for another day, but I will leave you with one thought.  What happens when we are not of sound mind, who is providing our care?  And can we afford that?  Legitimate questions I ask, do you see why my brain never stops?

So... we will keep at it and discovering new recipes to share with you.  I have found if you have a favorite food and find yourself not being able to partake in the fun with friends and family, it can be a real challenge.  It is why I began creating my own recipes that were gluten free.

Oh, you are having chocolate cake at the family dinner?  Well, how about I make it for us.  Did I mention to them I would be making it so we could all join into the fun?  Of course not... but I have taken black bean brownies, and chick pea chocolate cake to get togethers, and they are none the wiser.  I have even been asked where I got the recipes because they were so moist or wow, what great flavor, did you use cake flour or regular flour?  How about neither... 

When I mention what is really in the brownies or cake, there is a deer in headlight look for about 10 seconds, and then I hear oh.... well, that was quite yummy.  See, we can enjoy life without flour, and wheat, and all the things not always so good for us.  Then I get asked for a recipe and I am only too eager to share.  If they like it that much, maybe it will be available at the next get together so I can introduce something else that will be new for them.  Teehee....  let us know if you give this recipe a try and your thoughts.  

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Ciao,

Cara