The days are hot here now, so to beat the heat, I headed outside at 6:30am to tackle waist-high weeds, clear ground and cut back a tree. By 11am it was too hot to be outside, so after tackling some indoor jobs and taking a short nap I was ready for lunch that was a bit "something more" than the usual fare of salads or eggs on toast. After all, it was 2pm, and I was starving! A quick look in the cupboards and I spotted some left over corn chips and a can of chickpeas. Inspiration! I LOVE having a garden....all I had to do was head outside with a bowl, pick up some goodies, get chopping and inventing, and voila! Garden nachos. Yum!
This recipe is not hard-and-fast - substitute to your heart's content! Today I used:
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 6 approx very ripe and somewhat damaged tomatoes (I used up the split and blemished ones), diced
- 3 stems chives, chopped
Small handful parsley, chopped - small handful pizza thyme, stripped and chopped
- 2 sprigs oregano, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 small garlic bulb, crushed and diced. I started by taking some cloves off a store-bought bulb. But it didn't have that wonderful garlic aroma of my freshly harvested bulbs, so I tossed it in the compost, and grabbed the smallest bulb from my bowl. Why settle for less than the best?
- Salt to taste
- 1 dsp Worcestershire sauce
- Corn chips, grated cheese and sour cream for serving.
Method:
Melt 1-2 TBSP butter in a medium saucepan. Add onions and garlic, saute, stirring regularly, until onions begin to caramelize. Add tomatoes, and soften for a moment. Add chickpeas and other ingredients, plus half a cup of water*. Stir well. Cover, bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 15 mins, stirring from time to time.
Use a stick blender to partially blend mixture together. (Optional)
Serve on a bed of corn chips, sprinkle over grated cheese and top with a dollop of sour cream.
Yielded 3 nice servings.
Note: if using without the cheese and sour cream, the mixture could do with a little sweetening - perhaps a little honey or sugar when caramelizing the onions?
*Water may not be needed - if left out, simmer with pot covered. I added it to avoid the mix sticking to the bottom of the pot, as it seemed it might otherwise, but then cooked with lid off to evaporate excess moisture and thicken naturally.
Melt 1-2 TBSP butter in a medium saucepan. Add onions and garlic, saute, stirring regularly, until onions begin to caramelize. Add tomatoes, and soften for a moment. Add chickpeas and other ingredients, plus half a cup of water*. Stir well. Cover, bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 15 mins, stirring from time to time.
Use a stick blender to partially blend mixture together. (Optional)
Serve on a bed of corn chips, sprinkle over grated cheese and top with a dollop of sour cream.
Yielded 3 nice servings.
Note: if using without the cheese and sour cream, the mixture could do with a little sweetening - perhaps a little honey or sugar when caramelizing the onions?
*Water may not be needed - if left out, simmer with pot covered. I added it to avoid the mix sticking to the bottom of the pot, as it seemed it might otherwise, but then cooked with lid off to evaporate excess moisture and thicken naturally.
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