Last week my wife started her LID (low iodine diet) and finding compatible foods with this diet can be tricky at times. No dairy, no fish, no salt (except for kosher) limits a lot of your options. Nachos are a staple in our house and I came up with a way to make them taste nearly as good as the real deal.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Tortilla Chips - Found at Trader Joe’s
- Unsalted Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa - Found at Trader Joe’s
- 1 Pound Ground Turkey - Found at Trader Joe’s. It's pure turkey with a little rosemary and water. They have a “kosher white ground turkey” as well.
- Herdez Brand Yucatan Blend Frozen Vegetables (contains fire roasted corn, bell peppers, poblano peppers, and black beans)
- 1 Medium onion, diced small
- 4 Cloves garlic, diced small
- 1 4oz. can diced green chilis - Safeway brand makes one with no salt, as well as “The Authentic New Mexican” brand that comes frozen in a larger tub. It might take a little searching, but you should be able to find some.
- 1 Tbsp. grape seed oil (or whatever LID oil you like to use)
- 2 Ripe avocados
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- A couple pinches of kosher salt
- A pinch of ground pepper.
Directions
- Put the oil into a large pan and heat over high heat.
- Once the pan is hot, add the onion and garlic.
- Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is transparent and starting to burn a little on the edges. Then add the green chilis.
- Saute for another minute or so until the onion and chilis start to burn just a little. It adds to that smoky taste at the end.
- Add the ground turkey, salt, and pepper. Break up the ground turkey and mix it well with the veggies. Reduce heat to medium and let the meat slowly brown, stirring occasionaly.
- While the meat is browning, add the Yucatan blend veggies into a pot and just barely cover with water. Heat until the veggies are no longer frozen, even slightly warm. There is no need to boil the water since they are already cooked. Take off the heat and drain.
- Cut the avocados open. Remove the seeds and add the “meat” of the avocado (not the skins) into a bowl. There are several tricks to this. I like to cut a criss cross pattern (horizonal and veritcal) with a paring knive, not piercing the skin, and then scoop out the insides with a spoon into a bowl.
- Mash the avocado well. Mix in garlic powder and onion powder.
- Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the cooled Yucatan veggies into the bowl. Mix well. You now have some delicious guacamole. Add a pinch of salt and some lemon/lime juice if desired to add a little tang to it. Set aside.
- Once the meat has been completely browned, remove from heat and drain any excess juice there may be left.
- Now assemble! I prefer a layered approach of chips, meat, salsa, chips, meat, salsa, yucatan veggies (there’s still half a pot left over!), and guacamole.
Naturally you can tweak this recipe to your liking. If you’re not keen on turkey, you can pick up Tyson frozen chicken breasts (the ones at Costco are 100% chicken, no salt added), cut them into strips or chunks, and cook them in the pan. If you don’t like avocados you can skip the guacamole.
Between the meat, the salsa, and the beans and corn found in the veggies, you can have a hearty nacho plate and you won’t miss the cheese. Let me know if you find any other alternative to use.
Enjoy!