Cauliflower & carrot nachos with taco seasoned chicken & partridge

Mexican food normally means something heavily seasoned, served with rice or tortilla bread and I love it. For some people beans are featured. Not in this house. Beans are not welcome, unless they are tiny, fairly inoffensive and mixed with other stuff. On their own in a sauce, or even worse, refried... no no no and more no.

Back to good food, where beans are not included. This time I cooked a Mexican meal without a carby side. Calling it Mexican is probably a bit of a stretch, considering I used a ready made spice mix, which in my book is cheating. Handy and tasty, but cheating none the less and I doubt a native Mexican would approve. Even so, I normally have a few sachets at home for convenience.

If you want to reduce the carbs in a meal, cauliflower is the popular go-to and that's what I used. The head was however too small to feed a family of three, so I added a couple of carrots. As expected, they took really well to the seasoning and made a great addition to the alternative nacho dish.

Did I come up with this idea on my own? Of course not. Pinterest struck again. There are loads of ideas in the Pinterest Jungle, pretty much for whatever you fancy. Simply type your basic ingredients in the search bar and press enter. Ta-da! A world of ideas will pop up on your screen. Take your pick.

This time I served taco seasoned partridge and chicken and a fresh salsa alongside the nachos. Why two kinds of birds? Not everyone likes game birds and I try to cater for those at the dinner table. 

To make this meal you need:

Nachos:

cauliflower, in small half-florets

carrots, sliced

oil

paprika

cumin

garlic powder

chilli powder

salt

cheese, grated

Taco birds:

bird fillets of your choice, cut into strips

taco seasoning (cheat sachet)

oil

Fresh salsa:

tomato, finely cut

cucumber, finely cut

onion, finely cut

basil

parsley

oregano

leaf coriander

lemon juice

1. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and cut them in even smaller pieces if needed. They need to be quite small for the best nacho impression.

2. Cut the cucumber into slices or coins, in a size matching the cauliflower.

3. Heat up a little oil in an oven tray and get the seasoning out.

4. Season the oil and mix to combine.

5. Add the carrot and cauliflower to the seasoned oil and mix well to coat. Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes at 200 degrees, until soft enough to eat.

6. Brown the partridge in a little oil in a frying pan.

7. Cook the chicken strips in another pan.

8. Add taco seasoning to the chicken and mix well.

I don't wait until the chicken is completely cooked before adding seasoning, but prefer to let it continue cooking with flavour, to make it more intense.

9. Do the same with the partridge, of course.

10. While the meat and vegetables are cooking, make the salsa. Finely chop the onion, cucumber and tomatoes and add herbs and lemon juice.

11. Mix well and set aside until dinner is served.

12. You may need to add a drop of water if the bird strips are at risk of sticking and burning.

13. Make sure both chicken and partridge are cooked through.

14. Once the carrot and cauliflower are ready in the oven, you can transfer them to a smaller tray if you want to. It will look nicer on the dinner table.

15. Sprinkle with a fair amount of grated cheese. 

More is more in our house and this wasn't quite enough for some. Plenty for me though.

16. Pop it back into the oven until the cheese has melted.

17. Behold the mouthwatering sight of the nachos. 

18. Serve and enjoy.

Yes, I am aware of this being a same-colour-meal, which is why I added a couple of dollops of sour cream. Natural yogurt also works well. The white stuff cuts through not only the colour, but also the flavour and is a really nice addition to the meal. 

There really is no need for rice or bread with these fajita strips. The vegetable nachos were lovely.