Food & Drink

Southern-Style Summer Nachos

Serves 4-6

A crunchy layer of tortilla chips can be a vehicle for just about any ingredient you can imagine

June 30, 2016

Photo: Noah Fecks

Everybody loves nachos. A crunchy layer of tortilla chips can be a vehicle for just about any ingredient you can imagine, from shredded chicken and jalapeños to crawfish and pickled okra—both of which appear in the upcoming cookbook ¡Buenos Nachos!, by Gina Hamadey. It’s a collection of recipes from fifty nacho-loving chefs, writers, and celebrities, including chef Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Downtown Diner in Raleigh, North Carolina, New Orleans musician Big Freedia, and Garden & Gun contributor and Southern Foodways Alliance director John T. Edge.

“Nachos are an exercise in balance,” Hamadey writes, and there are many more paths to crisp-and-gooey harmony than just chips and cheese. Chef and farmers’ market evangelist Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta loads his nachos with black-eyed peas, summery green tomato pico de gallo, and dollops of tangy yogurt and sour cream. Not only do these chips stand out on a cookout table piled with ribs and deviled eggs, but they’re also easy to make: the lightly doctored black-eyed peas come out of a can, and the only trick to the pico is finding green tomatoes. Of course, you don’t have to tell anyone that.

Ingredients

- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 3 radishes, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 small serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 8-10 oz. blue corn chips
- 1 cup Doctored-Up Black-Eyed Peas (recipe below)
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno slices
- 1/2 cup Green Tomato Pico De Gallo (recipe below)
Doctored-Up Black-Eyed Peas
- 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, diced small
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. chile powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 15-oz. can black-eyed peas, with liquid
Green Tomato Pico De Gallo
- 1 large green tomato, or 2 medium, cored and diced small
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced small
- 1 small serrano or jalapeno pepper, minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 3 tbsp. chopped cilantro

Preparation

For the nachos:

In a bowl, combine the scallions, radishes, chile, lime juice, and ½ tsp. salt. Mix well and let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

In another bowl, whisk together sour cream, yogurt, and ½ teaspoon of salt.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange a single layer of tortilla chips on a rimmed baking sheet. Spoon the black-eyed peas over the chips, followed by dollops of the sour cream mixture and jalapeno slices. Bake until chips and sour cream mixture are warmed through, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven, and spoon pico de gallo and the scallion-radish mixture over the chips before serving.

For the black-eyed peas:

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and salt, and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Then add cumin, paprika, chile powder, oregano, and cayenne, and stir well. Add black-eyed peas and liquid, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. (Makes 2 cups)

For the pico de gallo:

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving, and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. (Makes about 2 cups)

Recipe from Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta, Georgia. (Adapted from ¡Buenos Nachos!, by Gina Hamadey)