Kofta Nachos for Cinco de Mayo

kofta nachos for cinco de mayo are so delicious you’ll forget about tacos…at least just for today!

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Cinco de Mayo, that super fun Mexican holiday that’s packed with tacos, guacamole, drinks and festivities, has quite an interesting story behind it. So people say that it’s to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, but it turns out that’s not true at all. Cinco de Mayo is actually a celebration of the surprising Mexican army’s victory over France at the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Who woulda thunk it!? And funny enough, the party-filled Cinco de Mayo Americans celebrate today didn’t become popular until U.S. beer companies began targeting the Spanish-speaking population in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Today, Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. is primarily a celebration of Mexican-American culture.

This brings us to the best part, the food! Tacos, nachos, burritos, quesadillas, guacamole! Who doesn’t love Mexican food!? Oh and you want to know a fun fact…According to Forbes, Americans eat 81 million pounds of avocados on Cinco de Mayo! How crazy is that! Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

crispy, melty, cheesy spicy, hearty nachos!

So, Nadia and I of course decided to add our usual Middle Eastern twist. We took the usual suspects and Middle Easternized them. We made a delicious ground kofta beef with onions, parsley and Middle Eastern spice. Also, we used Foul Muddamas, as our bean, and mashed them up with lemon and olive oil. In addition, we used lebneh yogurt as our sour cream, and pickled turnips and jalepenos for tang and spice. And of course, top with some parsley and red onion, que rico!!

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Kofta Nachos for Cinco de Mayo

A tasty Middle Eastern twist on a Mexican favorite

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican, Middle Eastern

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 bag tortilla chips
• 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (plus extra if you love it super cheesy like us)
• 1/4 lb ground beef
• 1/2 tsp Middle Eastern meat spice (found at local grocer sometimes called 7 spice)
• 1 tbsp white onion, diced
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 cup foul mudammas, mashed (found at local middle eastern grocer)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp red onion, chopped
• pickled turnips (handful)
• jalepenos (handful)
• lebneh (large dollop)
• salt (to taste)

Instructions

Kofta Ground Beef

1. Mix ground beef, spice, diced onion, couple dashes of salt and 1 tbsp parsley until well combined.

2. In a medium skillet over med-low heat cook kofta mixture until golden brown, breaking into small pieces with your wooden spoon.

Foul Refried Beans

1. Cook beans in a small saucepan over medium heat in their liquid for a few minutes, allowing them to simmer.

2. Place beans in a medium bowl and mash with a fork until it's somewhat smooth but still chunky. 

3. Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. Mix well.

Assembly

1. Place a layer of tortilla chips on a big oven safe dish or pan and sprinkle with some cheese. Top with little blobs of bean mixture and sprinkles of ground beef, turnips, and jalepenos. Keep adding more chips, cheese and toppings. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 min or until cheese melts. Reserve red onion, parsley and lebneh til the dish is out of the oven. Sprinkle onion and parsley on top and place a dollop of lebneh on the edge of the dish. Enjoy!