Artichoke Nachos

About

Who could say no to nachos? You don’t have to on the keto diet! These vegetarian nachos are made with steamed artichokes. The leaves make the perfect nacho for scooping toppings into your mouth! Speaking of toppings, feel free to add your favorite nacho toppings to this recipe like avocado, cilantro, sour cream, or fresh lime juice.

Ingredients

1 medium artichoke hearts or globe, raw
1 large – approx 4" – 6" long jalapeno peppers
10 grape grape tomato
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cumin, ground
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper by simply organic
¼ cup, shredded shredded lettuce
½ cup, shredded colby jack cheese

Instructions

Prepare a medium artichoke (or 2 small) by cutting off the top(s), stem(s), and the brown tips of any leaves. Use a serrated knife and kitchen scissors for easy cutting.
Place the artichoke in a steam basket over a pot of water. Steam the artichoke by placing a lid over the pot, turning the heat to as high as possible, and let the water come to a boil and steam the produce for 25 minutes.
Let the artichokes cool after steaming until they are cool enough to handle. It’s okay if they are a little undercooked, as they will continue cooking in the oven later. Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350 degrees and chop the jalapeno and grape tomatoes.
Once the artichoke is cooled, remove the leaves one by one. Arrange the pieces of artichoke on a sheet tray, as you would nacho chips. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, cumin, onion powder, paprika, and crushed red pepper across the artichoke pieces.
Next, arrange the jalapeno, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and cheese over the “nachos.” Try to have the artichokes mostly covered all the way to the edges of the tray. This helps ensure you don’t have hard edges that are inedible after baking.
Bake the tray of nachos in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the artichokes are done to your liking. For firmer nachos, you can bake for 15 minutes and use the artichoke nachos as a scoop for your toppings, or you can bake longer so you can pop an entire nacho into your mouth without trouble.