Facelift Number Eight - Nachos Bell Grande

I used to adore Taco Bell. I know, I know, it's notorious for serving some of the poorest excuses for cuisine out there, but I loved it. What can I say?

BEFORE THE FACELIFT




42 grams of fat?? Yup, this needs a facelift... stat! (Wow, that rhymed. Not deliberate. Sorry.)

INGREDIENTS

1 oz Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Tortilla Chips
.25 cup black beans
1 oz light shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle
2 tbsp Trader Jose's Salsa Autentica
1 tbsp fat free sour cream












LET'S COOK!


Rinse the beans. This helps get as much of the added salt off of them as possible.


Put the beans in a food processor until they are a bit broken up.


Put the chips on a foil-lined baking sheet and top with beans, Mrs. Dash, and cheese. Broil until...


...cheese is melted and chips are golden!


Top with sour cream and salsa!

FACELIFT RESULTS

518 fewer Calories (-68%)
35 grams less fat (-83%)
5 grams less saturated fat (-83%)
1 grams less trans fat (-100%)
20 mg less cholesterol (-67%)
443 mg less sodium (-35%)
45 grams less carbs (-58%)
8 grams less fiber (-67%)
8 grams less protein (-42%)

As usual, I didn't mean to decrease fiber or protein. Whoops!

Also, take note that the sodium amount is most likely a little bit off because this does not take into account that I rinsed the beans for a minute before putting them in the food processor. According to an article I read, rinsing beans in cold water for 1 minute decreases the sodium by about 25%. If this is true then the amount of sodium in the beans went from 215mg to 161mg, decreasing the sodium for the whole dish from 808mg to 754mg.

In addition, I recommend making your own tortilla chips. I meant to do this but forgot to buy tortillas at the store; so, I used some of the Trader Joe's Guiltless tortilla chips because they were on hand. The sodium will decrease a little by not using pre-made tortilla chips!

If you want to add some protein, feel free to add any meat or non-meat protein to it!

All-in-all this was a really great light lunch that I paired with a small spinach salad. Yum!

Full recipe can be found HERE. As usual, leave a comment here or on my Spark People page, or shoot me an e-mail with any suggestions, comments, or criticisms! Thanks!