This week we’re focusing on game day eats! We are hardcore football fans, we love sharing food with family and friends while watching the games on Sundays. If you’re a football fanatic like us, you know game day come with amazing finger foods, good snacks and drinks!

Like a lot of game day snacks out there, they might not be the healthiest and can sometimes leave you feeling bloated, so stuffed that you’re ready for a nap instead of the game. We’ve come up with some healthy alternatives to your traditional game day snacks that are easier on the belly but still so good your guests will love!

These are not your traditional nachos. We put a twist and went with Mediterranean inspired nachos served on crisp pita chips and garnished with fresh cucumbers, baked chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, peppers, red onions and dipped in hummus or tzatziki.

We kept this recipe simple and went with store bought hummus and tzatziki. If your like us, your making more than one dish on game days and this just helps save time in the kitchen and avoids a pile of dirty dishes because we don’t want you to miss out on the game. If you feel like making your own dips GO FOR IT! But there is no shame on going for the store bought alternative here because sometimes you just don’t feel like making everything from scratch and you need a break.

There is no right portion when it comes to layering the nachos and all the fresh toppings. We listed some approximate measurements but honestly feel free to make this your own, if you want to add more toppings, swap any ingredient out, just have fun with it! To save you some time you can prep all the veggies the day before, chop all your ingredients and have them ready to go, especially if your cooking for a large crowd and have a few things on the go.

To keep things simple we only baked the pita and the chickpeas. This helps free up space in the oven and cuts the total recipe time down especially if you have hungry guests waiting around. Just throw all the toppings on and you’re ready to serve.

Happy eating!

Cheers

XOX The Communal Feast

Print Recipe

MEDITERRANEAN NACHOS

An easy and quick vegetarian appetizer made with layers of crispy pita chips, Mediterranean toppings, served with hummus and tzatziki sauce. A healthy alternative to nachos, definite crowd pleaser on game days or even as a healthy snack!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Football Sunday

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: 4 -6

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 4-5 pita pocket breads sliced into 8 triangles each
• 1/2 cup chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon olive oil + more for drizzle
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 medium cucumber diced small
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives pitted and sliced
• ¼ cup green olives
• 1 large tomato finely chopped
• 1/2 cup banana peppers sliced
• ¼ red onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup feta crumbles
• 2 green onions sliced for garnish
• Pepperchinis for garnish
• 2 –3 TBSP fresh parsley chopped for garnish
• Pinch of Za’atar spice for garnish
• Hummus Tzatziki for serving

Instructions

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spread pita triangles across; drizzle olive oil lightly across, along with salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly. On a second baking sheet, place chickpeas and toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and onion powder. Place both sheets in the oven and bake. Bake pita chips for 10 minutes and chickpeas for 15-20 minutes, tossing both halfway between.  Check for desired crispiness and remove from oven.
• 2. When the pita chips come out of the oven, transfer to serving tray/plate.  
• 3. Top pita nachos with all of the toppings (optional: you can put the nachos back in the oven for 4 minutes if you want the toppings to be warm, too!). Garnish with a pinch of za’atar spread evenly over chips, fresh ground pepper, green onion and chopped parsley. Serve immediately with hummus and tzatziki sauce. See pictures for platting inspiration
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