Nachos to die for
I’m a nurse, and nurses help people live healthier lives, right? Right. But my system is having difficulty sending any of Steve’s photos to brighten up the blog and your day today. So instead, in honor of the NCAA National Championship Game, here is the recipe for what my son’s friends term
Caution: not a low-fat, low-salt, or high-nutrition food. May not contain anything with any nutritional value at all. May cause hypertension, atherosclerosis, and/or elevated cholesterol levels. Consume at your own risk, and only during football season. Also I haven’t done any research into social responsibility of most of the brands suggested. Go ahead, make my day, tell me in the comments if I shouldn’t be buying these products.
[Update 10:40 p.m. : Well played, Florida! Great refereeing, PAC-10 officials! And too bad, Auburn won the $100,000 scholarship over Oregon State. Now back to your previously scheduled recipe]
Ingredients
1 pound package yellow corn chips
1 pound package white corn chips
I use Santitas brand. A bit less salty than others I’ve tried
1 16 oz. can 50%-less-sodium black beans – cheap store brand is fine. Rinse and drain. The “less-sodium” part lets you tell yourself this stuff is not as bad for you as it could be, and also nachos are plenty salty enough already and taste better with the lower salt variety
1/2 packet frozen white corn, unfrozen by running hot water over it in a sieve
1 jar Tostitos brand nacho sauce, Monterey Jack variety
This is the most key ingredient, and I can’t always find it at Fred Meyer. It’s whitish like ranch dressing instead of standard nacho cheese sauce yellow
1 small (14 oz) container salsa, spiced to taste (I use medium Restaurant-style)
Pick whatever brand looks best. I used Rojo’s yesterday – lots of cilantro visible and didn’t look too runny
1 pound package shredded cheese, 4-cheese or some kind of nacho mix– Go for Tillamook brand, since that’s an easy one for making a token effort to buy Oregon products. Plus it’s delish.
A handful or two of bite-size pieces of chicken morsels.
Leftover cutup KFC is ideal. Or those Fred Meyer roasters from the warming table by their deli, have you tried those? Mmm, mmm, good. Remove the skin, of course, for the token “it could be worse” effect. Plus, chicken skin in nachos? Gross.
If you’re making these for adults with more sophisticated palates, fresh cilantro and diced fresh tomatoes make it even better. Teenagers will be freaked out by the green/fresh stuff so don’t try to sneak it in.
Method:
1. Cover the bottom of a large microwavable dish with a layer of chips. Size of dish depends on number of people you’re serving – use more chips for more people (duh). I use the black plastic things Stouffer’s dinners like lasagna and chicken enchilladas come in. Yes, I know those things give off toxic waste with repeated uses. Refer to Caution, above. Or use Pyrex, if you have it. Mingle white and yellow corn chips, filling the container about half full (no matter how deep the container).
2. Sprinkle beans, corn, salsa, sauce, and cheese on top, in that order.
3. Add another layer of chips, then repeat step 2. You won’t use all the chips – probably about half each packet for a standard football-watching party. Tastes better with the mix of white and yellow corn than if you economize by just buying one packet, plus you can eat the rest later.
4. Microwave (don’t cover) until hot with cheese on top melted and bubbly. If the cheese is browning, that’s too much. Takes 2 – 5 minutes on high, depending on how many you’re serving and the power of your nuking machine. You can make two batches in two dishes when doing the layering, but microwave them separately.
5. Serve by scooping/excavating vertically, to get the layers. Serves 2 – 10, depending on how many are teenage boys.