clickinmyheels

Another meal we enjoy in our house is nachos. When I make tacos, I reserve some of the cooked taco meat for what we call “Super Nachos” in our house as a meal on another night. Last week, instead of making the Super Nachos with beef, I used up some of the pulled pork again. Ok, it’s not the healthiest meal, but it sure brings happy smiles to all our faces and it’s a quick meal to throw together. You can pile on the toppings which I like, or keep it more basic with just chips, cheese, meat and a dollop of sour cream.

What you’ll need:

Tortilla chips of your choice. Sometimes I do lime, sometimes, I do scoops, sometimes Cantina. Whatever we happen to have.

Queso Dip- **see below for ingredients for that.

Diced Tomatoes

Sour Cream

Black Beans- rinsed and drained. No need to pre heat or cook.

Shredded cheese. I usually use a mexican type blend.

Shredded Lettuce

garnish with fresh cilantro if you have some

Taco meat- beef, chicken or pork cooked and seasoned with taco flavorings. I try to avoid using the pouches of pre made seasonings because the sodium and artificial flavorings are so high.  I use some Goya Adobo with Cumin All purpose spice  (cumin, garlic, salt, pepper, and other spices). Then I add more cumin, paprika, dried cilantro or fresh if I have it, little chili powder, pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper and some water. I don’t measure so it’s always going to taste a little different. One day I’ll make a large batch just to keep on hand. Today I picked up Tajin Clasico Seasoning that has blended Mexican chiles, lime and salt in it. I’ll try it out tonight for our tacos and let you know how it works.

 

 

Here’s how I make the Super Nachos:

Make your queso or use store bought. See below for my queso recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

Lay down foil on a sheet pan or pizza pan. I use a single piece of foil per person so I lay two pieces of foil per big sheet pan.

Lay a layer of chips on the foil.

Spoon over a little queso over the chips, add on a little shredded cheese, meat (I just put it on cold if using leftover meat), black beans, and then top with more shredded cheese. I also like to douce on a little hot sauce on mine.

Bake in the oven for about 4-5 minutes until cheese is all melted and it’s calling your name.

Remove from oven and add the tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream and cilantro.

Carefully pick up the sheet of foil with hot nachos on them and place them on a plate or paper plate for a super easy meal night with little to no cleanup!!

 

**Queso Recipe:

1 jalepeno, minced fine with seeds and innards removed.

2 TBS butter

8 oz cream cheese. I use light.

1/2 block of queso blanco Velveeta cheese

2 C or so of milk

pinch of cayenne pepper

couple TBS of hot sauce. My favorites are Cholula and Tapatio

2 C shredded cheese. I usually use a mexican blend

In a medium sauce pan, saute’ the jalepeno in the butter for a few minutes. Cube the Velveeta and add it and the cream cheese and melt slowly. Add the milk, cayenne, and hot sauce until blended. Add in 2 C or so of shredded cheese and blend over medium low heat. Add more milk if needed until it’s the right consistency. Turn down to low and make sure not to burn.

Note: If I’m making something with jalepenos and have extra or manage to keep any pepper plants alive in my garden, I mince up the jalepenos and put them in little Press and Seal pouches (1-2 minced jalepenos per pouch) and then inside freezer bags. This is a big time savor when I’m making queso or any soups that call for jalepeno. I do this with onions as well, although some might argue that it’s not safe because bacteria quickly absorbs into the onion once it’s cut and not cooked. I’ve done it for years with no issues, just make sure to cut it up and put in my little Press and Seal pouches and then in the freezer right away.

 

So tonight we are having TACOS!!!! I can’t wait!! You bet your pants, we will be having Super Nachos at some point later in the week! Happy Tuesday!

 

Update 9-11-14 I remembered today since we are having tacos again tonight that I should let you know how that Tajin Clasico Seasoning turned out. I think it works well for the chicken, but didn’t give enough flavor to the beef. I ended up adding a lot of other spices (cumin, garlic, chili powder, paprika, pepper, ceyenne) to give the beef enough flavor. For the chicken, the Tajin Clasico Seasoning seemed to work well and I like the hint of lime in it. I guess I’ll continue to just make my own concoction for beef or keep trying new seasonings in the ethnic isle in the grocery store.