What We’re Eating: Game Day Nachos

Since the Super Bowl is now scheduled to fall on the first Sunday of every February, this will happen to coincide with Melody’s birthday party every year.  In honor of the big game (which wasn’t really a big deal around here since the teams happen to be all from the Northeast this year), I decided to throw together a football/game-day type of food: NACHOS!

Ingredients:

• Tortilla Chips
• Sauce
  • Cheddar Cheese Sauce (if you don’t want the spice of Salsa or Chili)
  • ….or Salsa/Chili Con Queso
• Meat
  • 1 lb. of Ground Beef (can also use Carnitas/Kalua Pork, Carne Asada Steak, or Shredded Pollo Chicken)
  • Taco Seasoning Mix to flavor the meat (or BBQ sauce if you want to go Southern)
• Black/Refried Beans (optional)
• Halved Olives (optional)
• Sliced Jalapeno Peppers (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Sour Cream (optional)
• Shredded Lettuce (optional)
• Sliced Cherry/Grape Tomatoes (optional)
• Slices of Lime to squeeze on the chips or as decoration (optional)

Here’s how I made it:

1. Line toaster oven baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Cover the foiled baking sheet with tortilla chips.
3. Brown the meat on a skillet and then drain it.
4. In the same skillet, throw in the taco seasoning mix with a bit of water and wait until the sauce thickens to the meat.
5. Pour the meat mixture on top of the tortilla chips.
6. Pour beans on top of that.
7. Pour the cheese sauce or con queso on top of that.
8. Spread olives (and optionally jalapeno peppers) on top of that.
9. Bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes (or until everything heats up……if the chips start turning brown, you’ve done it for too long)
10. Spread remaining “cold” ingredients all over the nachos and serve hot.

– Norm