It all began when my friends and I recently went out to lunch. It was necessary for the server to move our party to another table. We didn't mind in the slightest, but she felt badly doing it. As a token of appreciation for our flexibility, the establishment brought us an order of loaded nachos on the house. They were tasty and had such colorful presentation that I decided I should make some for a good summertime dinner. It's certainly nothing new, but you may also enjoy a reminder to prepare something you've not had for a long time.
Loaded Nachos
1 bag of restaurant style nacho chips
1 pound ground beef, cooked with seasoning and drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 jar salsa
1 bag shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Cook your ground beef, adding either chili powder or taco seasoning to your liking. Drain and set aside.
I lined a flat, rimmed sheet with foil because I wanted to simplify the clean-up process! Create a single layer of nacho chips. Evenly spread a layer of cooked meat, followed by drained black beans, thin spread of salsa and then cheese. Repeat everything, ending with cheese. I baked mine in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, drizzle with sour cream (I added a tiny bit of milk to a daub of sour cream in a small resealable bag, smooshed it together and cut the corner so that I could squeeze out the contents). I garnished with sliced ripe olives.
Obviously, you can tweak this in numerous ways. You could use chicken instead of beef, add jalapeno peppers, etc. Adjust the amounts of each ingredient as needed. For just the two of us, I used about half of everything.
For this patriotic season, it would be fun to use a bag of the
red, white and blue chips currently featured in the stores.
A printable version is available here.
I served ours with corn-on-the-cob and fresh fruit salad. It was a good summertime meal, which we enjoyed on the patio even though it's 'nacho' typical meal! 😉
Happy Monday!