Football Night Nachos

I've been doing a guest recipe post every Thursday night for a few weeks now, but tonight is a little different, a little special. You see, I'm a native Packers fan (not of Green Bay, but of Wisconsin), so I wanted to do something a little different with dinner tonight. I'll resume Guest Recipes next week. Who will it be???

Start with a pound of ground beef or turkey. I prefer turkey. Brown it.

After it's brown, I add about 1 T chili powder, 1-2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp oregano, and about 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. This is much better than a spice packet which tends to upset my stomach. If you want heat you could add some red pepper to this.

After the seasoning has been mixed up and cooked a bit I add about 1/3 cup of water. Stir it up to make sure all the seasoning is dissolved and remove the pan from heat. This is my basic taco meat, but today I'm going to put it on chips.

Speaking of chips...these are white corn chips on a baking sheet with parchment. Spread 'em out not too thick and not too sparse.

Spread a little meat out.

Add black beans that have been drained and rinsed.

And cover with shredded cheese. I used a mix of pre-shredded colby jack and regular jack cheese, shredded (just what I had in the fridge).

Repeat process. Add one more layer of chips, meat, beans, and cheese. Pop this in a 350 oven for about 10 or so minutes. You may want to turn the broiler on for an additional couple of minutes at the end to brown the cheese on top, but watch it carefully.

Cheese all nice and melty, and the layers all nice and heated through.

I topped mine with some fresh homemade pico de gallo, a little sour cream, and a little bit of chopped cilantro. You could use guacamole, nacho cheese sauce, maybe salsa con queso? There's lots of versatility here. You could even skip the salsas and build a small salad on top of this for a taco salad.

My camera is sucking tonight...
Almost game time. Of course, I'm cheering for the Pack. I hope all you fans out there have a fun night, good food, and be safe.

The Kitchen Noob's Taco Meat Recipe: (I'm claiming this one)

1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 T chili powder
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup water

Brown meat. Add seasonings and stir. Add water and mix until all seasonings are dissolved.

The Kitchen Noob's Pico de Gallo Recipe: (also my own concoction)

2-3 large ripe tomatoes, diced
1 white onion, diced
1 pepper, whichever color, diced
2 green onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T lemon or lime juice
1 T red wine vinegar (optional)
2 tsp cumin (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Let it rest for about a half hour at room temp, then adjust seasonings to taste.


Hand cut  everything - don't wuss out and use a food processor lol. Seriously, it tastes better.