Happy Monday! So, I guess everyone on the planet watched the Super Bowl last night, right? What a game! It was my husband’s birthday this past weekend so we celebrated in New York City with our boys and got home just in time to watch the big game. We snuggled up on the couch with Lacey and a platter of Super Nachos!
We’ve been making our own version of nachos for years but when we stumbled upon this recipe by Rachel Ray, we loved it! The spices add the perfect amount of zing to the ground beef and when you add fresh cilantro, amazing! I’ll share Rachel Ray’s recipe first, but we did make a few changes. (Which in my husband’s book now makes it HIS recipe. LOL.)
Rachel Ray’s Super Nachos
Ingredients:
2 bags corn tortilla chips in 2 colors such as blue and yellow
Pico de Gallo Salsa:
4 vine ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small white onion chopped
1/2 cup, cilantro leaves finely chopped
salt to taste
Beef & Beans topping:
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground sirloin
1 small onion chopped
2 gloves garlic chopped
1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dark chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 can black beans (15 oz) drained & rinsed
Cheese Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups milk
3/4 pound pepper jack cheese shredded (2 1/2 cups)
Additional toppings optional:
sour cream
chopped black olives
sliced avocado
hot pepper slices
chopped scallions
Directions:
1-Arrange a mixture of corn chips on a very large platter or use your broiler pan as a platter.
2-Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside for flavors to meld.
3-In a skillet heat oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and saute for 2 minutes.
4-Add meat and spices and cook for 5 minutes until meat is cooked.
5-Stir in black beans to the meat mixture and simmer.
6-In a medium sauce pan melt butter and add flour. Cook flour and butter for about 2 minutes then whisk in milk. When milk comes to a bubble stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from the heat.
7-Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and top with beef, beans and the pico de gallo. Serve immediately. Garnish with your choice of extra toppings. Enjoy!
Our version is very much the same except instead of making our own pico de gallo, we buy pre-made salsa from the grocery store. We arrange our chips in a pan and add layers of the beef and bean mixture and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese in between the layers. We add fresh cilantro, jalapeño peppers, sliced olives and more cheese on top. Then we pop them in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Then we top it off with sour cream and salsa. Delicious!!
Really there is no wrong way to make nachos. Our version is less work and less dishes to clean! I also like to line the broiler pan in foil for an even quicker clean up.
The Super Nachos were delicious! And the Super Bowl going into overtime for the first time ever? Terrific! It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend! Hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by! xoxo Dell