Cooking time – Under 1 hour

Intro

This is one of my favorite recipes, that I haven’t changed much over the last 20 years. I make it at least every two weeks. It’s healthy, and it is a non-meat chili mix, so this is considered a vegetarian recipe. There is plenty to eat in a serving, so enjoy it at the table, watching your favorite sport, or with friends at a party.

This recipe has enough chili mix for 4 servings. I make two plates of nachos, and store the rest of the chili mix for the next nacho meal. It keeps fine in the fridge for a week or so.

Preparation

As always, if you want a meal in 1-hour or less, get everything you need for the meal out on the counter and stove top. That means all the pans (1 in this case), chips, vegetables, spices, measuring utensils (although I don’t use any), guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes. I am using a 10⅝” cast iron skillet to cook the chili mix in.¹

After you have all the “ingredients” out, wash the veggies and heat up the skillet with a dash of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil and set your timer. Let’s do it!

Ingredients

• 1 – jalapeno diced
• 1 – poblano diced
• 2 – colored sweet peppers diced
• 1 – medium sized onion diced
• A handful of grape tomatoes sliced in two
• 1 – can of diced tomatoes
• 1 – can of red kidney beans
• Approximately a ¼ pound of Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese. I just slice it and count anywhere from 20 to 25 slices. That’s enough for 2 servings. ²
• 1 to 2 tbsp of chili powder
• 1 to 2 tbsp of ground cumin
• 1 to 2 tsp of granulated garlic
• Hot sauce to taste
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

Cooking

Start by cleaning the seeds from the jalapeño, poblano, and sweet peppers. Dice the peppers. Place those in the heated skillet and stir into the oil.

Follow that by dicing the onion and place in the pan and stir. Now you have all your veggies cooking.

Get out two oven-proof plates and lay the tortilla chips in a circle, covering all the space in the plate with at least one layer of tortillas. I put the larger chips on the outer rim, but it’s no big deal to place them any way you like. The reason I cover all the space is so the melted cheese doesn’t stick to the plate when you heat it.

Now, slice the cheese and place it evenly over the chips, making sure that the cheese doesn’t overlap the chips and melt on the edges of the plate.

Place the prepared plates in the oven, and start it heating. I don’t pre-heat. I set mine at 325º F. When it reaches temperature, cancel (turn the oven off) and leave the plates in the oven till you are ready to serve.

Drain the can of kidney beans. Add the spices evenly over the veggie mix. Stir the spices into the veggie mix. Add the can of diced tomatoes and the drained kidney beans and stir those into the mix.

Once the mix is starting to bubble, lower the heat under the pan and simmer till you are ready to assemble the plates. Stir occasionally. You should have 5-10 minutes that the mix can simmer.

Wash the grape tomatoes and slice in halves.

Serving

Place the hot plates with the melted cheese and tortilla chips on hot pads or a towel and start the assembly of the nachos.

Place about 3 good spoonfuls of the chili mix in the center of the chips. Sprinkle an ample amount of chopped romaine over the mix. Next place several dollops of guacamole in the center of the plate, on top of the lettuce. And finally, place the halved grape tomatoes on top of the guacamole, or on the side of the plate. My wife likes hers on top of the guacamole. I like mine on the side, so I can dip chips into it as I pull them from the edges of the plate.

Additional Notes

I hope this becomes a keeper for you too. Make your own version. This recipe is just one of many ways you can make this meal. And it is a meal. Quite filling.

You may have different veggies or beans. That’s okay. Use your cooking common sense. Season it to taste. After a few tries you’ll have the recipe nailed – just the way you like it. Enjoy! Caio, Randino

Let us know in the comments what you think of this recipe. How would you make it? What could improve it? Share your opinion in the comment box below. Thanks.

1. After using many non-stick pans, which eventually show wear on the non-stick surface, which means those particles probably ended up in my food, I have found that a cast iron skillet, which I’ve had for years, is about as good as it gets. Easy to clean, and no coatings on it. ↩
2. Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese is vegetarian-friendly. Cabot is known for producing cheeses that are suitable for vegetarians, and their cheddar varieties are made without animal rennet—they use microbial enzymes instead, which means they don’t contain the traditional calf rennet that some other cheeses use. ↩