nachos with homemade guacamole and homemade salsa

i gave in to the nacho calling. dh had picked up a bag of tostitos multigrain and i was just bagged after 4hrs of sleep the night before.
yes, the calling was sleep-deprivation-related.
so...the fridge was kind of empty. i did have some chorizo, and a red bell pepper in the fridge...perfect for toppings.
a few tomatoes, a few green onions, lots of cilantro and 3 very, very ripe avocadoes - all led to nachos...

chorizo and red pepper cooked up in the pan (i always just do the nacho chips just with cheese on top in the oven at 350 and add the other toppings once cooked - i hate soggy nachos and this solves that issue)


homemade guacamole and salsa

salsa
2 large hothouse tomatoes chopped
4tbsp cilantro chopped
1 green onion chopped
2tbsp pickled sliced jalapeno (i like it spicy)
dash of salt
1.5tbsp of lime juice

i squeeze as much of the juice out of the tomato as possible and keep it in a bowl or cup (i used half of it in the skillet with the red pepper and chorizo = no oil needed!
i used a hand blender to blend it down (i like it a little less chunky
i LOVE this salsa...love love love
the tomato is the star


guacamole
2 ripe avocado
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp tomato juice from the 2 tomatoes i squeezed and chopped
1 tbsp salsa
1 tbsp sour cream (optional
1/2 green onion chopped
tiny bit of minced garlic
dash of salt and pepper

all this in a bowl and it gets the hand blender treatment. better if it can sit for 1/2 an hour in the fridge, but no time this time. my standard guacamole. i like it a lot, tastes pretty fresh - even with very very ripe avocados to contend with.
i don't add jalapenos to this as i've already made a spicy salsa.

simple and tasty

italian nachos

                      
there's just something about nachos that makes them easy to do in many creative ways. for my italian style version i used

a bag of multigrain nacho chips
2 tomatoes chopped
3 italian sausages chopped
2 cooking onion chopped
1 cup of sliced green olives
1 red bell pepper chopped
1.5 cup shredded nacho cheese mix
1 can pizza sauce
1 tsp minced garlic

i put all the ingredients except for the cheese and chips in a skillet and cooked until the sausage was fully cooked.



then the pizza sauce in a small pot to heat.

and finally cheese on the chips in the oven at 350 until the cheese melted.

plate it all - sauce in a ramekin, chips with cheese, add toppings.

yum! these were hearty and delicious. yeah, i'll make these again. there was a lot of leftover topping mix to use in another recipe.

potato nachos

i had some potatoes that needed to be used up and it was raining so didn't want to grill them

so thought, why not try and make them nacho style

potatoes
4 potatoes
sliced
sprayed foil with pam
and 375 for 30 min

salsa
i always make a similar salsa
2 tomatoes
about a tablespoon of jarred jalapeno peppers
2 tbsp cilantro
1 spring onion
squirt of lime juice
- all in the blender
salt / pepper to taste - i don't always do this
- i didn't strain it as the extra liquid is great for the potatoes

remove already baked potatoes from oven - add the homemade salsa, cheese and sprinkle a bit of taco seasoning

back in the oven until cheese bubbles

YUM - i didn't know if this would work out, but wow it was really delicious and something i'll make again
these weren't greasy, they held the toppings well, and you could get pretty creative with toppings (will do so next time)