Fresh chips and nachos - Sam Sifton

By wendywag

Ingredients

• Tortillas
• olive oil for sauteing
• 2 small onions, separated
• ground beef, turkey or chorizo
• garlic
• cumin
• coriander
• crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste
• can of black or pinto beans, drained
• tomato
• jalapeno
• lime juice
• avocado
• cilantro
• grated cheese, cheddar or jack
• sour cream, if desired

Preparation

Step 1

Extra tortillas? We practically have a whole drawer of those in the refrigerator right now. Just brush them lightly with oil, cut into eighths and bake them at 350 until they're crisp.

What to do with them once they've been chip-i-fied? Why, make nachos, of course. We'll heat the oven to 425. We'll take an onion and peel it and chop it and sweat it off on the stovetop in a swirl of olive oil. We'll add to the pan a bunch of ground beef or turkey or fresh chorizo, and brown those off over medium-high heat. With garlic!

If there's a lot of fat, we'll get rid of most of it, then add ground cumin and coriander, some crushed red pepper, some salt and pepper, perhaps a drained can of black beans, or pinto beans, or little pink beans. (You can always just use beans and omit the meat. Or omit the beans.)

Then we'll chop up another onion, a sad tomato from the market and a plump jalapeño, then mix those together with the juice of a lime and a big pinch of salt. Slice an avocado or two if we can find ripe ones. Chop up a bunch of cilantro. And grate some cheese - Cheddar or jack, if you can, maybe both. Sour cream? Hot sauce? We'll graze the fridge and the pantry, adding what makes sense to our work space.

Then we'll assemble our meal: chips followed by meat and beans followed by cheese followed by chips followed by more meat, chips and cheese. Put that in a very hot oven until melty and awesome, then cover with the tomato-and-onion mixture, the avocados, the cilantro and, if you like it, some dollops of sour cream.