Nachos - Easy Appetizer or Meal

Warm melted cheese gets my attention every time. It is like a fluid sensation coating my tongue and cheeks. The gooiness sticks to any choice of food enhancing flavors to the moon! Here is a tasty snack food transforming into complete meal with very little effort, right in front of your eyes. Comfort food all to yourself or share it with your best friends. Get ready for the compliments on your cooking skills. Only you will know how simple it is to create this homemade dish. Grab your favorite easy chair and watch some football with your comfort creation or put a baking dish full of Nachos on a buffet table and quietly watch your friends stuff their mouths with joy because you cooked.

The Souper

What you will need:
1 lb. block of fresh cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips of choice - two bags
Can of beans of choice - white, navy or red (optional)
Jar of favorite salsa
Guacamole - prepared from the market
Sour cream - purchased from the market
Large baking dish
Large bowl
Small serving bowls - three
A box grater
Pot holders

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 400-425 degrees F.
Grate your cheese into a large bowl
(Optional)Open a can of beans - rinse with cold water and drain out the liquid
Open a bag of tortilla chips
Put salsa, guacamole and sour cream into small serving bowls

Create your Nachos:
In the large baking dish, put one layer of the tortilla chips
Cover the tortilla chips with some grated cheese
Cover the layer of grated cheese with some rinsed beans (optional)
Continue layering of tortilla chips, grated cheese and beans
Tope layer is grated cheese

Bake:
Put the full baking dish of Nachos into the preheated oven
Bake until the cheese is melted - about 10 minutes depending on your oven temp.
Remove the baking dish from the oven with pot holders

Serving:
Eat Nachos directly from the baking dish
Have individual serving dishes ready to put all the fixings for the Nachos - salsa, quacamole and sour cream.

Enjoy

Heirloom Tomatoes

Enjoyed my first Heirloom Tomato for lunch today. What a treat! Are all tomatoes alike? Not really. Many thanks to Whole Foods for making these special tomatoes readily available in their store near me.

Heirloom Tomatoes can be enjoyed simply on a good whole grain or rustic bread, toasted. Drizzle the toast with good extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), cut thick slice of tomato with a serrated knife so as not to tear the meat of the tomato. Then drizzle again with the EVOO. Sprinkle with some dried basil. That's it. Enjoy.

Prep: Wash and dry the fresh Heirloom Tomato very carefully. Slice a good bread with a serrated knife on a cutting board. Toast or bake in oven with EVOO drizzled on it and bake on a baking sheet. Also use a cutting board to cut the tomato in thick slices with a serrated knife. Have extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) nearby as well as dried basil.

Serving suggestions: Layer toasted bread, extra virgin olive oil, tomato and dried basil, ending with a drizzle of the oil on top of the tomato. Or, add a layer of your favorite cheese like Mozzarella with fresh basil leaf.

What a nice first course or appetizer this recipe makes!