Nachos, Taquitos, and Beergaritas

Tonight for dinner, we went for an easy comfort fix - store-bought chicken taquitos, with nachos. Each time I make nachos, I try different methods to see what we like best. Lately, I've been making them as a dip, with the chips separate, as I find the chips too often get soggy. But the downside is a lack of portion control - we end up wasting ingredients that went into the dip, and usually overeating chips (more so me than Dan). And from a strictly aesthetic standpoint, a big dish of dip isn't all that pretty.



This time, I decided to start by layering a reasonable portion of chips with some shredded cheese right on the plates, and popped them both in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, to warm the chips and melt the cheese. While that was going on, I cooked some ground turkey with generous amounts of chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and salt, plus the whites of one scallion, in a skillet over medium heat. I also warmed up some refried beans, and mixed in about a half cup of salsa. Finally, I chopped the greens of two scallions, and a handful of cilantro. When the chips and cheese were ready, I topped them first with the beans/salsa mixture, then the turkey, then chopped black olives, followed by scallion greens and cilantro. I piped some guacamole in little swirls around it, then laid the taquitos on the sides of what had turned into a volcano of nachos.

I think this method worked out well - from a presentation standpoint, as well as in the areas of taste and portioning.



To wash it all down, Dan whipped up a drink that we learned from our wonderful next-door neighbor, Mary. Mary is a great-grandmother who has lived, and continues to live life to the fullest. One of the chapters of her amazing life involved packing up her belongings into an RV, and driving down to Mexico to live there for awhile. In honor of that time, she has an annual Cinco De Mayo party that we had the pleasure of being invited to last year. Friends, family, and neighbors came together for lots of food, conversation, and a Beergaritas - a hybrid of Margaritas and Mexican beer. Since we lived next door, somehow I became the one responsible for finishing off the Beergaritas, since I could 'crawl home'. This year, I'll be prepared with an excuse.