I met my friend Lia about 10 years ago when we were living in a small, cute townhouse in Scottsdale, Az. Back then, it was just me and my son Britton, then about 5 years old. Lia lived in the townhouse across the little courtyard from ours. She had two young sons herself and so we became acquainted through our boys and spending lots of time outdoors. We both immediately bonded through our love of food and cooking. We could ramble on all night about recipe ideas, spices and the proper temperature for cooking salmon or chicken. We hung out together almost every night in either our little kitchenette or hers sharing a glass of wine and debating on all important topics such as how small to dice some vegetable or whether or not black olives should go into home made chili ( most definitely NOT in my opinion! Mushrooms maybe but black olives, please! ) Those were the good ol days.
I still talk to Lia but not near as much as I would like to. Our lives have gotten crazy, especially since I got married, had 3 more lovely children and moved to the other side of the valley. The valley of the Sun spans about 4 hours from one side to the other making it just as easy to drive to San Diego for the day as it is to visit a good friend in Scottsdale. When we do get together nowadays, it's inevitably to cook and eat and most importantly hang out and chat *sighhhh, I sure do miss doing that.
This is one of the delicious dinners my very talented friend would make for us and that I still make often.
Skillet Nachos or "Cowboy Nachos" are one of our family's favorite dinners. These baby's are piled high with spicy beans, sauteed zucchini, peppers and onion. You could add some shredded chicken to these to make them even heartier, but we all love them veggie style. They are sooooo yummy and full of flavor. You have to try these to get a taste of the South West!
You will need:
1 can spicy chili beans, drained but not rinsed
1 large red or green bell pepper, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 zucchini, quartered, then chopped
handful of shredded Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For garnish:
Cilantro
3 Roma Tomatoes, diced
light sour cream
Black Olives ;-)
Most importantly, a heavy, cast iron skillet!
Putting it all together:
Heat a tabelspoon of oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Saute chopped onion and peppers till browned, about 3 minutes. Don't stir to often, let them brown.
Transfer to a bowl. Add Zucchini to skillet and saute till brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl with other veggies.
Pile tortilla chips into skillet, pile beans and veggies on top. Sprinkle with cheese.
Put skillet into a preheated oven at 400 degrees F.
Cook just till cheese is melted and browned, about 6 minutes.
Serve with garnishes.
*mental note to self...... buy larger cast iron skillet to accommodate the fam!!!
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