Cuisines: Southwest

tortilla chips topped with chili and cheese are baked for nachos

Chili Cheese Nacho Bake

What do you do with leftover chili? The list is very long, but one of  our family’s leftover solutions is the chili-cheese nacho bake.  It’s a simple layer of tortilla chips that are topped with chili and shredded cheese and then baked.  When it comes out of the oven, additional toppings are added to individual servings as desired.  Some of our favorites are  sliced green onions, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, sour cream, or guacamole.  I’ve even been known to throw some shredded lettuce on top of mine to make it like a salad. However it’s topped, the end result […]

Chicken Tortilla Soup topped with melted cheese and tortill chips top the soup.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my favorites.  It’s a very easy recipe and is delicious.  My favorite part is the layer of chips and melted cheese on top of the bowl of soup, but the whole thing is a special treat. This recipe for chicken tortilla soup  begins with ground or chopped chicken that is sautéed with onions, garlic, carrots, and celery.  The mixture is combined with tomatoes with green chilies, beans, corn, broth, and spices before being simmered until the flavors are fully combined. The soup is ladled into oven safe bowls and topped with tortilla chips and […]

kidney bean and corn salad

Corn and Kidney Bean Salad

This salad was supposed to be made with black beans, but I made a little mistake.  When I was preparing the salad, I inadvertently grabbed and opened a can of kidney beans instead of black beans.  With that one error, this salad changed from what I had imagined to something deliciously different.  I used the techniques from my faux homemade salsa recipe to give the illusion that this dish was more complicated to prepare, but there’s a minimum of chopping required for the recipe.  The entire dish can be assembled in about 10 minutes. Many variations of this salad are […]

Chili, served piping hot from the stove.

Our Favorite Pot of Chili

Chili always makes me think of how different families do things differently.  When Baker’s Man and I were just starting out, I made him a pot of chili.  He complained to me that it was too runny.  “Chili is supposed to be thick.”  He proclaimed.   In my parent’s house, chili was very soup like.  It was definitely not thick.  I began to adjust my techniques to produce a thicker chili in order to please my new husband.  Years later, I was talking to a coworker as we were eating chili.   She shared how the first time she made chili for […]

taco bean soup topped with a scattering of green onion

Chipotle Taco Bean Soup

I first learned of this recipe while I was at a party at a friend’s house.  She had requested that each guest bring something to contribute toward the meal.  The young woman who brought the soup course brought a pot filled with beans, corn, and meat that was reminiscent of a pot of chili.   She explained that this soup was made with whatever combination of southwest vegetables you choose and a package of taco seasoning.  She said that her family often left out the meat and just added extra vegetables. On that night, she served the soup plain, but shared […]

Melting cheese on top of refried beans makes them taste better.

Easy Refried Beans

Someone, specifically Sue Chef and Baker’s Man, pointed out that my April 1 post did not contain a NEW bean recipe, and they believe that means that I either need to blog about beans twice on one day, or I need to continue my 30 days of beans series through May 1.  I don’t want to cheat, so I’m asking for your opinions regarding this.  While you consider my dilemma and what I should do, I want to share a very easy recipe for tasty refried beans. I realize that the easiest way to have refried beans is to buy […]

finally, the rest of the jar was filled with lettuce.

Taco Salad in a Jar

Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing salad in a jar recipes here.  This is the third post in that series.  I am really in love with the salad in a jar idea because it allows me to make the salads on the weekend and have ready-made lunches that I can grab at least through Wednesday.  This ensures that I will eat a fresh, healthy and economical lunch at work and helps to prevent spending money on take-out. In addition to being a great lunch, these salads can also be a quick and easy dinner idea as well.  […]