Coconut oil
2-6 cloves of garlic (chopped or minced) – optional
2 jalapeños, chopped (with or without seeds) – optional
1 pound ground beef (see vegetarian substitute below)
2 TBSPs taco meat seasoning
Tomatoes (chopped)
Avocado (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped), divided
Lime juice
Tortilla chips (preferably blue corn)
8 ounces sharp cheddar (shredded)
8 ounces pepper-jack cheese (shredded)
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Sauté the garlic and jalapeño in coconut oil over medium-low heat for a minute or 2.
- Add the ground beef and crumble it in the pan using a blunt utensil (etc – edge of a wooden spatula).
- Add the seasoning mixture, toss to coat, and cook until meat is evenly browned.
- Turn off the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the tomatoes, avocado, lime juice, and most of the cilantro.
- Place the desired amount of tortilla chips in the bottom of a shallow pyrex (9×11 or two to three 8×8).
- Transfer pyrex to the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes to warm the chips.
- Spread both shredded cheeses over the chips evenly.
- If the meat (or bean) mixture cooled down too much, turn the burner on for a few minutes and toss until heated through.
- Spread the meat (or bean) mixture over the cheesy chips.
- Transfer the pyrex back to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and top with tomato / avocado mixture.
- Garnish with remaining cilantro.
VEGETARIAN VERSION: Instead of beef – after sautéing the garlic and jalapeño for a minute or 2, add 2 15-oz cans of black beans (rinsed & drained), 2 15-oz cans of refried beans, and continue following the recipe (the same 2 TBSPs of seasoning seemed to do the trick).
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SIDE NOTES:
~ Why blue corn chips? Blue foods (minus things like Gatorade and skittles) tend to have more antioxidants than white / yellow foods (think blueberries). Blue corn also has more protein and less starch than yellow. It tastes exactly the same – so why not? 🙂
~ If you’d like to make your own taco seasoning: http://realfoodtastesgood.com/2014/02/26/taco-meat-seasoning/
~ Use whatever kind of cheese you like – doesn’t necessarily have to be cheddar & spicy jack.
~ As for the pico de gallo-ish mixture (tomato / avocado, etc) – it can be prepared many different ways – add a little chopped, red onion and/or olives… omit the avocado – whatever floats your boat. I can’t really offer an exact recipe for this – but I’m sure such recipes exist online if you’d like precise measurements (I used about 5 avocados, one pint of grape tomatoes sliced in half, the juice from 3 limes, and a 0.66-oz bag of cilantro for the vegetarian version I made last night – pictured above).
~ Instead of sautéing jalapeño with the meat (or beans) – you can add fresh jalapeño to the tomato mixture.
~ When I do the beef version, I split this into two 8×8 pyrex dishes. For the vegetarian version – it’s enough for three dishes. I serve each person their own 8×8 dish – but it’s always enough for 2 meals / leftovers the next day.
~ Always get a few more avocados than you think you’ll need, as many of us know – you don’t know what they’re going to look like on the inside once you cut it open – you might get 1 or 2 bad ones!
This is such a fun and tasty dinner…. Enjoy!
