Nacho Party!

Any Enneagramers out there? I’m a 1, aka The Reformer or The Improver. Rational and idealistic. Moral perfectionist. Principled (perhaps irritating) crusader of right vs. wrong. I joined a Facebook support group for 1s, so I can laugh/cry and memes like these, and know I’m not alone in the struggle.

This is where I found a lovely woman, Allison Wheeler, who creates and photographs the most beautiful food on boards or trays. Waffles, donuts, salads, tacos – you name it, she’s making it damn sexy, and it’s helping her get through the day. Of course, the pleasure of neatly organizing bits of things into a contained canvas immediately resonated with my shared orderly complex.

When I laid eyes on her nacho board, I exclaimed, GENIUS! Within a few days, the chips and queso were procured and our Nacho Party was born. Mine is not nearly as beautiful, but this meal was pure, delicious joy on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

It checks all the boxes – everyone loves nachos, you can customize your plate, sneak in some healthyish toppings, and it’s fun!

I can’t really call this a recipe, but here some tips for your nacho game:

Most importantly – Cheese. Can we agree that equal cheese distribution is the thing with nachos? Who wants the dry chips on the bottom? No one. We like to use both shredded cheese and melted queso to attack this problem.

Baking. Layer the chips on your baking tray in an even layer, sprinkle with shredded cheese and any other toppings that are universally loved and won’t cause controversy upon serving (for us, after reaching consensus with the tiny dictators, we added cooked chicken and black beans). Put under the broiler until cheese is melted.

Topping & Serving. When your tray comes out of the oven, drizzle with queso cheese that’s been melted. If you’re Atlanta local, we buy ours from Oakhurst Market, who makes it in house. You can make your own, of course. There are many good recipes out there – it’s a simple mixture of white american cheese and milk, plus seasoning.

Have fun with the toppings – avocado, sour cream, salsa, black beans, scallion, shredduce, tomato, jalapeno, pickled jalapeno, extra queso – whatever your heart desires.

Enjoy!