Irish Nachos

What with St. Paddy's Day right around the corner, I decided to combine two of my favorite things: My wee bit of Irish heritage and guacamole.


I have had Irish nachos in pubs and restaurants, and I've made them at home many times. The concept (if you've never been so lucky as to enjoy the experience) is simple... Take all that is amazing about a plate of fully loaded nachos (sour cream, guacamole, cheese, onions, meat) and put it on potatoes instead of tortilla chips. The potatoes aren't as conveniently scoop able and finger-food-ish as the chips are, but on the other hand they are quite a bit more filling and help to justify using this appetizer-y, snack-y food as a meal.

Ha! As if I felt a need to justify eating this for dinner! It's damn delicious and much preferable to may other things I've eaten for dinner. That's good enough for me.

I have seen many recipes and suggestions for how to build your Irish Nachos. I think the best I have seen is Gaby's at What's Gaby Cooking. I used her recipe, with a few additions (sour cream!), and a couple substitutions (beef instead of turkey... I mean, Irish is Irish!). Really, Gaby is adorable and her recipes are delicious, and her photography is amazing. You should check out her original post and everything else she is cooking. But be prepared to find yourself suddenly starving.

Here is my version of Gaby's Irish Nachos:

2 russet potatoes, skin on
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 smallish onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa (I used the salsa I canned last summer, you can use the kind you love best)
1/2 cup sour cream
guacamole (the more, the better, in my book)

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the potatoes and layer them in a pie plate or similar-sized baking dish. Sprinkle them with one teaspoon of the paprika, salt and pepper. Then drizzle it all with olive oil and bake it for 35 minutes.

While the potatoes are in the oven, slice the bell peppers and onion. Sauté them in a pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes. You want them to be softened a bit, but still something to bite into. Turn them out onto a plate and then brown the beef in the same pan, with the remaining teaspoon of paprika and some more salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are done, layer them with the vegetables.

And then the beef.

Spread the cheese over all of this, and pop it back in the oven for a few minutes, until the cheese melts.

Top it with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

And enjoy the best thing that ever came out of the old world's invasion discovery of the new world. So good, in fact, my husband said "Would you stop taking pictures of that and please let me eat it? I can't wait any longer!" So, I never got the shot I was looking for, but my belly never complained.

This post is linked to the Improv Challenge hosted by Kristen at Frugal Antics of  Harried Homemaker. Check out what everyone else did with potatoes and cheese!

seven-layer dip

I have watched many episodes of ER and Grey's Anatomy, so I feel like I am a bit of an expert on Emergency Rooms and procedures for dealing with a massive catastrophe.

You know how the rescue workers go around marking the victims according to a triage system? I think the people who are about to die get a red tag, and the people who have a broken toe get a yellow tag, and everyone in between gets some color on the spectrum between the two. The idea is that you have to take care of some people immediately, whereas other people can sit and wait -- although they do need help -- for some time before they are taken care of.

My life feels this way right now. Since my kindergartner was Star of the Week last week, making his poster and preparing his biography were given red tags... DO THIS BEFORE MONDAY MORNING! Then came making valentines (which for some reason needed to be turned in already), and below that was putting together party favors and baking cupcakes for the second grader's birthday. Those got orange tags... they could wait a week without any major repercussions. Then there were a few yellow tags on things like making appetizers for the Superbowl party and RSVP'ing to a wedding and two birthday parties, and securing a babysitter for everything. Oh yeah, and a glance at the calendar reminded me that we are hosting a cub scout meeting/craft today. Yellow tag on that one.

Once the Star Week passed, the birthday party items moved into red tag status, and everything else moved up a step. There are still a few victims lying so deep in the wreckage that I may never get to them... things like cooking dinner or shaving my legs...or writing this blog. Don't tell anyone, okay? They'll just remain passengers "unaccounted for."

For the past two weeks, everything that has crossed my mind as a "to-do" item falls into its place...Just let me get through the birthday party and I can worry about the Superbowl. Just let me get these appetizers done and I'll bake the birthday cake and wrap gifts after the Superbowl party. Just let me get through the birthday and then I can plan the craft/shop/make snacks/clean the house for the cub scout meeting. 

So anyway, I meant to write about some Superbowl Party foods before the big game... you know, when it might have actually been helpful for you? But since the food got thrown together just as we walked out the door, things are not nearly as impressive as I wish they were.

Luckily, I got green garlic and avocados in my Abundant Harvest box this week. Which meant that the fates wanted me to be able to eat guacamole during the big game. And who am I to test fate?

Still, though, seven-layer dip should be an entire cuisine, in my opinion. And it is the perfect party food. So, here is what I brought when I went to watch the Giants beat the Patriots. 

Okay, who am I kidding? I watched the food table. Other people watched some sort of football game.

Seven layer bean dip:

Start with a good thick layer of black beans stirred with some salsa. This makes it easy to scoop up with chips. Spread a layer of sour cream over that, and them some shredded cheddar cheese, some sliced green onions, some chopped tomatoes, some black olives, and then dollop a whole lotta guacamole on top. I recommend waiting till the last minute for the guac, since you don't want it getting brown at all.

spaghetti squash salad with tomato and basil

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time (or if you know me in "real" life and you have been hearing me whine), you won't be surprised to know that sometimes I get overwhelmed by a particular vegetable in the Abundant Harvest box.

Last year I vaguely remember having a period where there was a ton of broccoli... and this summer there was most definitely a zucchini surplus.

It's not that it is a yucky vegetable. Or that I don't know how to prepare it. It is just that sometimes I just don't know what to do with so much of it. At points I felt like I might turn into broccoli from eating it so often.

This week, it is spaghetti squash. Up until now, the only way I have ever prepared it is to turn it into a spaghetti-like dish (with red sauce and meat). I did that last week. And this week, I was rewarded with two new, large, spaghetti squash. I can serve it one more time as a main dish, but any more than that? My husband and kids would be rightly justified in walking out on me. For good.

So, enter creativity mode!

Hey, if spaghetti squash takes the place of spaghetti, why shouldn't it take the place of other pastas Like...say... couscous?


I made a sort of spaghetti-squash, semi-caprese, semi pasta-salad salad.

Spaghetti Squash Salad with tomato and basil
(plan ahead to cook the squash and let it completely cool before assembling the salad)

1 spaghetti squash
3 small tomatoes, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 small yellow squash, chopped (about 1 cup)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and pulp. Place face down into a pan filled with about 1 inch of water.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the shell of the squash is browned and the insides are very soft.

Let it cool completely. Once it is cool, you will be able to easily scrape the flesh out into spaghetti-like strands.

Mix together the squash, feta and vegetables. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Like many pasta salads, this tastes even better after being refrigerated for a few hours, so go ahead and make it the morning before you need it!

Served in a half of an avocado, it makes and especially filling, healthy, delicious lunch!

Grilled Cheese sandwich with pesto, avocado, and tomoato

I think one of the most important things I have learned from the past (naerly) year (wow!) that we have been getting the weekly box of produce from Abundant Harvest, is that if you have enough of the right foods in your house, it is really much easier to eat at home than it is to go through a drive-through.

And don't get me started on how much more:

• healthy
• inexpensive
• environmentally responsible
• delicious

Because it is all those things too.

But take last night, as an example.

We were at karate class, where all three kids were punching and kicking their little hearts out, when I suddenly remembered that we had a cub scout meeting at 4:45 (why such an odd time? Let's just say compromise). Since karate ends at 4:30, we would need to go straight to cub scouts. And since cub scouts ends at 6:00, that really leaves no time for cooking dinner. And since this just occured to me, clearly I didn't plan ahead.

No problem. We'll go through the In-N-Out drive through on the way home. Easy, cheap, delicious, and, best of all, these tired and hungry martial artists/scouts will get to eat right away.

Except, as I drove toward In-N-Out, I could see the line at the drive through. If you haven't ever been to In-N-Out, shame on you   I am deeply sorry   come to California immediately   you may not realize that the cars will line up 15-20 deep at dinner time. And stay that way late into the night. The extremely friendly and happy staff will take care of those cars just as quickly as you can imagine, but still. You have to wait for those 15-20 people to order their fries animal style, their burgers double-double-protein-style-easy-on-the-spread-with-grilled-onions, and their chocolate shakes... just shakes. There really is no way to improve on those milkshakes. mmmm.

Anyway, I decided not to swing the car over and get in that line. Why? In addition to the long line, because... say it with me...  there are vegetables in my house that I need to use up! That is becoming quite a refrain around here.

But in all honesty, I do have vegetables I need to use up. And they are much better for me than a double double. Even if I order it protein style (no bun), and even though it comes with "hand leafed lettuce" and tomato. Even if they own no microwaves or freezers.

I went home and pulled together a meal that probably took less time than that drive through line would have taken. And it involved real, organic, fresh produce. And was absolutely delicious.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with pesto, avocado, and tomato

If you have cheese, bread, and butter in the house, all you need to do is dress it up a little bit. It makes all the difference in the world.

Mine were stacked like this:

buttered bread

chive pesto (although basil pesto would be great too)

muenster cheese

tomato

avocado

more muenster cheese

buttered bread

You can really stack up anything you want... I would love to have it with bacon, fresh basil, roasted peppers, jalapenos, or even slices of pear. The trick is just to take some fresh veggies, some strong flavor to balance the cheese (like pesto or hummus), and to stack it up!

I placed one slice of bread on the griddle, then spread the pesto and layered the cheese. Once it started to melt a little bit, I place the other bread next to it, stacked up the other items on it, and then flipped the first bread and cheese on top. That way the bread was toasted and the cheese melted, but the tomato and avocado didn't get too warm and slimy.

I served it with some fresh fruit, and we were happily munching away within 15 minutes of walking in the front door. Which is good, because there was still homework to do...

It's eight o'clock somewhere

When I was a little tyke I hated going to bed at night, much like every little kid does. I was pretty much convinced that the minute my light was off, my parents were going to scoop some ice cream and enjoy it in front of the TV. As a matter of fact, I believe that the minute my light was off, my parents did enjoy a bowl of ice cream and some TV shows I wasn't supposed to watch.

The other day, as I was tucking my own kiddos into bed, my five-year-old said, "After I go to bed and you go downstairs to do your sweeping, will you try to find my baseball hat?" I am not sure why he thinks I run off to do some secretive pleasure sweeping at night, but I am not about to set the record straight.

Can you keep a secret? My evenings look more like this:

The best guacamole ever

2 avocados
1-2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 green garlics, sliced thinly (Is that how you pluralize it? I would say green onions, so I guess it is right. It just sounds funny.)
2 Tbsp. fresh chives, sliced thinly
A handful of fresh cilantro, chopped up real small
salt and pepper to taste.

Just mash the avocados, stir in the rest, and get ready to dip your chips. Or your spoon.

One salad, coming up. Chop-chop.

I moved to my current town about 10 years ago, and when I did we had a double income, and no kids. In other words, I ate at restaurants a heck of a lot more often than I do these days.

I came from a fabulous city on the beach where there were more than a fair share of ethnic restaurants of every kind, and I came to a city 50 miles inland, where there are chain restaurants and barbecue places. (It has gotten a bit better in the past 10 years. I'll be okay.) I went from being spoiled to being petulant.

One thing I noticed at the time was that all of a sudden, every restaurant happened to offer a "barbecue chopped salad." I am not sure if that was the case everywhere in the United States at the time, or the town I moved to. This town has more than it's fair share of barbecue restaurants, mind you.

I like to think that the barbecue chopped salad originated in New Mexico. I imagine that people in New Mexico eat black beans and corn with every meal. I have never been to New Mexico, but I am sure it must be true.

Whether this salad came from New Mexico or my little city here; whether it is a local thing or a thing of its era, this salad seems to be in every restaurant around me.

I love it. It has enough protein and fiber to be a meal, lots of nutrition, and enough different ingredients to keep it interesting enough to eat often.

The only problem is that 2 of 3 little guys around here won't touch a salad with a 10-foot pole. That is a hurdle that I plan to overcome someday. Just not yet.

Last night I was attending a fundraiser for breast cancer, and I knew that there would be pizza available for the kids. Since they were all taken care of with their favorite dinner, I took the chance before we went out, to enjoy one of my own favorite dinners too.

In case you live in a remote corner of the United States where they don't have a barbecue chopped salad, it is:
lettuce
cilantro
black beans
tomato
corn
green onions
cheddar cheese
grilled chicken
avocado

tossed with ranch dressing and barbecue sauce