:D My brother gave me a gift on my birthday of some really fresh, tasty tortilla chips--some plain and some infused with lil bits of jalapeño--and so I took it upon myself to finally write down a professional(ish) version of some nacho recipes I've worked up over the years~

The first one is the one I had all the ingredients for today--I'll work on more of my favorites, some quite bizarre, in the future, but for now have this hearty sweet veggie version. ^u^ Also some beverage pairing recommendations at the end as well, since I've made this often enough to have tried a number of things with. X3c

Sweet Veggie Nachos
Notes:
This is a vegetarian recipe I cooked up during a spell of Mexican cooking experiments. If you’d like to try this with a more meaty influence, feel free to amend the lack of meat by adding crumbled crispy bacon in during the grilled corn layering stage. ^w^ Or, toasted pancetta pieces, if you’re feeling like a little Italian.

You’ll need (Equipment):
-Non-stick frying pan/skillet
-Oven-safe bowl
-a good serrated knife and
-a good spatula
-Cutting board

You’ll need (Ingredients):
-1 sprig of fresh cilantro
-1 small bell pepper
-half of a medium red onion
-1 ear of fresh sweet corn (white or yellow works)
-1 large white button mushroom
-1 clove of fresh garlic
-1 Roma tomato or one half a larger variety of tomato
-about 8 oz of tortilla chips, fresh as possible (packaged is good, your own recipe is GREAT)
-At LEAST 10 oz of cheese—either packaged Mexican cheese blends or your own shredded mix of mild cheddar, Asiago, Monterey jack, and others

How do:
First, prep up all the vegetable toppings by slicing tomato, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and mushroom into small cubed pieces, and by shucking and cleaning the corn.

Begin by grilling the ear of corn, turning it when each side shows brown caramelized marks. Once the corn is finished grilling set it aside and now begin sautéing your mixture of other vegetables (add a small amount of any light oil, pinch of salt and pepper, while cooking). Your sautéed veggies are done once the onions turn translucent and your tomato pieces lose almost all of their water content.

Next, begin lining the bottom of your oven-safe bowl with tortilla chips. Add a layer of about two tablespoons of sautéed veggies, then trim one side of your grilled corn and add the kernels as another layer. Top the chips-veggies-corn layer with a liberal sprinkling of shredded cheeses. Continue layering your chips, veg, corn, and cheese until you run out of vegetables and cheese.

The final step is to heat up your oven to 300 degrees—bake your bowl of layered veggies and nachos for five minutes or until all the cheese in the top layer has melted together. Remove your bowl (carefully!) from the oven and tear up a sprig of fresh cilantro overtop to garnish.

Share as an appetizer or simply nom as a whole meal. ^u^ If you’ve got toppings left in the bowl after all of the chips are gone, simply introduce more chips and decimate your veggies. XD

Good alcoholic beverage pairings:

1: Modelo Especial or Tecate. Another good amber-to-pale brew from any respectable Mexican brewery is good too.

2: Mojito, or any mild-flavored cocktail involving Mescals.

3: A shotglass of quality Mescal, for those who'd prefer to get right to the point. X3c

Good non-alcoholic beverage pairings:

1: Shockingly, southern-style sweet iced tea. Add some lime instead of lemon for extra points. ^u^

2: Mexican cola, tamarind, or lime-flavored soft drinks. Bonus points if they're actually made and/or bottled in a Latin American country. 'Tis just better.~