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Friday, January 4, 2019

Loaded Chips and Cheese






You can make chips and cheese into a fully balanced meal! This is one of the great things about it – that and melted cheese. What cheese lover can resist that? :-)  (Note of our foreign friends – the kind of chips used for this are corn tortilla chips, just in case you don’t know that.)

To make the loaded chips and cheese pictured above I fully cooked some chicken breast strips and seasoned them with Mexican type seasoning (garlic, onion, red pepper, cumin, oregano) and salt.

Then, after spreading the corn chips on a baking sheet, I added the chicken, sliced black olives and grated cheese.  I added some more spices to make the entire batch more flavorful. I baked it in the oven (350F-375F)  just till the cheese melted and then sprinkled it with fresh, diced tomatoes before serving it. Supper in one pan! :-)

Pinto or black beans from a can or precooked (rinsed and well drained) could be used here in place of the chicken meat, or added to it to “stretch” it. You could also use cooked, drained ground beef.

Other toppings you could use to make a complete meal of it:

- mozzarella; pepperoni; fully cooked, crumbled sausage (drained and patted dry with paper towel); mushrooms; olives and other pizza toppings (use the sauce for dip if you want it, or sprinkle basil, garlic and oregano on top of the cheese before baking).

- good melting cheese of your choice, thin sliced steak (fully cooked); chopped, canned artichoke hearts (well drained and patted dry); and sautéed garlic cloves (drained). Add fresh chopped tomatoes after removing it from the oven. Season with herbs of your choice – maybe fresh, chopped basil? Mmmm.

- fully cooked, drained ground beef (drain on paper towel); garbanzo beans; pitted kalamata olives; lightly sautéed garlic; crumbled feta cheese.  (You could use mozzarella with this as well.)  Top this with fresh, shredded lettuce, chopped cucumber, and/or tomatoes.  You could also spray the top lightly with olive oil before to add flavor.

- cheddar cheese; cooked, drained ground beef; and finely chopped dill pickles. Add chopped, diced tomatoes; shredded lettuce; and diced onion or chopped green onions after it is finished baking. "Sprinkle" ketchup and mustard over it. (This is for a cheese burger type taste.) :-)

Notes:

Obviously all the cheese needs to be grated, or in the case of feta crumbled, before use.

You could use leftover meat for this such as shredded chicken, turkey, beef, or pork.

Anything you want fresh needs to be added after removing from the oven.

I have not tried all these toppings. I’m just thinking these through as I write. Be adventuresome and think up some of your own that sound good to you. Just remember not to use anything very wet or oily or the chips may get soggy.

Also, using safe cheese and other ingredients, this recipe can be made gluten free.

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First published here 1/2011. Edited.

7 comments:

  1. Dan loves using tortilla chips (or corn chips) and melting cheese on top of them for a snack sometimes, but we haven't tried adding other things yet! :)

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  2. We have used the "scoops" chips like this. They are mini bowls the size of a round tortilla chip but in the shape of a bowl. I fill it with pinto beans, cooked ground beef, a dab of salsa, a jalepeno slice and then grate cheese all over the whole thing. I line a 9x13 with tin foil and cover the area with the "scoops" chips and start a filling! I bake till cheese is melted. The nice thing about the scoops is you have a compact bite without all the mess. We keep gaucamole on the side to add if we want. So yummy!

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  3. That's a good idea! Thanks for sharing this, Danielle.

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  4. This making me hungry. Great idea- easy and yummy. :)

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    1. Hello, Evie! Welcome to The Cotton Apron. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope you enjoy making this sometime. :-)

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  5. My family loves eating meals like these. I often use it to use up leftover meat. A quick simple meal that often my young children like to help make. :)

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    1. As you can see, I am very behind on answering comments!
      This is a great meal to let the children help with! :-) My mom always had certain meals she made to make leftover meat stretch for another meal. I don't remember if she used this one that way or not.

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