Inspired by this post on Shutterbean.com, last Friday I had a NACHO PARTY at my house! Since I had other plans on Saturday night, I just called this Cuatro de Mayo and didn’t worry that it was one day early!

When planning your own NACHO PARTY (which I did two days in advance…which explains why only a few of my friends could attend…more nachos for us) your first priority is to get to a grocery store to get your avocados so they are ripe enough in time for the party. After that, you just need a few minutes to think of all the components that would make up your dream nachos. Of course you can buy everything, but you should know me well enough by now that I made all of these delicious toppings below:

– Nacho Cheese: as Tracy says in her post, it is very dangerous to realize how easy it is to make homemade nacho cheese. This cheese sauce is so creamy, and you can control the heat by how much of hot sauce/cayenne you add in. I would add more next time.

– Salsa: as I loathe jarred salsa, of course I made my own. My favourite salsa is a salsa fresca made from delicious ripe tomatoes in the summertime, but we need to be able to make salsa the other 11 months of the year. This recipe from Pioneer Woman could not be easier (dump everything in the food processor and pulse) or more tasty. (For Canadians who don’t have access to Rotel, just use one 28oz can of whole tomatoes, and one little can of green chiles, and cut the rest of the ingredients in half. This still makes a HUGE amount of salsa)

– Guacamole: the only thing in my life besides balsamic vinaigrette that I don’t use a recipe for! Nicole taught me how to make this, and all you need is ripe avocado, lime juice, onion, cilantro, garlic, salt and mash it all up with a fork. Amazing!

– Black Beans: I’ve made this black bean recipe from Elly Says Opa a few times before and I could eat the entire thing with a spoon! This is a big deal to a former bean-averse individual such as myself.

+ Hot Sauce (I always have Frank’s in my fridge)

+ Sour Cream

+ chopped Cilantro

+ Multigrain Tostitos and Organic Yellow Corn Tostitos to put our toppings on (obviously this made everything healthy)

(other possible ideas are some kind of shredded chicken or beef situation, and chorizo would just take it to a whole ‘nother level)

Here are our plates!

Kristine’s Plate:

Aoife’s Plate: (she is actually lactose & gluten free, so she has some lovely faux cheese on hers)

Byn’s Plate:

We also had the easiest, most tasty margaritas, although I forgot to take a picture of them, and we drank them out of little mason jars. (No stripey straws yet…maybe by the end of the summer). We had another beverage too, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow…and some crazy cupcakes which are coming on Thursday.

I defintely see another NACHO PARTY happening before this summer is through! In fact, Nicole has demanded it 🙂

Nacho Cheese Sauce

Source: Shutterbean

Yield: enough for 4-5 people, easily doubled for more than that!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, minced

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp hot sauce

2 tbsp minced jalapeno peppers

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp smoked paprika/chipotle chili powder

dash cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Add the olive oil and butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the green pepper, onion and garlic. Saute until they soften, 3-5 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the vegetables, then pour in the milk and stir until the mixture simmers, but don’t let it boil.
3. When mixture begins to thicken, stir in the cheese and the rest of the ingredients. Simmer on low for about 5 more minutes to blend the flavours. If you’re really thinking ahead, you can add the mixture to a slowcooker at this point, and set it to “Keep Warm”.