Last night Aaron and I made some yummy Chicken Nachos. I love anything that involves melted cheese, so this is right up my alley.
Ingredients:
For the Poached Chicken:
- 2 to 3 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 onion
- 2 to 3 carrots
- 2 to 3 celery stalks
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 6 sprigs of fresh parsley
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
For the Nachos:
- 2/3 bag of Tortilla Chips
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 can black beans
- 1 red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 cup iceberg lettuce
- 1/4 cup plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 tomatoes)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 c green salsa
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Begin by removing the skin from the onion and carrots. Then cut the onion into 8 wedges, and quarter the carrots and celery lengthwise. Place all the veggies and the chicken breast in a large stock pot. Add the garlic cloves, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme. Cover everything with water, cook on high. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover with a lid. Let cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes.
While that is happening get out a cookie sheet and cover with the tortilla chips. Add half of the shredded cheese, and all the black beans.
When the chicken is done, remove from the stock, and let cook on a plate. You can freeze the stock for future use or discard. Once the chicken has cooled shred, and add to the top of the chips. Dice the red pepper, and add to the top. Add the rest of the cheese, and sprinkle the cumin over the top. Pop in the oven for 7 - 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melty.
While cooking in the oven I shredded the lettuce, and diced the tomatoes. When the dish is done baking in the oven remove, and added the lettuce, tomatoes, green salsa, and sour cream to the top.
Aaron and I tore this dish up! We ate the whole dang thing in one go! So it's safe to say we totally enjoyed this meal. We will definitely be making this again. Maybe next time we'll try it with some beef instead of chicken. I think banana peppers and jalapeños would be a great addition too. This version is rather mild, or not so spicy at all, so if you like hot nachos jalapeños are a must. Besides being tasty this dish has an added benefit, it would be super easy to prepare the chicken ahead of time. Which would make prep time for this meal beyond short and simple. You could even pepare more chicken then needed for this meal, and use the chicken in another dish. Poached chicken has a ton of different uses. The possibilities are as endless as your creativity.
Happy Nom Nom Monday, and happy DIYing, chris!
