Homemade Nachos

I was at a loss for what to make for dinner one night that was pretty quick and easy. I started out with some tortilla chips, shredded some cheese, heated in the microwave and then topped with salsa. I've gotten more and more elaborate as I've gone on and found that heating in the oven makes for even better nachos. My family has enjoyed them more and more each time I make them.

Ingredients:

1 large bag of corn tortilla chips (Tostitos and Santitas are gluten-free)
1- 8oz. brick of cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pound ground beef/turkey, browned & drained
1 jar black bean dip (Wegmans brand and Amy's are gluten free)
1 avocado, mashed*
1 jar of salsa (you can use Amy's again or pick a plain tomato salsa of your heat strength)
sour cream
refried beans

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef/turkey and then mix in black bean dip (or leave meat plain, if you prefer).
2. Spread a layer of tortilla chips onto a cookie sheet or on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Spoon half of the meat mixture onto tortilla chips. Sprinkle half of the shredded cheese on top of meat mixture.
3. Repeat step 2 with another layer of chips, meat, and cheese.
4. Place in 400-degree oven until cheese is melted.
5. Top with avocado, salsa, refried beans, and sour cream.

You can add or remove any of those ingredients on the list to suit your tastes. If you prefer to leave off the cheese or not melt the cheese, that's also possible. It would be a little more like tacos or a taco dip. You can even build your own plates - put out the various ingredients and have people put chips on their plate and add whatever ingredients they would like to their tortilla chips.

*If you prefer to have your avocado made into guacamole, you can make your own, or you can stir in a salsa verde to taste. Herdez is a brand that is made by Hormel, who says they list the top 8 allergens. Wegmans also makes a wonderful salsa verde. Trader Joe's has a salsa verde that is gluten-free as well.