Frito Chili Pie

Before I get into what this dish is all about, I would like to go on record as saying I have served my family the following in the past:

Quinoa.

Edamame.

Tuna salad with no mayonnaise whatsover.

So please forgive me for the meal I am about to describe to you.

Yes, I made my beloved family an entree that featured this as one of the two major ingredients:

And this as the second one:

I would like to point out that the Fritos have ZERO, and I mean ZERO trans fats. (Keep in mind that I have no idea what trans fats are, but I'm thinking this is a good thing). As for the chili...I have no decent excuse for that one.

However, you can't go through your entire life without having this completely ridiculous salty extravaganza at least one. There is an even more outrageous version of this that involves opening a single serve bag of Fritos, pouring some chili on top of that, nuking it and eating the whole contraption out of the bag...at least I put this in lovely dishes. And I added a vegetable.

That counts, right?

The cheese in this dish really should be one of those neon-orange varieties of cheddar, but since what I always have on hand is the lovely white Vermont cheddar that is what I used. If cheddar cheese could talk it would probably be hollering "Get me out of here, stat!!" However, it does all come together to be a pretty rocking good taste sensation at the end of the day.

I will now be heading directly to the treadmill, so please excuse me.

Frito Chili Pie

• 2 cans chili
• 1 8 ounce bag of Fritos
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cups shredded cheddar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 2 quart casserole

2. Layer ingredients in casserole in this order: half of the Fritos, then all of the onion, then one cup cheese, then all of the chili, then the rest of the Fritos, then the rest of the cheese.

3. Bake until bubbly, 15-20 minutes.

4. Go to confession and sin no more.

Click here for printable recipe

Kate's Taco Salad

Okay, I love love love this taco salad, and here's why. Not because it is ridiculously easy to make (and it is). Not because it tastes ridiculously good (and it does). It's because -- unlike 99.9% of most taco salads -- the crunchy part of the taco salad is actually worth eating. You know what I am talking about. Usually you order a taco salad and it comes in a giant tortilla "bowl." You say to yourself, Self, I'm just going to eat the salad part, and you work through all that good stuff in the bowl. The spicy taco meat, the avocado chunks, the chopped tomatoes, the cheese (ah! the cheese!!) and pretty soon your taco salad is gone and the only thing left standing is the tortilla bowl.

So you break off a piece of the side of it, and honestly? It's not that good. It's okay....but it's kind of bland and not that tasty...but it's there on your plate, and pretty soon you have picked off most of the sides of it. And so your awesome taco salad has ended with a whimper.

But in MY taco salad, my friends, that tortilla bowl is transformed into Fritos, which are added to the salad at the very end and tossed right into the salad along with everything else. So every other bite contains a hit of salty corn chip wonderfulness along with all the other taco salad taste sensations. Now there are those among you out there (my oldest friend? are you listening to me?) who will say Fritos are the work of the devil. And maybe they are...but DANG! they are good. And all I have to say is, if you are going to eat the taco salad bowl -- and you KNOW you are -- let's at least make sure it tastes pretty great going down.



These pictures show the ingredients before the tossing (and the lettuce is underneath all that other good stuff) just because it is more photogenic that way, but let me be clear -- you should be toss, toss, tossing all those great ingredients together so that each bite is a mixture of all those rocking taste sensations. So for all of you who like to walk on the wild side with the Fritos, here is my favorite taco salad recipe.

KATE'S TACO SALAD

• 1 pound ground beef
• Taco seasoning mix
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 3 chopped tomatoes
• 2 chopped avocados
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 cups Fritos
• Whatever else you like in your taco salad. Corn, beans, onion, etc etc.

1. Prepare taco meat with ground beef according to taco seasoning mix directions.
2. Combine all ingredients except Fritos in large mixing bowl. The taco flavoring in the meat juices will serve as the "dressing" for the salad.
3. Add Fritos and toss again.
4. Throw caution to the wind and have seconds.

Click here for printable recipe

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Yes, you are seeing things correctly -- those ARE in fact Fritos floating on the top of this soup.

Let me explain.

At one point in my obsession with collecting cookbooks, I had one called something like, "Best Recipes From The Back Of Jars And Boxes." Or something like that. I tried to find it the other day in my ever-expanding cookbook collection. I love my cookbook collection, but it has gotten big enough that it is kinda hard to find any one particular thing you are looking for.

See what I mean?

By the way, I just noticed that there is a book called Family First Aid Book right in the middle of all the cookbooks. I wonder if someone is trying to tell me something?

Anyway, I can't seem to lay my hands on that cookbook, but I know I have it somewhere and today's recipe is in that particular culinary genre: the "back of the box" category. And all I can say is, don't knock it until you've tried it, because this recipe (among various others in my motley collection) is a rocking good soup. I think I got it from the back of the Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce can and then doctored it up a bit (the Fritos are my own addition, thank you very much!). It's a great thing to do with leftover chicken, and is one of those last minute dishes that you can whip up very quickly if you have the right stuff in the pantry.

I don't deny that some of the back-of-the-box recipes out there are God-awful, and you will never catch me doing anything that involves cream of mushroom soup or those fried onions in a can (not that there is anything wrong with that!) but every now and again you do run across what we call in our house "a keeper." This one is a keeper. So with a nod to my friends at Old El Paso...

CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP

Serves 6

• Two 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
• One 10 oz can enchilada sauce
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Shredded chicken -- as much as you like! (I like a lot)
• 1/2 cup broken Fritos

1. Mix all ingredients except Fritos in medium saucepan

2. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted

3. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with Fritos

4. If you want to get REALLY elegant, you can also top with chopped tomato, or avocado, or sour cream. But nothing really tops Fritos if we are being totally honest, right?