Meatless Monday - Delicious, sophisticated nachos

For all of you with kids who might be afraid of taking on the challenge of eating a meatless meal once a week, today is a reminder that there are so many ordinary, kid-friendly foods out there that easily lend themselves to being meatless. Pizza, pasta, soups, and - today's subject - nachos, just to name a few. Heck, this is probably a good reminder for some of you kidless adults out there too. Don't let the meatless moniker scare you off! There are plenty of easy, comforting foods that are absolutely meat free.

We made nachos last week. I've got a couple of great nacho recipes. The one I made last week is an adaptation of a nachos recipe from Cuisine at Home magazine. (See another wonderful nacho recipe here.) This homemade salsa is fantastic, and the tomatillo sauce is a nice foil for the salsa. Top with your favorite nacho toppings - green onions, sour cream, guacamole, cheese - and maybe add a few beans, and you've got a fantastic and easy meatless meal!

A disclaimer - I think that these nachos are very kid friendly. My kids, however, would disagree. What can I say? They're picky creatures. So, my husband and I dig into our more sophisticated nachos, and I make very basic nachos for my kids - often just beans, cheese, and chips, though they do have to try a bit of the salsa and tomatillo sauce by the rules of the table. If your child isn't quite as picky as mine are, let them try the whole shebang. It's so good!



Nachos

Roasted Salsa
2 lb Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cups onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
up to 1/4 cup jalapenos, seeded and diced, optional (I leave these out as I don't want the heat!)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine tomatoes through salt in a 13x9" Pyrex baking dish. Roast for 45 min. Coarsely mash the roasted vegetables using a potato masher. Add cilantro and remaining ingredients. Cool to room temperature.

The finished roasted salsa. Yum! Keep going for the tomatillo sauce...

Tomatillo Sauce
1 - 16 oz jar of salsa verde (I use Herdez Salsa Verde)
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour to make a roux; cook 2 min, stirring often. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly to prevent sticking. Cook until think, about 10 min. Stir salsa verde into the sauce. Simmer to heat through.

Layer corn tortilla chips with tomatillo sauce, roasted salsa, and whatever toppings you enjoy. Serve with a side of beans (or beans on top!) for extra protein.

This recipe makes a lot of salsa and tomatillo sauce. Unless you halve the recipe, you WILL have leftovers! For us, that's a good thing as all of the components reheat beautifully.

For more on Meatless Mondays, check out the For Your Family article at Kiwi Magazine's Moms Meet website featuring...me! I'm looking forward to finding more kid-friendly meatless meals in their recipes section.