Frito Pie is a classic American favorite – a Mexican ground beef casserole topped with cheese and fritos – add lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes and avocado and you have a satisfying meal.
Frito Pie has long been a grass roots cultural favorite when it comes to pot lucks, picnics, and kid-friendly dishes. It’s basically a classic Mexican ground beef, cheese, and bean casserole – topped with Fritos. How can you go wrong with that? If you browse around on the Internet, you’ll find many, many variations. Here is my personal favorite.
Some versions only have the fritos on the top. This particular one has crushed Fritos on the bottom layer, then cheese, meat mixture, more cheese, and more Fritos on the top. But there’s a gotcha – putting a layer of Fritos on the bottom can give you soggy Fritos. Better to eliminate them than have them soggy. But I have an easy solution; I carefully cover the bottom Frito layer with shredded cheese and bake for about 7-8 minutes to melt the cheese. That seals that bottom layer so it doesn’t get soggy. You might just want to cut the Fritos in half and only put them on top. This casserole is good either way. For the red enchilada sauce, I used a 7-oz pouch from Tres Latin Foods – it’s very good, one of my favorites.
You may notice this is a classic combination of ingredients, so you can vary it if you wish. Maybe more green chiles if you want it spicier, or leave them out for a milder version that younger kids might prefer. Plus you can top it with diced tomatoes, olives, cilantro, whatever. Hope you like it!
A family favorite Mexican beef and bean casserole topped with ... Fritos!
Author: Anita
Recipe type: casserole
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
1 package (1 oz or 3 tbsp) taco seasoning
½ tsp ground cumin
1 10 can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
7 to 10 oz can red enchilada sauce
½ cup hot diced green chiles (optional, if you want hot)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
4 cups Fritos corn chips (about 8 oz)
2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese blend (8 oz)
½ cup chopped green onions
1 cup sour cream
1 cup guacamole (or sliced avocado)
shredded lettuce
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2 to 3 quart glass baking dish with cooking spray - either 13x9 inch or round.
In a large nonstick skillet, cook the onions and beef over medium high heat until brown; drain. Add seasoning mix, cumin and Rotel tomatoes and simmer uncovered until liquid reduces. Stir in enchilada sauce, green chiles, and black beans; cook 2-3 minutes.
In the meantime. lightly crush about half the Fritos and spread evenly over the bottom of the baking dish. Cover evenly with 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Bake in oven for 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted. This will keep the bottom layer of Fritos from getting soggy.
Spoon the beef mixture over the Frito-cheese layer and top with the remaining 1 cup cheese.
Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly. Top with remaining corn chips and green onions. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.
Classic comfort food! Funny how I actually recycled back to this recipe. I made it maybe 4 months ago when I was foraging through my cabinets for recipe ideas. Well, I always have cans of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles – that’s just a staple I can do so many things with. And I also always have about a half dozen classic canned soups, and Bean with Bacon is one of them. As a kid, that was my all-time favorite. So…. what about combining the two? It turns out they go great together. I basically made the recipe, enjoyed it for a meal or two, and then froze it – didn’t publish.
Fast forward to this past week. I hit my freezer looking for something quick and satisfying. Found a scrumptious-looking container of chili … looked like something that would hit the spot! So I thawed it and had an awesome bowl of chili – with an interesting flavor I couldn’t identify at first, a bit sweeter than most. Then I realized it was bean with bacon soup. I had two great bowls of chili before I uncovered the pork loin. Oh yeah! I remembered exactly what the recipe was. So I had to make more of the chili to smother the pork loin with and had multiple feasts of pork loin slices smothered in bean chili.
So easy and satisfying I’ll be making this pork loin smothered with chili (plus variations) many times down the road. Hope you enjoy it!
There’s nothing quite like these Spicy Home Fries to make breakfast extra special! This is an easy to make version of the classic home fries with a really flavorful Southwestern kick.
Leave the skins on for these. To get the right texture, you want to boil them lightly first, just until tender and no more. Then you fry them up until crispy. If you over-boil them, they’ll get mushy. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside – that’s just perfect. You also want to season a bit at a time as you go along. This is a family favorite and always a hit!
These are good leftover, too. They easily keep in the fridge for days. Just spray a skillet with cooking spray, dump them in, lightly spray with more cooking spray, and heat ’em up! Actually, that’s how restaurants do it – they make them in advance and fry them up a bit more right before serving.
Like ketchup on yours? That works – also salsa is good. Next time I’m going to try making these with sweet potatoes. Hope you enjoy them!
A yummy Southwestern version of classic home fries.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Side
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds new potatoes, chopped
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1½ teaspoon dark chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, dark chili powder, and garlic powder. Cube potatoes into roughly ½-inch cubes. You can leave the skin on.
Heat a medium pot of salted water to a simmer. Add potatoes and boil until just tender, about 6-8 minutes and then drain.
Add oil to a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the drained potatoes and spread them out over the surface of the pan. Let cook for five minutes.
Stir potatoes once they start to crisp up. Sprinkle half of the seasoning on the potatoes. Continue to let the potatoes cook over medium heat, occasionally stirring lightly. Let them sit and get crispy.
Keep cooking for 10-15 more minutes until the potatoes crisp up nicely. Add the rest of the spice seasoning near the end of cooking.
Spinach Breakfast Casserole is a mild to spicy version of spinach and eggs with a unique and interesting flavor – a hit with just about anyone
I really like this Spinach Breakfast Casserole for its combination of interesting flavors. On one hand, this is a classic spinach souffle or spinach egg bake; but on the other hand, the cumin and nutmeg give a unique flavor that take it out of typical Southwestern flavors.
This is also very easy to make and great for serving guests or for a brunch. In the photo, I made it in a 9-inch round baking dish. I would generally prefer it in a 9″x13″ baking dish. Why? Because I really like the crust on top and the rectangular dish will give me lots more of that crust. It’s really good both ways, though. I served this for guests yesterday and it was a hit.
If you want to make this a heartier breakfast dish, you can always add chopped ham or bacon – also very good. I made this one twice – once with Winking Girl Medium Tomatillo Salsa and once with a fresh mild red salsa. Both were very good – I don’t think it matters that much; just be aware of the heat level and adjust for how much heat you want.
This is a good basic recipe to try variations of. Hope you have fun with it!
A simple breakfast casserole with an unusual blend of flavors, great as a base for variations.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Fusion
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
8 eggs
1¾ cups milk
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
4 cups tightly packed fresh spinach or a 10-oz package frozen spinach
¾ cup chopped onion (about 1 medium-small)
½ cup salsa (medium or hotter if you desire)
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp nutmeg
1½ cups shredded jack & cheddar cheese
optional: 2-4 tbsp hot diced green chiles for extra heat
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray either a 13"x9" or a 9" round baking dish with cooking spray & set aside.
Mix the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a bowl and set aside.
In a medium skillet, dump the salsa onion, and spinach in. Cover and cook over medium heat until spinach and onions are cooked down and softened. Add the cumin and nutmeg and blend thoroughly. Taste to check heat level and add the diced hot green chiles to taste, if you want.
Spread the spinach mixture in the bottom of the baking dish evenly. It may not completely cover the bottom and that's okay. Pour the egg mixture on top and then sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top.
Bake for 35 minutes for the 13"x9" dish or 45 minutes for the 9" round dish. Check if it's done by reaching into the oven with a mitt on and gently shaking the dish. If it wiggles in the middle, it's not yet set and needs more cooking. Don't sweat it if there's just a hint of wiggle.
Loaded Chipotle Potato Salad – with a rich smoky chipotle heat, bacon, black olives and crunchy celery, this is a great side at any picnic
Loaded Chipotle Potato Salad is a deluxe potato salad with smokey chipotle heat, onion, bacon, black olives, and crunchy celery. It seems almost like a meal and is easy to pig out on. This is perfect to serve at a picnic or cookout.
This is very easy to make. I used red potatoes and left the skins on. That makes this really healthy and nutritious, right? Chipotle goes great in potato salad. One thing about this dish is that it’s better made a day or two ahead of serving to allow flavors to blend. When I first made it, before adding the bacon and chipotle, it lacked some depth. I covered it and stored it in the fridge overnight, and the next day the flavor had blossomed.
Make a big batch of this and take it to your next get together. Hope you like it!
Anita’s Everyday Magic Spice Rub is amazingly versatile and adds awesome flavor to just about any meats and main dishes. Great for grilling!
Planning a cookout for July 4? My Everyday Magic Spice Rub is a remarkable way to spruce up a number of dishes, is great for grilling, and goes with any kind of meat. Try it on chicken, steaks, burgers, fish. And it is also great on grilled vegetables. And it’s so easy to make.
I just made a cheeseburger with it today. The rub adds a well-rounded flavor that is a bit subtle and blends in well with the dish – in other words, it doesn’t come across so much as a rub, but more like enhanced flavor for the dish. I make it with hot Chimayo Chili powder that I get from the local chile vendors. It comes from Chimayo and is the standard for great chili powder. But any brand that you get in the grocery store will do a good job. Just be aware that dark chili powder is not the same as chili powder. Dark chili powder is a combination of spices (chili pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, etc.), while chili powder is just chili powder and silicon dioxide (to help avoid clumping).
I keep this in a jar and use it when I throw chicken on the grill or sautee up some ground beef mixture or whatever. Experiment with it – you’ll like it!
Roasted Garlic Chile Cauliflower is a decadent tasty side dish or appetizer – crispy outside, soft inside bursting with flavor and a bit of heat
Roasted Garlic Chile Cauliflower is a real treat – crispy, full of flavor and a bit of heat, hard to stop eating. No, it’s not a diet or healthy dish with all that crisp breading and butter but it sure is good.
I’m a big fan of roasted veggies. With garlic, olive oil and seasonings they’re great. This one’s a decadent version worth serving at a party or special event. The flavor combination is awesome. It’s easy to make – just dip the cauliflower florets in the garlic chile butter, coast in the crumb mixture and bake. Everybody loves this one.
I just used a small amount of the diced hot green chile and it has a nice heat. If you like it really spicy, double the green chile and it will also be really good with some real heat. This is worth treating yourself, family, and friends to – hope you like it!
A super flavorful way to serve cauliflower without a lot of work.
Author: Anita
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower head (about 1.5 lbs)
1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp dark chili powder
¼ tsp black pepper
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (1/2 cup)
1 tbsp minced garlic (2 large cloves)
2 tbsp hot 505 green chile
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove leaves and stem from cauliflower and break into roughly the same size florets.
Blend the Ritz crumbs, Parmesan, pepper, and chili powder in a small bowl.
In another small bowl, stir the minced garlic and green chiles into the melted butter.
Dip each cauliflower floret into butter and then cracker crumbs to fully coat and place on large baking dish or sheet. (Note: I like to put the cauliflower in a plastic bag, pour butter mixture on, and massage to coat - then dip in the crumbs)
Roast cauliflower for 35-40 minutes, until crisp on outside.
Nectarine Chipotle Bacon Pizza is a sweet-hot bacony pizza different from your typical pizza – not tomato-based. An interesting savory change from the norm.
This Nectarine Chipotle Bacon Pizza is a sweet-hot atypical (meaning not tomato-based) pizza that was inspired by a California Pizza Kitchen recipe for Pear Pizza. And this bears little resemblance to the CPK dish. That pear pizza was discontinued by CPK about a decade ago, but friends of mine still rave about it. Well, I think nectarines are much more exciting than pears, so I figured this would be a no-brainer.
This actually turned out very well. The nectarines and chile pepper jam go very well together and chipotle adds some extra depth and smokiness. Note I used Swiss cheese here instead of mozzarella – I think that flavor just goes very nicely in this flavor combination. And how can you go wrong with bacon? I actually had this for breakfast, and don’t think I’ll have to eat again for a few days. This is very filling. Hope you enjoy it!
Steak Fajitas are easy to make, a great family and crowd favorite, and almost a meal in themselves with seasoned peppers, onions and steak.
I’ve always loved fajitas, and these Steak Fajitas are among my favorites. Fajitas just make a great, easy meal and are basically pretty healthy. I also have become a bell pepper addict, along with green chiles and various other kinds of peppers. I throw bell peppers into eggs, potatoes, soups, on burgers, just about anything. Plus, this steak fajita mixture is just wonderful on a steak fajita salad. Just take a bowl of mixed greens and pile the fajitas on top. A nice ranch dressing is good.
I start with a skirt steak, which is thin sliced – so when you marinate it, the marinade completely permeates the meat. It makes for a very flavorful result. You can really use just about any steak – just slice it into thin strips before marinating.
You might also serve it with shredded cheese, onion dip, guacamole. This is a great dish to serve on a buffet.
for garnish: sour cream, chopped tomatoes, guacamole, shredded cheese, salsa
Instructions
Cut garlic cloves in half and remove any green sprouts (they are bitter).
Cut jalapeno in half, remove seeds, and coarsely chop.
Put the cilantro, garlic cloves, lime juice, olive oil, jalapeno, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and pulse several times until you have a lumpy pesto.
Trim fat off steak and cut into ½ inch strips about 1-2 inches long. If using a different cut of steak, just cut into similar size strips.
Layer the steak and cilantro jalapeno pesto in a bowl to coat the steak. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours up to 2 days.
Cut the bell peppers into ½ inch strips. Slice the onion into ¼ to ½ inch strips.
Pour oil into large skillet and set to medium heat. Add the steak and brown lightly on all sides for a few minutes. Add the bell pepper and onion, reduce heat to medium low, and cook about 5-10 minutes or until vegetables are soft, stirring every minute or so.
Increase heat to high and sear while stirring so you get browned edges, about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and assemble the fajitas: for each scoop about ½ cup of the mixture onto a tortilla and fold over. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, guacamole, shredded cheese.
Cilantro Jalapeno Oven Fries are classic comfort food – spicy, flavorful, a bit salty and crispy and hard to stop eating. A party favorite
Cilantro Jalapeno Oven Fries are very easy comfort food – spicy, full of flavor and very easy to pig out on. The cilantro, jalapeno, and lime juice make a great flavor combination – all you do is toss the potato strips with the oil, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime mixture and pop it in the oven. Roast until the edges are getting brown.
I just left the skins on for these – I like them better that way, and a lot of the nutrition is in the skins. This batch definitely had some heat, but you can increase or decrease the jalapeno to control that. I also found that spraying a bit more oil on top before the last 10 minutes of roasting helped to crisp and brown them a bit.
These are great with sour cream, salsa, cheese, guacamole, whatever. Hope you enjoy them!
4 cups potatoes cut into ½ inch strips (about 4-5 medium)
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp lime juice (about ½ large lime)
¼ cup olive oil
1 small jalapeno (2 tbsp chopped)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
optional: olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut garlic cloves in half and remove any green sprouts (they are bitter).
Cut jalapeno in half, remove seeds, and coarsely chop
Put the cilantro, garlic cloves, lime juice, olive oil, jalapeno, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and pulse several times until you have a lumpy pesto.
Place the potatoes in a plastic bag and pour the pesto mixture in. Hold the bag shut with one hand and massage to coat the potatoes with the mixture. You can also stir them together in a bowl to coat the potatoes.
Spread evenly in a large baking dish or cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from oven and stir or flip them over so they brown evenly. At this point you can spray them lightly with cooking spray (which helps them brown and crisp up) if you wish. Put back in oven and bake about 20 more minutes or until starting to brown on the edges.
Serve hot with sour cream, salsa, shredded cheese, guacamole, whatever
