Nachos for Lunch

I was baking beans, which were giving the kitchen a lovely old New England smell.  “What have we got for lunch?” I asked, Annette. 

“We have some corn chips, but they’re pretty old,” she said.

“They’ll be fine if we heat them in the oven,” I replied.

Annette topped the chips with some leftover Sargento shredded cheddar cheese and slipped them into the oven beside the beans.

I like fresh tomato for salsa, but we had none, so I opened a can of Hunts diced tomatoes.  I found what had once been a fresh bunch of cilantro.  The leaves were black and slimy, so I discarded them.  I washed and chopped the stems, which were still crunchy and flavorful, and mixed them with the tomatoes.

In the fridge I found a few cumin seeds that I’d toasted and ground with a mortar and pestle. They gave off a wonderful smell when I opened the small container.  I diced an onion and Annette got some chopped green pepper from the freezer.  She sautéed the pepper and onion lightly, and after giving them a moment to cool, I added them to the tomato mixture.  Annette gave the salsa a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled in salt. 

I tasted.  “It needs hot pepper,” I said.

There was a jalapeño in the veggie drawer, but it was too moldy to use.  I could see the drawer needed cleaning out.  I gave a dead half lemon a decent burial, and Annette separated some carrots from their wilted tops.  “Do we have any pickled jalapeños?” I asked.  

We didn’t, so I sprinkled Tabasco into the salsa. Annette found a can of low-fat Trader Joe’s refried beans, warmed them and put them on the nachos.  I poured on salsa.  To make the occasion special I opened a bottle of locally brewed Mayflower IPA. 

The refried beans weren’t very good, and we made a mental note to keep Old El Paso original style on hand.  We might have rescued the low-fat beans with some heart-healthy olive oil, but we peevishly threw away what we didn’t use. 

Canned diced tomatoes are a great product, especially in the winter.  Fresh cilantro is a good thing to keep on hand.  I have several kinds of hot sauce, but Tabasco is kind I never want to be without.  Pickled jalapeños are handy. I must replenish my supply.  

All in all it was an excellent lunch.  What I’ve given you isn’t a recipe; it’s an example of how it’s possible to make something out of almost nothing.