Recipe of the Week- Jamaican Jerk Nachos

My husband Facebook messaged me this afternoon asking what was for dinner, tonight. Now, I hadn't really thought of this quite yet.

Lately, because of the pregnancy, dinner is more of a hit or miss thing. I was doing really good for a few weeks, when I first quit my job, at making a meal plan and actually having real meals ready for him when he got home for work. I was feeling pretty proud of myself, and we were eating mighty good, but then the third trimester hit. Exhaustion. Discomfort. Loss of appetite. Etc.

It wasn't that I didn't want to cook- I love cooking- but I was just too tired or not hungry or whatever. We started eating at my parents more, because I didn't like being home by myself all day this far along in the pregnancy and for various reasons, so I spend alot of time at their house. Plus, I love them. :-p

Anywho, the nights that we do eat at home, its a last minute thing or whatever I'm craving at the moment- a box of pasta drenched in butter with salt and pepper, a spinach salad with clementines and red onions, every once in a while a frozen boxed dinner, and more often than not, Subway... I'm addicted to their buffalo chicken sub.

BUT I don't want to be that wife or mom. Now that the pregnancy is pretty much over (due date is tomorrow...) I need to start making some meals and doing my job at home. I want to try new things, make new things.

So, back to the beginning: Fredward messaged me asking what was for dinner and I started running through my brain what could be in our little freezer that would be easy to make and yummy. I knew that I had two chicken breasts that had been in there for an eternity. That's when I remembered this recipe from Pampered Chef. I messaged him back, "Jamaican Jerk Nachos." "You calling me a jerk?!", he messaged back. Only my Fredward would say this. *insert eyeroll here.*

My mom made this recipe many years ago and I remember we all drooled over it. It was soooo good and pretty easy.

See?

 Would I pose for a picture with food if it wasn't really yummy?

Don't answer that...

And my hair color goes to show just how long ago this picture was taken. ;-)

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I scrounged through my little collection of "The Pampered Chef's: Season's Best" cook books trying to find the directions. Much to my dismay, I didn't have all of the ingredients, but hey, I made it work. I wasn't missing too much. And I did a few things differently than it said, like using my "magic pot" as Mom and I call it.

(Our magic pot.)

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Here's the recipe:

Jamaican Jerk Nachos

6	cups tortilla chips
3	cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2	cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
2	tbsp Jamaican Jerk Rub, divided
1	small yellow or red bell pepper or combination
1	lime
2	tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
1/4	cup sour cream and 1 tsp additional Jamaican Jerk Rub (optional)

Preheat  oven to 425°F. Arrange tortilla chips in a slightly overlapping layer on Large Round Stone with Handles. 

1. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine chicken, cheese and 1 tbsp of the rub; mix gently using Small Mix ‘N Scraper®. Sprinkle chicken mixture evenly over tortilla chips. Bake 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted; remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.

Meanwhile, dice bell pepper with Santoku Knife. Cut lime in half crosswise. Juice half of the lime using Citrus Press into Small Batter Bowl; add bell pepper and remaining rub and mix well.

Snip cilantro in mincing cup of Herb Keeper using Kitchen Shears. Slice remaining lime half using Ultimate Mandoline fitted with v-shaped blade; cut slices in half using Utility Knife.

Spoon bell pepper mixture over nachos; sprinkle evenly with cilantro. If desired, combine sour cream and additional rub in resealable plastic bag; trim corner to allow sour cream to flow through. Pipe sour cream mixture over nachos. Garnish with lime slices.

Following the actual recipe should yield 12 servings.

Nutrients per serving: Calories 200, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 5 g, Cholesterol 50 mg, Carbohydrate 10 g, Protein 16 g, Sodium 300 mg, Fiber 1 g

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Now I don't have most of the actual Pampered Chef products so I just used what I had that was comparable. I also made it on my Large Bar Pan. 

We pretty much eye-balled the ingredient amounts because of it being just the two of us... we don't need 12 servings. ;-)

When cooking the chicken, I used two chicken breasts and a little bit of left-over chicken that I had in the freezer. I put all the chicken in my Deep Covered Baker (aka my magic pot), added some of the Jamaican Jerk Rub, Salt, Pepper, and lemon juice (and threw half the lemon in there for some extra flavor) and I popped that baby in the microwave for 20 minutes. We pulled it out when it was finished, pulled the half of the lemon out, and shredded up the chicken with spatulas (that's how tender the chicken was.)

I also used a green pepper, instead of the red or yellow. They're cheaper and I already had one... So, makes sense? Oh, and no cilantro. Bummer.
Fred raved about it. He took one bite and looked excitedly over at me and said, "This is a keeper!" That made me kind of beam with pride. :-)

Success!