How to make vegetarian main meal nachos

Gather your supplies.

Preheat oven to 375.

First, we need a nice Fresh salsa to put on top. Chop your onions and chiles. I'm kind of crazy with the spices, so you might prefer jalapeños over the Thai chiles I have here.

Chop cilantro and tomatoes, and add to a bowl with chiles and onions.

Add some salt, and give it a good mix. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Set aside.

To a pan with some hot oil, add a heaping teaspoon of the salsa you just made, and sauté it for a couple minutes.

Add can of pinto beans (rinsed) and enough water to cover. Fresh pinto beans are better, but canned are not bad if you jazz 'em up like this, but stay away from canned refried--usually inedible.

Let those simmer most of the water away, and then mash up with a potato masher. A little chunky is ok. Keep simmering until you have a thick soupy mixture. Add salt to taste. Set aside to cool a bit.

Grate or thinly slice your cheese. Sharp yellow cheeses like cheddar are best. I'm using habanero Colby jack. Told you I was spice crazy! I hate washing the grater, so I slice it instead.

Line a pan with aluminum foil so you won't even have to wash that pan later. Win! Arrange chips in a single layer.

Note: you really want a good quality authentic chip that has a nice snap to it. I used El Milagro, for those familiar with that brand. Flimsy chips will not make the best nachos.

After your beans have cooled a little (ok to be hot, but better if not steaming), drop by spoonfuls onto the chip layer. It's ok if some parts are not covered.

Now add cheese and put as much or little as you like. Again, it's ok if not completely covered.

Put in oven and heat just until cheese is melted--probably around five minutes or less.

Carefully remove half of chips from pan and put on plate. I just made these for me, so it's small, but normally it would fill the plate. Add some of the salsa you made.

For cool presentation, add the next layer of chips, and repeat with the salsa. You will have a big mountain of nachos for everyone to dig into!

Serve with sour cream and chopped avocado. You can serve as appetizer, but I usually just make a meal of it. A fun dish for a Friday night when you don't feel much like cooking or cleaning!