Quick and Easy Tortilla Chip Bake

Welcome to our new series called The Feed Bag! Each week we will be bringing everyone our favorite meals. These are our best meals that are both nutritious and easy to make.

This week we are starting off with one of the easiest meals out there, our one dish Tortilla Chip Bake. Quick to make and easy to adapt to your diet or tastes.

What you will need:

• One Bag of Tortilla Chips, Blue Chips or other healthy options are best
• One Large Onion
• One Small Can of Corn
• One Red Pepper
• One Can of Beans (Pinto, Black, Kidney)
• One Bag of shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or Cheddar work best)
• One Can of Salsa
• Jalapeño Peppers (Fresh or Canned)
• Low Fat Sour Cream (Or Cream Fresh substitue in Belgium)
• Garlic and Onion Shoots (if you have them in the garden or at the store)
• Olive Oil
• Spices of Coriander (cilantro), Cumin, Chipolte, Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Chili Powder (or your favorite hot sauce), Garlic,  Lime Juice
• You are welcome to add meat to this dish if you like, but we usually make this one vegetarian

Step 1
Select the dish to the amount you will be eating. For one person a pie tray works well, but for 2 to 3, a casserole dish is best. Use this step to portion out an appropriate amount for your diet.

Step 2
Chop up the onion and pepper plus the garlic and onion shoots

Step 3
Layer the chips to to make a nice base in the baking tray

Step 4
Add an even layer of the chopped onion, pepper, corn and beans. For canned beans we like to wash them of the juice so it doesn’t overpower the dish.
Note: Unless you are making this dish for a large group, you probably won’t need to use the whole can of beans or corn. We usually just pop any extras into a container and use in them on a salad for lunch, or add them to the next evening’s dinner.

Step 5
Add a thin layer of salsa to the top of everything, not too thick, but just enough to cover. Sometimes we omit this step, and just add fresh salsa as garnish after the baking stage.

Step 6
Add about two table spoons of Olive Oil to a mortar and pedestal, then grind together all the spices to your taste. Be careful not to overdo the Chipolte or Chili Powder. Add a dash of lime juice, around a tablespoon depending on the concentration, then mix well and drizzle over the top of the dish.
Again this step is not entirely necessary, it just helps to kick up the flavor a few notches. Instead if you want to keep it super simple you can always just sprinkle on whatever dried spices  or seasonings that you like.

Step 7
Add a good layer of cheese to the top of the dish, then decorate with the garlic and onion shoots, adding Jalapeño Pepper rings to the top.

Step 8
Place in a oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at around 225C/435F. Once it looks like it is nearly there, turn your oven to the grill function and grill the top for 2 to 3 minutes to get the cheese nice and golden with wisps of crunchiness.

Step 9
Plate the Tortilla Bake and serve with either a low-fat sour cream or substitute on top. Add extra salsa if you like.

Step 10
Enjoy!

Why we love this dish
I can’t tell you how many times we have gotten back to the house late, with zero desire to cook. Instead of reaching for dried pasta, and a pre-made pasta sauce (boring) this has often become our go to we-don’t-have-energy-or-time-to-cook-meal, full of flavor, lots of good things (fresh veggies, corn, and beans) and can be adapted to suit most tastes! Plus it take less than 10 minutes of hands on prep… Score!