Nachos

Nachos are the ultimate party food (and, sometimes, main course). They’re great for those parties where sitting around and munching is an essential part of the gathering. As with so many dishes, Nachos are a flexible food: other than a base of tortilla chips and a good amount of gooey cheese, what you put on your dish is your business.

A note about nachos: they can made vegetarian or with your favorite type of meat.

If you wish to make your own guacamole, find the recipe here.

Guacamole

For many years, I pretended I didn’t know how to make guacamole. My husband, swearing he had one half of a top secret recipe, insisted guacamole was man’s work. Of course, since he only had half the recipe (the avocado half, from what I can tell), this meant, well, no homemade guacamole.

Needless to say, this wasn’t workable on any level, so I just, you know, started making my own guacamole. It’s really quite simple — the ingredients are very flexible. And, since I live in Southern California, getting my hands on fresh avocados is so easy. One note: the texture of guacamole can range from creamy smooth to chunky — it’s all about your preferences.

One note: Many grocery stores carry vacuum-packed avocados in the deli/fresh foods section, and I am here to tell you they taste terrific.

Quesadillas: Gluten-Free

I admit it: when I went gluten-free, I crossed quesadillas off my list of “love to eats”. I had never, ever seen a quesadilla that didn’t have a wheat flour tortilla involved. Somehow, the whole package — tortillas, cheese, seasonings — seemed like a match made in heaven.

Then I caught myself staring at a package of corn tortillas I had left over from another meal. And I wondered about using corn tortillas in quesadillas. I wondered some more. I plotted my course, and did a little research. Which confirmed what I suspected: corn quesadillas are easy and so tasty.

(Think about it: corn tortillas are generally more flavorful than wheat tortillas, so, of course, they’d make a more delicious quesadilla).

The only trick you need to remember for making these quesadillas is to lightly brush or spray oil onto the quesadilla to help it cook up crisp.