Chili Bites

This was originally published August 16th, 2008.  But since I’m not feeling great you get a repeat this morn’.  This really is a favorite of ours and as the weather is turning cooler it makes a great snack (or dinner, as the case may be.)  Enjoy!

One of our favorite snacks around here are Chili Bites.

They were intended as appetizers, but we eat ‘em for dinner sometimes.

I usually use the Scoops type chips, they’ll hold more, there’s less chance of spillage (yes, it is a word – at least in my vocabulary), and they’re cuter. But today I had these regular kind of tortilla chips left over.

The original recipe called for vegetarian chili. Which I’m sure is absolutely marvelous, but I live in Arkansas, where most people don’t even know that exists or much care. So, we go in the opposite direction with No Beans chili – perfect reasoning, right? Calls for meatless, use veggieless.

I plop the chili right onto the chip, top with grated cheddar cheese (or whatever you fancy) and pop it in the oven – 350, just until the cheese is melty.

I mix taco seasoning – either from those handy packets or your own mix if you prefer, into sour cream. Now, how much sour cream and how much seasoning is up to you. I mix it to taste, start with 1 tablespoon seasoning to a cup sour cream and go from there. The leftover sour cream mix is pretty good plain as a dip too.

I leave a little more than half of the chili bites to top with plain sour cream for the kiddos, because they tell me it’s too spicy with the seasoning.

And to top it all off we usually put a sliced jalapeno on the top of ours (we were fresh out this time).

MMMM!