Salad Nachos

Much like  Salad Pizza, the appeal of Salad Nachos is in the marriage of hot and cold—hot, cheesy nachos with cool, crisp greens.

The ingredients shown are the ones I like, but this can—and should!—be customized, whether you like ground beef, or prefer black olives to green, make it your own!

Don’t feel tied to the dressing either. I like a creamy dressing as a stand-in for dollops of sour cream, but an olive vinaigrette could be interesting, as could a salsa-ranch mix. —Lindsay-Jean Hard

Directions

1. Combine garlic, cilantro, mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon juice in a mini processor. Add a pinch of salt and process until smooth. Taste and add more salt if necessary. (An immersion blender would work for this, too!)
2. Line a half sheet tray (18 x 13 inches) with aluminum foil and turn on your broiler (or heat oven to 500° F).
3. Follow thirschfeld’s advice and open your chips over the lined tray from the bottom of the bag rather than the top. This keeps the small broken bits hidden on the bottom. Spread out the chips.
4. Sprinkle about half of the cheese over the chips, then sprinkle with black beans, little blobs of refried beans, and the onions. Cover with the rest of the cheese.
5. Broil the chips until all of the cheese has melted, 4 to 5 minutes . (This step might take a few more minutes if you’re baking them.)
6. While you’re broiling the chips, add the lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and avocado to a medium bowl. Toss with about 2/3 of the dressing, then add more dressing if desired and toss again.
7. Once the chips are done, remove from the oven and scatter the dressed salad over the top of them. Serve with hot sauce. And plenty of napkins.