Potato Nachos

I did mention buying a 10-lb bag of potatoes, right?  I'm looking everywhere for ideas.  As long as I have two left for latkes, the rest are for playing.

Granted, these are just regular nachos with the extra step of cooking potatoes.  One website called them Irish Nachos.  I thought that was really cute, if a little non-PC.  The Irish have had to put up with so many derogatory names over the centuries, I thought I'd spare them this.

You're really supposed to make these in a big batch in a cast-iron skillet as a game-day appetizer.  Forget that; I'm eating this half-batch over four days as a main dish, broiling each serving in an omelet pan.  I've been losing weight, only eating my own healthy cooking.  I suspect we're going to see two weight extremes once everyone is allowed to go back to their old routines.  First will be the people who sat around and snacked all day out of boredom, gaining weight.  The others will be like me, who didn't buy snacks on purpose and stopped buying fast food to save money.  They're going to lose more weight than they expected.

*4 small to medium potatoes (about 1-1/2 lbs)
Vegetable oil
1 15 oz can black beans or 2/3 C dry, cooked
1 C shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
*2 green onions, finely chopped
other toppings such as olives, avocado, jalapeños, sour cream, cilantro, etc.

1.  If making the beans from dry, soak at least 4 hours, drain, and simmer for 2 hours.  Drain again.  For canned, drain and rinse.

2.  Preheat oven to 400º.  Scrub potatoes.  Leaving skin on, slice 1/4" thick crosswise.  Toss in 2 Tb oil, coating all pieces well to avoid sticking.  Arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and flip all the pieces.  Bake another 20 minutes, until browned and slightly crispy but not hard.

3.  Change oven setting to broiler.  Grease a large oven-safe skillet or shallow casserole with oil to coat, unless you have one of those cool Copper pans that nothing sticks to.  Arrange potato slices on bottom.  Top with most of the cheese, then black beans (opposite of the photo above).

4.  Broil until the cheese melts, about 3 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Add remaining toppings and cheese.  Serve immediately.

Difficulty Rating  :)