Ultimate Nacho Mac and Cheese

I've been under the weather for the last few weeks, and when I started feeling better, like wanting to eat solid food again, you know I went for the the most comforting thing I could think of, an ooey, gooey cheesy casserole. My friend Dana Ramsey made a dish called Nacho Mac and Cheese and that sounded right up my alley. But I took her recipe a step further and made her side dish a main course by adding seasoned ground beef and all the toppings you'd add to nachos. I also tried to cut some of the calories and carbs and was ever so happy with the results.

Ingredients:
Serves 6-8
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni, I used Dreamfields
1 pound 2% Velveeta cheese
1 can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes and Chilis
2 tsp canola oil
3/4 pound ground sirloin
1/2 package taco seasoning mix
3 six inch corn tortillas quartered, I used low carb, high fiber
1/2 can fat free re-fried beans
1 small can chopped chilis
1 T Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend

Toppings:
Use them all or choose your favorites
shredded iceberg lettuce
chopped tomatoes sliced olives
lite sour cream
chopped avocado
chopped scallions
chopped cilantro
salsa

Prepare elbows according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, brown meat and taco seasoning in canola oil and chop Velveeta into 1/2 inch cubes.

When pasta is done, drain in colander and place back into the warm pot you cooked it in. Add the chopped cheese, can of Rotel, seasoned beef, and can of chilis. Stir to combine and leave on stove top while you put together the bean nachos.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Take your corn tortilla wedges and spread with the re-fried beans and sprinkle each little chip with the Mrs Dash seasoning. Now you're ready to assemble the dish. Place warm cheese/pasta/meat mixture in casserole dish dusted with cooking spray. Top with bean coated tortillas. Here's the dish ready to go into the oven.

And here it is after it's baked uncovered for 25 minutes. Creamy, crunchy, toasty and oh! so good.

The beauty of this casserole is that the top becomes crunchy and the inside stays creamy. Serve this as you would any nacho dish- lots of toppings, so that with each bite, you can try something new. Dig in and enjoy!
I sure did.