Wednesday Kitchen - Serious Eats

Welcome to another Wednesday Kitchen! This week JET Team leader Lynn shares another of her delicious recipe creations!

Sopes (pronounced "soapess" or "esoapess") may sound exotic or sound difficult, but this is a really simple dish that will take 30 minutes at best! A sope is a traditional Mexican dish, originating in the central and southern parts of Mexico, and is really an open face sandwich. The base is a round lipped base made from masa, the same mixture you use to make corn tortillas. You can purchase these in your local Hispanic grocery market or order them online.

Once you start making these, the sky is the limit as to what you can create using this diverse base - you may add anything your heart desires on this dish, such as chopped tomatoes, chopped sweet red peppers, shredded lettuce, chipotle peppers, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, enchilada sauce, etc, etc, etc.

Ingredients (needed but not limited to:)

• Package of sopes
• Cooked chicken or beef (any meat protein will do, but we happened to have grilled chicken handy)
• Refried beans - either black or pinto
• Chopped green onion
• Shredded cheese
• Fresh chopped cilantro
• Chopped jalapenos

To Make:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam vegetable spray or similar
3. Arrange your sopes so they don't touch, then spray them lightly with the vegetable spray






4. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until they just start to firm up. Over baking will result in a very hard dry base so watch them closely
5. In the meantime, chop your pre-grilled chicken or beef, onions, cilantro and jalapenos





6. Heat the refried beans in a small pot on the stovetop
7. Once your sopes bases are out of the oven, start your assembly:
8. Add the refried beans, then the grilled chicken and the chopped jalapenos
9. Finish with chopped green onions and shredded cheese, then top with chopped cilantro

You may eat this knife and fork style, or pick it up like an open face sandwich. This is a delicious summer supper utilizing produce and meats that are usually at their freshest. Enjoy!
Lynn