Nacho Triangles With Salsa Ranch Dipping Sauce -- The Tailgate That Fed a Season

Friday night, week one. Eldorado Prep at home against a good 5A team from the south metro. Final score: us thirty-eight, them seven. Diego had four catches for ninety-two yards and a touchdown. Marcus threw three TDs. Daquan had nine tackles, two for loss, and a sack. Anthony had an interception that he returned forty yards for a score. The defense gave up one drive in the second quarter and shut down everything else. We ran for two-fifty as a team. The crowd was thick. The home-side bleachers were full at six-thirty for a seven-thirty kickoff, which is the surest sign that the boosters and the parents and the school think we are about to have a season.

The tailgate was the biggest yet. I had been smoking brisket since two a.m. Two packers, twenty-six pounds combined. I had also smoked pulled pork. I had also made green chile mac, four full pans, in the field house kitchen Friday afternoon. I had also made a pot of posole that fed forty. The booster moms had brought everything else — slaw, beans, watermelon, rice, chips, salsas, four kinds of dip, a tray of cookies the size of a small couch, a pan of brownies, a watermelon basket, a pasta salad. The setup started at four. The eating started at five. By kickoff at seven-thirty the food was about half consumed and the rest got eaten after the game.

The pre-game tailgate is one of my favorite hours of the week during the season. The kids come through. Their families come through. The boosters come through. The other coaches come through. The pre-game atmosphere is a kind of communal eating that is its own ritual. Daquan came through the line with his grandmother Mrs. Burns, who was at her first home game of the year. I made her a brisket sandwich myself. I told her she was a guest of honor. She told me she was just there to watch her grandbaby play, which I think is the most accurate possible description of why anyone goes to high school football. The grandbabies. The boys we have known since they were small. The fact that they are now men but were recently small. The line between those two things is the soul of high school football, and the tailgate is where that line gets honored.

The game itself was less suspenseful than I would have liked. By halftime we were up twenty-four to seven. The other team was tough but outmatched. Their senior quarterback was a good kid — I knew his coach from a clinic — and he played hard and played smart, but the line in front of him could not hold up against Daquan and the other guys, and the game spiraled in our direction in the third quarter. I made a point of pulling the starters with eight minutes left in the fourth and putting the second team in. The second team played well. The third team got a series in the last three minutes. Every kid on the active roster got at least one play. We won the game and we did it the way I want to win games — fast start, control the middle, run the clock, take care of the depth chart, get out of the building healthy.

Diego came up to me on the sideline after the game with his helmet in his hand and his face flushed. He said, "Dad, did I look okay." I said, "Diego, you looked great. Your routes were sharp. Your hands were perfect. You played fast without playing wild. That was a varsity senior performance and that is what I wanted from you." He said, "Marcus was throwing a rope." I said, "Yes he was." He said, "Daquan is gonna be a problem." I said, "He is going to be more of a problem in the SEC than we get to see." Diego laughed. He went to find his teammates.

After the game I shook every assistant's hand. I shook the trainer's hand. I shook the equipment guy's hand. I shook the athletic director's hand and he said, "Coach, we have a team." I said, "We have a start." That has been my line for a decade and it is more honest than half the things I say. We have a start. The season is the season. Week one is one of ten. The schedule has six teams that beat us last year on the docket. The win does not matter unless we keep winning.

We came home at eleven. Lisa was already home — she had worked a half-shift, traded with another nurse, and made it to the second half. She had Diego's favorite beverages cold in the fridge and a plate of post-game burritos warming in the oven. The twins were asleep on the couch in the den with a movie still playing. Sofia was on the patio with her book and a bowl of green chile mac that she had snuck home from the tailgate. Diego ate his burrito. Lisa hugged him for an entire minute. Hayley came over briefly to congratulate him and went home. We went to bed at one. I lay in bed and thought about the team. I thought about the schedule. I thought about Ruben. The dog tags were on the table next to the bed where I keep them when I sleep. The road bends. Feed your people. The game is won at the table. Week one is in the books. Nine to go. Then the playoffs. Then, maybe, the thing we are not saying out loud.

The booster moms brought the salsas and the dips, but what always disappears first at our tailgates is something with crunch — something you can grab with one hand while you’re holding a cup in the other and still watching the band warm up on the field. These nacho triangles with salsa ranch dipping sauce are exactly that. I first made them for a smaller pre-season gathering, and by the time week one rolled around and Mrs. Burns was coming through the line for the first time this season, I knew they needed a place on the spread alongside the brisket and the posole.

Nacho Triangles With Salsa Ranch Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 12 small flour tortillas
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup pickled jalapeño slices (optional)
• Salsa Ranch Dipping Sauce:
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup chunky salsa
• 1 packet (1 oz) ranch seasoning mix
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a light coat of cooking spray.
2. Cut the tortillas. Stack the flour tortillas and cut each one into quarters to form triangles, giving you 48 total pieces. Spread them in a single layer across the baking sheets.
3. Season and oil. Brush each triangle lightly with olive oil or melted butter. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt. Sprinkle the spice blend evenly over all the triangles.
4. Add cheese. Scatter the shredded cheese over the seasoned triangles. Add jalapeño slices on top if using.
5. Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until the edges are golden and crisp and the cheese is melted and just starting to bubble.
6. Make the dipping sauce. While the triangles bake, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, salsa, ranch seasoning mix, and lime juice until smooth. Fold in the cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
7. Serve. Transfer the nacho triangles to a platter or basket lined with parchment. Serve warm alongside a bowl of the salsa ranch dipping sauce. Best eaten the day they’re made, while the edges are still crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 285 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 620mg