By Three weeks since I sent the manuscript. No word from Athens. The waiting is a creature that lives in my chest and occasionally sends up waves of nausea disguised as hope. I have checked my email approximately seven hundred times. I have refreshed my inbox so often that my phone probably thinks I have a disorder. Derek says, "No news is not bad news." He's right, technically, in the way that engineers are technically right about things that matter emotionally. The heart doesn't operate on logic. The heart operates on Mama's fried chicken and the belief that the book deserves to exist.
Meanwhile: life. The magnificent, ordinary, ongoing meanwhile. Zoe is working on a summer art portfolio for college prep — she's sixteen but already thinking about SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), which is her dream school. She paints for four hours a day and emerges from her room with paint in her hair and a look of satisfaction that I recognize because it's the look I have when a recipe comes out right. The creative trance. The zone where the making is the meaning.
Marcus called Sunday. He's in Birmingham with Keisha, visiting her family. He said, "Her mother makes barbecue that's..." He paused. "Different from yours." I said, "Different how?" He said, "More... Tuscaloosa." This is Marcus being diplomatic. What he means is: Keisha's mother's barbecue is a revelation and he doesn't want to betray me. I said, "Bring me some." Because the table is big enough for two kinds of barbecue and the line includes Tuscaloosa and everywhere else the food leads.
Made a sheet pan dinner — Mediterranean this time. Chicken thighs, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, red onion, feta, olives, lemon. Everything roasted together. Twenty minutes of prep, forty minutes in the oven, zero standing at the stove. Curtis said, "This is Greek food." I said, "It's Monday food." He said, "Hm." The "hm" was 7.5. Mediterranean is not his lane but he drove through it without crashing.
The Mediterranean version got a 7.5, which in Curtis terms is a standing ovation, but the sheet pan concept itself is what I keep coming back to — the idea that dinner can be twenty minutes of prep and then you walk away, because some days the waiting takes everything you’ve got and the stove doesn’t get what’s left. This one came together on a night when Zoe was deep in the creative trance and I didn’t want to pull her out of it for a long cook — I wanted something loud and satisfying that said the table is ready, come as you are.
Sheet Pan Beef and Black Bean Nachos
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 12 oz tortilla chips (restaurant-style)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup pico de gallo or fresh salsa
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapeño slices
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed sheet pan (18x13 inch) with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef, breaking it apart, until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add taco seasoning and water, stir to combine, and simmer 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and fold in black beans.
- Build the first layer. Spread half the tortilla chips in an even layer across the prepared sheet pan. Scatter half the beef and bean mixture over the chips. Sprinkle with half of both cheeses.
- Add the second layer. Top with the remaining chips, then the remaining beef and bean mixture, then the remaining cheese, making sure chips near the edges are covered so they don’t over-brown.
- Bake. Transfer to the oven and bake 12–15 minutes, until cheese is fully melted and bubbling and edges are lightly golden.
- Top and serve. Remove from oven. Immediately scatter jalapeños, pico de gallo, and diced avocado over the top. Add dollops of sour cream, a shower of fresh cilantro, and serve straight from the pan with lime wedges on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 620 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 34g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 980mg