Say Cheese
My sister is a foodie just like me. Weekends are planned around baking schedules. Excuses to have a get-together are whipped up so that a certain cookbook can be taken for a test drive. Entire international vacation itineraries revolve around restaurants and the foods of far-off lands. We love good food. It is because of this love of all things culinary that she gets a rather large dose of ridicule for her love of queso.

You can call it queso, cheese sauce, or even cheese dip. But, no matter what you call it if there is a tray of semi-fresh tortilla chips with bright orange cheese sauce you bet my sister is all over them. The more bright orange and weird the queso, the better. So, it should come as no surprise that at a recent get-together there was a small, gently bubbling crockpot of queso.

The good news is that this wasn’t the queso that you pump onto chips at the ballpark. This was a different animal. This was queso that she made. And, fresh queso is a totally different experience. Yes, you might have to get past the fact that it is indeed still made with Velveeta—a product my mother only bought to put in our emergency earthquake kit. But, the results are worth it.

Real queso does not have that plasticky sheen and/or texture. Real queso is actually quite good and I will bet anyone that the loudest naysayers will be the same people who park themselves by the bowl and can’t stop eating it. (Guilty)

This is the recipe she made and it comes adapted from my favorite cookbook and restaurant Tacolicious. It’s one of their most popular items on the menu. Give it a try for Cinco de Mayo and see what you think…

Chili con Queso
Yields 12 servings
Recipe adapted from Tacolicious by Sara Deseran

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 16-ounce package Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes
1 7-ounce can of HOT diced green chilies
1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup drained canned or jarred sliced pickled jalapeño chiles
Tortilla chips (for serving)

Directions
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and the garlic and cook until the onion becomes translucent (about 5 minutes).

Add the Velveeta cheese and stir the mixture until the cheese is melted. Add the green chilies, tomatoes, and pickled jalapeños. Stir until it is heated through.

Transfer the queso to a serving bowl or small crockpot (to keep warm) and serve with tortilla chips.