(c) 2013 By Tom King
Photo borrowed from "It's Gotta be Gluten Free" website |
First off, we’re not talking about cattle feed here, though
if you’ve got a whole lotta people corralled, this traditional Adventist
potluck favorite is one of the best ways to feed them all, fill them up and
send them on their way in no time. It’s
suitable for feeding visiting choirs, Pathfinder clubs, youth groups of all
sizes and any group that shows up needing to be fed on short notice.
Here’s what you need
for Texas-Style Haystacks:
·
- Lots of lettuce (chopped or shredded)
- Bags of Tortilla Chips (or Fritos Corn Chips)
- Tomatoes - diced
- Onions
- Mounds of Grated Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Black Olives
- Jalepenos
- Ranch Dressing
- Avocados or Guacamole
- Pace™ Picante Sauce (accept no substitutes)
- Ranch Style Beans
Here’s How to Set the
Serving Line:
- Place two long folding tables end to end
- Chop up the vegetables, put everything in bowls with the proper sized spoons. The only thing that needs to be heated is the beans.
- Set out the serving bowls in this order on the table.
a.
First stack the paper plates at the start of the
serving line. Use the heavy Chinette
ones because a haystack can get pretty heavy.
b.
Second place a huge bowl of chips right after
the plates. Tortilla chips are
traditional in Texas, but I’ve seen it done (more expensively) with Fritos Corn
Chips – regular sized.
c.
Third, set a huge pot of Ranch Style™ Beans with
a couple of big soup ladles in them.
d.
Fourth, a big bowl of chopped lettuce
e.
Fifth, a big bowl of diced tomatoes
f.
Sixth, smaller bowls of onions, black olives and
jalapenos
g.
Seventh, a big bowl of grated cheddar cheese
h.
Eighth, a big bowl of guacamole or chopped
avocados
i.
Ninth, bowls of sour cream, bottles of Ranch Dressing,
bowls of picante sauce and a bottle of Catalina French Dressing for visiting
Yankees and Californians.
j.
Flatware, napkins, drinks
Construction
Techniques:
You build your haystack according to your own tastes, but
for newbies, here’s the basic order of battle.
You can pretty much follow the order of setup, but everyone has their
preferences. Here are the directions for
constructing the basic haystack:
- Lay down a bed of chips covering the bottom of your plate. Everything else is built on top of the chips.
- Scoop hot beans on top of the chips
- Lay down a bed of lettuce on top of the beans
- Spoon tomatoes generously over the lettuce
- Sprinkle onions, olives and/or jalapenos to taste over the salad ingredients
- Cover with grated cheese.
- Add picante sauce to taste
- Decorate with spoonfuls of avocado/guacamole, and ranch dressing (or Catalina French if you must).
- Top with a spoonful of sour cream. Always save one olive to put on top of your little snowcap of sour cream to complete your mountain of deliciousness.
Warning:
A haystack is not a “Taco
Salad”. It is a breach of etiquette to
call it that or to put the chips on top of the beans. Everything else can be laid down according to
your own personal preference. Take it
easy on the jalapenos if you’re not used to them.
Haystacks are pretty cheap to make and very filling. Young people love them and because you make
them yourself, little kids can even make their own versions which leave out
anything “yucky”. Haystacks are perfect
if you need to feed a lot of people fast and you can leave extra unopened bags
of chips and beans in the kitchen and add more to the feast if things start
running low. We always keep extra unopened
jars of Pace, blocks of cheese, bottles of salad dressing, lettuce and tomatoes
to chop up. If you don’t need them, you
can take them home or store the unopened jars for the next time you need to
serve this imminently useful dish for your church potluck.
I want to serve this at a Meeting but how do they eat it? Do I have to buy knivesw and forks for everyone?
ReplyDeletePlastic forks work just fine. Nothing else needed.
ReplyDelete