Sweet & Smoky Chicken Nachos

We started making these the way most good things happen in our kitchen — with a bag of Sweet & Smokey Pepper Mitten Chips open on the counter and a plan that kept getting better. The oak-smoked sweet pepper in that flavor does something special under a pile of BBQ chicken: it meets the sauce halfway, so the smoke reads as deeper and the sweetness keeps the whole tray from tasting one-note. Most nacho chips go limp once the cheese hits them. Ours hold their flaky crunch through a quick bake and still snap when you scoop a loaded one off the pan. That sturdiness matters when you are layering corn, red onion, and pepper jack and counting on the chip to carry it. We build in two thin layers instead of one tall one, because the cheese reaches every chip that way and nobody fights over the good corner. Watch the edges near the end — the natural sweetness in these chips browns a touch faster than a plain chip would, which is exactly the caramelized flavor you want if you pull them at the right moment. Finish with cilantro, a cool drizzle of sour cream, and more BBQ than you think you need.