I love having a big breakfast on weekend mornings. When I was a kid my dad used to make pancakes, waffles, or omelets. It was a nice treat and felt like the ceremonial start to the weekend. Ryan and I try to do the same thing here and we sometimes make poached eggs, French toast and we were even on a short lived kick of making pancakes. And then I decided I wanted something different. I wanted something savory. I wanted something that would be ready all at once, instead of pancakes that are ready one by one. And then after a craving for Mexican food, I decided we should have a Tex-Mex breakfast casserole. 

Now, you might be thinking Tex-Mex for breakfast?! But I promise you, it’s a good idea. I mean, hello huevos rancheros are delicious.  And if I’m being really honest, I was inspired by the fast food restaurant Qdoba. Years ago when I worked at Ford’s Theatre I sometimes had to work on the weekends, and sometimes on those weekends I treated myself to a breakfast burrito from Qdoba. Not the healthiest way to start your day, but it was certainly delicious. Those burritos could have all kinds of things like beans, potatoes, cheese, cheese sauce…swoon. It was a really yummy and really hearty way to start the day. So I thought to myself, can I put all of that together in one casserole, that’s easy to make, and will give us a lot of servings?

I set to work, and the answer is yes, it’s totally possible and very tasty. What’s great about this casserole too is that it’s a protein power house filled with sausage, beans, and eggs. Eat a slice of this and you will be full and satisfied until well passed lunch. I actually took it to lunch a few times and I think it helped me blast through the mid-afternoon funk. You know that I mean, it’s 3pm and you’re snacky and want something sweet and/or caffeinated? We’ve all been there. But this, this is so filling and stating, you won’t need that unhealthy snack.

Anyway, this casserole is also great for serving to a big group for brunch. First, it’s good for a group because you’re making a big tray and everyone can be served together. But second, and possibly most important, you can make a lot of this ahead of time. All you have to do is make the filling the night before and set it in your baking pan. Then that morning, make the seasoned egg mixture, pour it over the filling, do some last bits of assembly, and then bake. How great is that?! Your friends will come over, you’ll be calm and organized,  like “oh yeah, I’m a hosting goddess I have it all together.” Because by making it ahead there won’t be a pile of dishes, or any stress, or any mess.

I used a recipe from Macheesmo as the base and then jacked it up with a lot of other ingredients and stuff.  However, Macheesmo had the idea for cutting up tortillas and letting them crisp on top. This idea is perfection and I wish I had made more. Ryan and I kept stealing pieces from other slices because the texture was so good and perfect for scooping up fallen pieces.  If you have extra tortillas cut them up and bake them along with the casserole. You will not regret it.

Messy level: Mildly messy. You will need one skillet to pre-cook some of the filling, you’ll need a bowl to beat the eggs, and you’ll need the pan to bake everything in. And of course there’s some amount of chopping and measuring to be done. So, there will be a fair amount of dishes but there will also be a ton of delicious food at the end so… win/win I think.

Tex-Mex Breakfast Casserole

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 big red skinned potato (or 2-3 smaller ones), peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
• 1 pound package of chorizo or your favorite breakfast sausage
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 400g/14oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 large corn tortillas (use more or less to fit your taste and flour tortillas work too)
• 6 large eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften.
3. Add the potatoes to the onion. Cook until the potatoes are browned on each side and softer on the exterior, 5-10 minutes. Don't worry though, you're not cooking them all the way through at this step.
4. Put the onions and potatoes into a large bowl and set aside.
5. Wipe out the skillet and put it back on the stove.
6. Remove the sausage meat from the casings. Add the meat to the skillet. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until the sausage is cooked through. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat as you go. This should take 5-10 minutes.
7. Once the sausage is cooked, pat it with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Transfer the cooked sausage to the bowl with the potatoes and onions. If you have it, use a slotted spoon to make the transfer so you aren't getting so much grease in the bowl.
8. Add the red and green bell peppers, jalapeno, and black beans to the bowl with the potato and sausage. Stir until everything is all mixed up together.
9. Cut up your tortillas into thumb sized strips. Sprinkle about half of them on the bottom of a 9x13" pan.
10. Pour the sausage-potato filling on top of the tortillas. Use your hands or a spoon to spread the filling out and make sure it's evenly coating the pan.
11. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and cumin. Add salt and pepper if your desire.
12. Pour the egg mixture over the filling. Feel free to tilt your pan back and forth a bit to make sure everything is evenly covered by the egg mixture.
13. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top of the egg mixture.
14. Sprinkle the remainder of the tortilla slices over the top of the cheese.
15. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. The eggs should be just set and the tortialls will be crispy.

3.3.3077

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When I made Greek salad, I told you that I’ve finally decided to use Twitter. I’ve been skeptical about using Twitter, but then I saw someone tweeted about starting a Cookbook Club and I thought, “what a good idea, I guess Twitter is useful.”

The method behind a cookbook club is that the group picks a book and throughout the month, or two, or whatever the time period is, the group cooks a few things from the book. Then on the meeting day everyone in the club has a potluck and brings a dish using a recipe from the book. I think this is awesome because it would force me to cook a few things from the book and it would also allow me to try other dishes without having to do the work. Sounds like perfection. Also, when I’ve done normal book clubs, we never talk about the book anyway.

The most recent addition to my cookbook collection, and the one I’m itching to cook through is the Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook. It was given to me as a Christmas present by my wonderful friend Charlotte. She is the kind of amazing and thoughtful friend who sends me flowers on my birthday and also when I’m having nervous breakdowns about being an adult. She sends me care packages with American candies and tiny models of ramen noodles. And I in turn, I send her boxes with no card inside and I buy British sweets and leave them in the bottom of my closet and forget to mail them. Anyway, when I got this book I was so excited and sent Charlotte this crazy picture.

This book is awesome. I’ve literally snuggled up in bed and poured through the book as my bed time reading. The writing is funny and they don’t take themselves too seriously. The recipes tell you when you can make substitutions, when to be precise, and when you can be a little messy. All the recipes are healthy and vegetarian – but they never come off snobby for being healthy or too much like hippies for adding chia seeds or tofu. The authors are really encouraging that anyone can eat healthy, they recognize when they’re asking you to use “scary” ingredients, and the recipes are so full of flavor you won’t miss meat.

Seriously. For example, today’s soup packs a real kick. It has a tomato based and chickpeas to cool it down, but there’s a kick of garlic, chili powder, and jalapenos. It’s a nice soup on to warm you up on a cold winter day. It would be even better for when you’re sick because it would clear your sinuses right out. You can definitely turn down the spice if you prefer, but as written – it’s really spicy. All in all, it’s packed with veggies and you won’t need unusual ingredients. Pair it with a corn tortilla on the side, and you’ve got a meal with some zip.

Messy level: This recipe is a hard one to rate. You’ll need one big soup pot, a knife, and a cutting board. If you have an immersion blender this is a lot easier, and cleaner. If you don’t, you’ll have to use a blender which takes more time and there might be spills.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

 

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Author: Thug Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 bell pepper (I used red), chopped
• 1-2 jalapenos, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 2½ teaspoons dried oregano
• 2½ teaspoons chili powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 14.5 oz (400g) can diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 4-8 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch squares (the more you use, the thicker the soup)
• 1½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1, 14oz/400g can of chickpeas
• chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, cook the onion in the olive oil. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the onion is a little bit translucent.
2. Add the carrot and bell pepper to the pot. Cook for another 3 minutes, until everything started to get golden.
3. Add the jalapenos, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and salt to the pot. Stir for about 30 seconds. Everything will get pretty fragrant now!
4. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot and stir so that everything is well mixed.
5. Pour in the broth and bring everything to a simmer.
6. Once it is simmering, add the lime juice and tortilla squares. Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes to soften the tortillas. Stir occasionally.
7. Remove the soup from the heat. If you have an immersion blender, blend everything until smooth. If you don't, then use a regular blender and blend the soup in batches.
8. Pour some soup in a bowl, spoon some chickpeas in the center of the bowl, and sprinkle cilantro on top if you're using. Serve.

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