Enough For Me & You

Whenever I make a recipe that provides enough for leftovers, my appreciation for the recipe doubles. Why, you may ask? Because it gives me either a delicious option for lunch the next day, or even better, a night off in the kitchen! A lot of recipes I make suggest that they are at least 4 servings, but I rarely find myself with leftovers (between the two of us in the house). So, whenever there’s a huge casserole or Dutch oven meal on the week’s menu, I can count on that providing me some type of leftover; whether it’s enough for one or two people is another story.

As always, I try to make sure that my meals are as balanced as possible; vegetables, protein, healthy fats… you know the drill. Since I take medication daily, my gastroenterologist likes for me to have blood work every so often just to make sure the medicine isn’t affecting anything negatively. I actually just had some routine blood work last week, and they mailed me a copy of the results. I’m happy to report that pretty much everything was within the “normal” range! I’ve got plenty of blood protein, calcium, and all the other goodies that people often swear vegetarians don’t get enough of. So even though my gut doesn’t work properly, my blood is in good shape! At least I know I’m doing something right.

But now that we’ve talked about my blood, let’s get back to food… I’m currently trying to ramp up my mileage (only a little) and intensity (a little more) for a half marathon in April. I’m actually running two half marathons in April – the RU Unite Half Marathon that I’ve run the last 3 years (and was my first!), and then a week later the Nike Women’s Half. I’m hoping to PR at the first, and then enjoy the second. I would love to run a 1:45 (or faster, of course), and I think it’s possible since I had to walk a few minutes due to a side cramp last year and finished in 1:47. As always, running has seriously increased my appetite, which is huge to begin with. So, when I found a big ‘ole strata recipe on Martha Stewart’s website, I knew I had to make it.

I had to make some changes to the recipe, most notably because one of the main ingredients was sausage. I’ve been completely obsessed with soy chorizo the past few months, so I knew that would be a perfect replacement. I’ve had the soy chorizo from both Trader Joe’s and Stop & Shop, and they are both equally delicious, and easy to use in anything from a burrito to an omelet. This particular recipe includes things I love; spicy chorizo, eggs, bread (yay carbs!), cheese, and a solid dose of leafy greens. It’s perfect to whip together before work and then cook when you get home, make the night before having brunch, or do all at once (since it really doesn’t take that long). I love the versatility of stratas, and this recipe is no different!

Vegetarian Chorizo & Chard Strata adapted from Martha Stewart
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 package of Soy Chorizo (or 1lb. of regular chorizo)
1 tbsp olive oil*
1 small onion, diced (can be yellow, white, Spanish)
1 bunch of Chard (Swiss or red), roughly chopped
1 baguette (day old is best), sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup of smoked Gruyere or Gouda cheese
7 eggs
2 1/2 cups of milk (any dairy or non-flavored and unsweetened non-dairy kind will do)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sauté pan, cook the chorizo and set aside.
3. In the same pan, add the olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. *If you are using real chorizo, you do not need to add the oil – you can use the fat from the meat.
4. Next add in the chard, salt, and pepper, and cook until just beginning to wilt, about 5 minutes.
5. In a 9×11 greased baking dish, layer half the chorizo, followed by the chard and onion mixture, then sliced baguette. Follow with another layer of chorizo and then chard.
6. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs and milk. Pour over the casserole dish, doing your best to distribute evenly. Top with cheese. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, but can go up to overnight.
7. Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving!

Do you have any favorite dishes you make that always give you leftovers?

Egg Love

Getting a CSA box each week has been such a treat – we pick up on Fridays, so I always look forward to the Thursday “newsletter” with a list of the week’s fruits and vegetables, as well as recipe ideas and tips for storing everything. Once I get that e-mail, it’s all about planning the week’s meals around the fruits and veggies. Most of the time I don’t have trouble coming up with uses for everything, but once in a while I’m stumped. Included in this week’s box (among other things) were some leeks and arugula that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with.

I’ve only cooked with leeks once before (though I absolutely love them), and have only had arugula in salads, on sandwiches, and in a few pasta dishes. Originally my thoughts were to keep the two vegetables separate – I didn’t want to blow through my CSA box before we were halfway through the workweek. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized the two would pair well together alongside eggs.

Truthfully, I’m not usually a big egg fan. Blasphemy, perhaps, but I never really enjoyed them the way that so many people do (I’m talking in the “OMG I eat eggs every single day!” kind of way). Growing up I would have hard boiled eggs, but that was typically as far as my eggventures went (see what I did there?). Omelets were manageable for me too, as long as they were stuffed with veggies and had an equal ratio of cheese to egg. Eventually in college I realized eggs and omelets were my best option for breakfast, and I learned to love them with ketchup (again, a lot of people think it’s totally gross, and I did as well way before I would willingly eat eggs). Until recently, I would typically chose something without eggs over something with eggs, but they’re growing on me. Maybe it’s because I finally know how to cook them and use them with other flavors I enjoy, or my taste buds are changing, but I’ll take it either way.

Since I’m currently on the egg train, I’m going to ride it for as long as I can. Enter the leek and arugula frittata! The frittata is one of the easiest dishes out there, and it’s so incredibly versatile I don’t know why I only recently started making them (oh, right, because I’m not a big egg fan…). You really can throw almost anything into a cast iron skillet, saute it, top it with eggs, cook it a bit, and call it a day. Seriously – I basically just wrote out the recipe. Obviously for this frittata I used leeks and arugula, but a few weeks ago I made an equally awesome Swiss chard version. And the very first frittata I made had soy chorizo and kale in it (and it was called a strata, but whatever), and I dream about it, it was that good. Basically what I’m saying is get creative with your frittata – or give mine a try!

Leek and Arugula Frittata
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
8 eggs
2 leeks, diced (white parts only)
1 cup arugula, stems removed and diced
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, a mix – whatever your heart desires)
1/4 cup crumbled feta (I used garlic and herb, but plain works too)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add leeks and sauté for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium bowl and dd in the cheese. Set aside.
3. Add in the arugula and tomato, and sauté for an additional 2 minutes until the arugula is wilted.
4. Meanwhile, preheat broiler on high.
5. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and stir to make sure everything is combined. Using a spatula, lift the eggs on the edge of the skillet, tilting the pan to allow the egg mixture to drip to the edges. Continue doing this as it cooks for 10 minutes.
6. Take the skillet and place it in the oven with the broiler on high, and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Anytime Pizza

With the high temperatures this week, I struggled with what I should make for dinner each night. I didn’t want to turn on the oven, but the thought of standing outside and grilling in the heat was too much to bear. So, I cranked up the air conditioning and got to work, this time on pizza.

I’ve been meaning to make a breakfast pizza for awhile, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I had breakfast pizza for the first time while staying at The Borgata in Atlantic City, at their buffet. Until that point I hadn’t thought of a breakfast styled pizza, but after having a slice was immediately convinced it’s a great idea.

So when one of the things I got in my Hormel Family Food Blogger welcome package was bacon, I decided that would be the perfect vehicle for my breakfast pizza. In addition to the bacon, I added some eggs, scallion, cheese, and seasoning. Since I used a pre-made pizza crust, it was so quick and easy. Because it’s so fast and requires little effort, it’s great as a quick week night meal, or even as something easy to throw in the oven on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Breakfast Pizza
– makes one pizza –

Ingredients:
1 pre-made pizza dough crust, or your own
1 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but any kind will work)
3 scallions, diced
4 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
3 eggs
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Layer pizza with cheese, bacon, and scallion. Crack each egg over the pizza (I did a triangle formation to try and prevent them from spreading into one another). Top with oregano and basil.
3. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until crust is crispy and eggs are cooked through

Quiche Me

I always find myself inclined to make more involved, comfort foods on Sundays. It’s a day where you can get away with eating earlier and have it not considered part of the early bird special, and it’s those last few moments of the weekend that you can savor.

Since we were up early on Sunday morning to register at Crate & Barrel (hello KitchenAid Stand Mixer!) we didn’t have the opportunity to have a real breakfast; we enjoyed free samples and then grabbed some Starbucks to reward ourselves for a registry well done. So, I figured it would be appropriate to have breakfast for dinner, or in this case, brunch for an early dinner.

This particular quiche recipe had me sold the second I saw gouda cheese listed as an ingredient. I also really like portabello mushrooms and onions, so adding that in was an added bonus. Of course I added a little more gouda than what the recipe called for, and I could have even added more! I don’t think I can ever get enough of that cheese. It’s so goood-ahh (get it?!).

Anyway, I could definitely have this dish any time of day – breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner. Or as my fiancé affectionately refers to it, brinner. We wound up having leftovers, so I was able to have it for dinner on Sunday, and lunch on Monday!

Broccoli, Mushroom, and Gouda Quiche via ChowHound
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 Basic Pie Dough or a 9-inch deep-dish frozen pie crust (I used regular pre-made pie crust)
2 cups broccoli florets and tender stems, large dice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups portobello mushroom, large dice
1/2 medium red onion, minced
3 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half*
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded young Gouda cheese

Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Lightly flour a work surface and roll pie dough out. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough, and fold over edges into a decorative design.
2. Blind bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to put something in the middle to weigh it down (beans, weights, aluminum foil, etc.).
3. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add broccoli and cook until fork tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and let cool in a single layer on a large plate.
4. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add mushroom and onion and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
5. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half*, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until incorporated and smooth. Stir in broccoli, mushroom mixture, and cheese. Pour into pie shell and bake until puffed and golden brown, 45-50 minutes.
6. Let cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.

*I didn’t have any half and half, so instead I melted 1 Tbsp of butter, and poured that into a 1 cup measuring cup. I then filled the rest of the measuring cup with milk, to make my own version of half and half.

Omelet Burger, also known as a Ramly

Last week, SeriousEats’ A Hamburger a Day had a post on Ramly Burgers, which is essentially an egg-wrapped hamburger from Malaysia (as the post’s byline describes). While I knew nothing about Ramly burgers or Malaysian street food before seeing the post, after reading it I was intrigued by the idea of a burger wrapped omelet, and knew someone that would love to try it.

My fiancé had his first egg and burger experience in London a few years ago, and can rarely pass it up if he sees it on the menu while we’re out. I myself have never had an egg on a burger, and actually until recently thought it was just plain weird. Knowing that he’d love the idea of an egg burger, I was able to rope him into doing most of the work – all part of my master plan! I figured we’d make our usual burgers, and then when it came time to omelet it, I would just wing it.

Considering I had no master plan and our skillet really isn’t big enough to get a large, thin omelet (see notes below if you find yourself in a similar predicament), this turned out quite well! Served alongside a grilled ear of corn and some simple salad, this was the perfect way to enjoy yet another beautiful day. Oh, and eating outside with a beer in hand didn’t hurt either.

Omlete aka Ramly Burger
– makes 2 burgers –

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 Tbsp water
1/4 lb. beef chuck (I used a 90:20 ratio)
1 jalapeno, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup shredded cheese
2 hamburger buns

Directions:
1. Heat grill to medium-high heat
2. While grill is warming up, using your hands combine hamburger meat, diced jalapenos, and seasoning. Once well combined, form two even patties
3. Cook patties on either side 5-6 minutes, cooking to your likeness (this left them about medium)
4. Meanwhile, whisk four eggs and a water together. Grease a large skillet and warm over medium-high heat. Pour half of the egg mixture into the skillet, making sure to move the pan so as to not have the egg stick to the pan.
5. Once it’s been heated for about 3-4 minutes, add the burger to the middle, and gently fold the sides over the burger.* Cook 2 minutes. Flip, and cook additional 2 minutes.
6. Repeat with remaining egg mixture and second patty.

*My skillet wasn’t large enough, so I wasn’t able to fully fold the egg over the hamburger. Don’t fret if you can’t either, it’s still delicious. But if you can, more power to you!

Southwestern Breakfast Bake

Thankfully, Saturday’s excursion to find Bridesmaid dresses was a success! Not only did we find those dresses, but my mom also found her dress, and I stumbled upon an adorable dress I’m planning to wear for either the rehearsal dinner or bridal shower, and will definitely be taking on my honeymoon. Triple score at Macy’s!

After the shopping trip, I had worked up a serious appetite, and since I had been out pretty much all day, felt as though I needed to spend a little time in the kitchen. This recipe really didn’t require much kitchen time, though, because as soon as a I put it in the oven, I went off to do a 30 minute yoga session. If any of you have iPads, iPhones, iPod touches, Macs, etc., I highly recommend Pocket Yoga (the app) – you can choose between three different practice styles, three levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and also three lengths of practice. It also has a library of all of the poses, and a few sun salutation sets also. I’m no yogi, but I’m really enjoying it!

But back to the food. It’s a really yummy twist on a quiche, and by naming it “breakfast pie,” it gets you excited for something different. Even though it’s a savory pie and isn’t sweet, it rightfully owns the title. The great thing about a breakfast bake, quiche, etc. is that you can really throw anything into the mix; anything goes. So I suggest getting creative!

Southwestern Breakfast Bake
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 pre-made pie crust
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 chile peppers of your choice (I used habaneros)
1/4 cup corn
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used chipotle, but any flavor will do)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Adobo
6 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream, or Greek yogurt (I used plain Chobani)
2/3 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 scallion, chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Sauté diced onion and peppers about 3-5 minutes. Add spices, and continue to cook an additional 2 minutes. Add corn and black beans, continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes.
3. Place pre-made pie crust in a greased pie dish, and layer cooked bean, corn, and pepper mixture.
4. Whisk eggs together in a medium bowl, adding the sour cream/Greek yogurt. Mix in cheese and cilantro until combined, and pour mixture into pie dish.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, top with scallions, and a sprinkling of cheese (if desired) and cook for additional 5 minutes.
6. Serve with additional sour cream/Greek yogurt, and salsa

More Breakfast for Dinner: Santa Fe Breakfast Bake

On Tuesday night, I had made Mexican Stuffed Shells courtesy of You Are What You Eat or Reheat, and blogged about it. Apparently, though, my fiancé didn’t think I drove home the point of the true deliciousness. I mean, I’m not quite sure what else I can say. It’s meaty, cheesey, and delicious. It’s a nice variation from typical stuffed shells, and I really think it’s a fun alternative to a more “common” dish. Now don’t get me wrong, good ole Italian stuffed shells are delicious as well. But if there’s anything you know about me from this blog, it’s my love for Mexican/Spanish food. So seriously, you need to make these. Now.

In keeping with the Mexican/Spanish food trend, I decided to make a Santa Fe Breakfast Bake for dinner on Thursday. Yes, breakfast for dinner! Growing up I was never a big breakfast fan. My parents would coax me into eating dessert for breakfast, just in order to get something in my system before school. That meant a Little Debbie brownie, an Entemann’s chocolate eclair, chocolate milk, etc. I would only eat pancakes if they were filled with chocolate chips, waffles were used for ice cream sandwiches, and you could forget about eggs. Come college, though, I discovered the wonderful world of brunch – veggie stuffed omlettes, fried and over-easy eggs with cheese on bagels, hash browns, and all those other fun (and filling, aka bad for you) breakfast deliciousness. My fiancé is a huge breakfast fan, and he’s really added to my tolerance for it. I definitely need to be in the mood for breakfast, but I’ll at least give it a shot, without it being coated in chocolate.

So, when I found this recipe on Sweetly Serendipity’s blog, I immediately added it to my to-make list. While there was an egg recall, thankfully the eggs that I bought were okay. So I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take advantage of my a-o-k eggs. Of course, being the spice fiend that I am, I added not one, but two diced habanero peppers to this dish. Oh yes, it was spicy. I also got a package of spicy Bob Evans breakfast sausage, since, you know, you aren’t doing it right unless your gut and mouth are on fire.

Earlier in the day I double checked the recipe to see how much time I’d be spending in the kitchen. It’s only then that I saw the dreaded words “chill overnight.” Whoops! That definitely didn’t happen. I’m always afraid when I’m making an egg dish they won’t be fully cooked. So, I left them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes longer than suggested, and it turned out perfectly! Unfortunately, that pushed our dinner time to about 9:45pm. We ran 8 miles after work, and then by the time we got home (there was some traffic from Rutgers’ first football game) and I started with everything and it cooked, we were finishing up just in time to watch Jersey Shore.

Speaking of running, my fiance and I are officially signed up for the Disney Half Marathon in January!! We’re both super psyched, but nervous. It conveniently falls right in the middle of an already planned vacation there with a group of friends, so we felt like we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m not looking forward to starting a race at 5:50am, but it’ll be cool to run through Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I’m hoping to have a pair of compression socks by then, so I can at least enjoy the rest of the trip! We’re doing our own training plan this time around, upping the mileage a bit, and starting earlier to make sure it’s as easy of a run for us as it can be. Once we get back, we’ll have a little break and then it’ll be time to gear up for the second annual Rutgers Unite Half Marathon!

But back to my breakfasty dinner. This thing was awesome. It called for 8 tortillas, but I think I only probably wound up using 2-3 burrito sized tortillas. The recipe suggest to use corn tortillas, and I would definitely agree. I used your average Chi-Chi brand torillas, and while they were delicious, they were a bit soggy after cooking. Of course, for me, adding the spicy sausage and habaneros brought it to another level that was greately appreciated by both myself and my fiancé. Aside from those minor tweaks I stuck to the recipe, and we have lots of leftovers! So much that we each brought a big portion for breakfast at work on Friday, and will probably have it for breakfast on Saturday morning as well. Since it suggests you chill over night, I think this would be a really great dish to have for a brunch, etc. You’re able to prepare it the night before, so you can focus your attention on the things that need to be made the day of instead. I can picture this working really well with some veggie sausage as well.

Santa Fe Breakfast Bake
– Serves 4-6 –

Ingredients:
1 pound pork sausage
1 cup salsa
1 cup canned black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
8 corn or flour tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup shredded mexican-style cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 egg whites, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Sour cream, guacamole, salsa (all optional, but recommended!)

Directions:
1. Brown sausage in a large pan, and drain grease, if any. Combine salsa, sausage, beans, and corn, and set aside.
2. Place one-third of tortilla strips in a lightly greased 11×7 baking dish.
3. Top with 1/3 cup cheese and one cup salsa mixture. Repeat layering with one-third of tortilla strips, 1/3 cup cheese and remaining salsa mixture, ending with remaining tortilla strips.
4. Whisk together remaining ingredients except green onions. Pour egg mixture over tortilla strips; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
5. The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove dish from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
6. Keep covered and bake for 20 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or so until the top is lightly golden.
7. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole, and some scallions for garnish.

Breakfast for Dinner: Monte Cristo style!

I had my first Monte Cristo sandwich my freshman year of college. We were on a training trip to Mission Veijo, California and in between practices one day a few teammates and I ventured to a restaurant near the hotel called Sugar Shack. After we discovered that place I think at least 5 members of the team were there for lunch every day.

team — University of Scranton Swim Team '04-'05 in California

*Sorry guys, I just had to post this. Just a little nostalgia!

I was never a big breakfast person, but it’s slowly been growing on me. The Monte Cristo is a good middle ground dish; it’s a little breakfast with the French toast style bread, and also lunch/dinner-like with the ham and cheese.

I found this particular recipe on Serious Eats‘s “Dinner Tonight” section and took out the strawberry preserves and mustard. I’d never heard of either on that particular sandwich, and I’m not big on jelly and my fiancé won’t eat mustard (or mayo). I also couldn’t find gruyere cheese at ShopRite – their cheese display is confusing. I did, however, find chipotle Gouda so I snagged that. I know Gouda isn’t the best for melting, but since it’s my all time favorite cheese, I didn’t care.

After a solid 3.1 miles regretfully on the treadmill (thanks a lot mother nature!) I set to work on the sandwiches. The recipe didn’t specify what type of bread to use, so at the store on Monday I grabbed a big crusty loaf of Italian bread. I cut the slices on the thicker side, to make it a little gourmet looking. I cut a few slices of the chipotle gouda, and added about a slice and a half of smoked ham. In terms of the French toast part, I followed the instructions for the mixture and ran with it. Since I know gouda isn’t the best melty cheese (thank you Bobby Flay’s Throw Down episode on grilled cheese), after I cooked them on each side to a golden crisp, I threw them in the oven for 5 minutes to assist in the melting.

We paired the sandwiches with some tater tots and a salad, and we were stuffed. We had plans to tackle another cupcake from Monday, but we were just too full.

Even though I’m not a huge breakfast fan (gasp!) I would absolutely make this again. It’s definitely the type of recipe you can play with in terms of different ham and cheese types, and I like that flexibility! Now if only I could transfer that flexibility to my legs. Boy they’re tight!

Monte Cristo
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
4 slices bread
Mustard
6 slices ham
2 slices gruyere cheese
2 eggs
2 tablespoon milk
Pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam

Directions:
1. Smear some mustard on two slices of bread. Top each with three slices of ham, one slice of cheese, and a slice of bread.
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla in a shallow pan.
3. Dip each sandwich into the egg mixture, making sure to evenly coat both sides.
4. Add the butter to a large skillet set over medium heat. When melted, add the sandwiches and cook on both sides until browned.
5. Sprinkle with the sugar, and serve with the strawberry jam.

Happy breakfast, lunch, and dinner nomzing!

Potato Chips and Eggs for dinner!

As I mentioned yesterday, I was planning on making a Potato Chip Tortilla this week. I had every intention of making it yesterday, but when shopping on Saturday my head was not in the game, so I left out some key ingredients. Today after work the fiancé and I headed over to the Target near our office to grab an onion and some extra eggs. The particular Target we usually stop at has a pretty impressive produce section. Well, they had no onions! Sure, they had ground beef, green dips, pre-made salads, onions, a ton of fruits, lettuce… but no onion. I decided it was just going to have to be made without the onion.

The recipe is from May’s Food Network Magazine. There was a whole section on incorporating potato chips into your meal. There was potato chip crusted pork, chocolate and toffee drizzled potato chips, and also the potato tortilla. The name can be deceiving. When I hear tortilla, I think of what I wrap my burrito in. Well not this case! This was definitely more like a fritata than anything else. It actually reminded me a lot of the delicious Chilaquiles Fritata I made in February.

I’m all for the super simple recipe. And I am no stranger to breakfast for dinner. Sure, I’m willing to get my hands dirty every once in awhile, but in most cases, after getting home from work at 6:30p, the last thing I want to do is cook for an hour or two, and not eat until it’s almost bedtime. The whole recipe wasn’t ready until about 8pm, but that’s just because it took 30 minutes to bake. I don’t mind that – I was able to do some other things while it was baking. I just hate actively cooking for a seriously long time after a full day.

All I had to do to prepare for this recipe was crack the eggs (I really think I’m the worst egg cracker there is), beat them, add in some spices, and crush up and add my potatoes to the egg mix. The recipe only called for salt and pepper, but I decided to be adventurous and add some chili powder and cayenne pepper, since we like things with a kick! This particular recipe assumes you have a skillet that has oven-friendly handles. Well, I do not. So after cooking it on the stove-top for about 5 minutes, I had to transfer it to a Pyrex dish to put in the oven. No biggie, but kind of annoying. Since I’m a cheese lover, I also added some shredded mozzarella to the top, and let it bake.

After baking and letting it cool, it had a loaf-like consistency. I decided to have mine with a little Frank’s Red Hot, while the fiancé chose to use Sriracha. It was perfect! There was just the right amount of egg flavor (I’m not a huge egg fan), and a nice potato chip flavor. It sounds like it would be a very odd combination. But believe me, it was delicious! We just had it with a simple green salad, and were good to go. We have plenty of left overs, so I’m looking forward to having some of that with some Green Giant microwaveable veggies for lunch tomorrow!

So whether you’re looking for a brunch item, or maybe you want breakfast for dinner, all you need for this recipe is a few key ingredients, and about 45 minutes. Then you can tell everyone you had eggs and potato chips!

Potato Chip Tortilla

Ingredients:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced
12 large eggs
1 8.5 oz bag of thick-cut potato chips (about 10 cups)
Kosher salt & ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
2. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and 1 cup water in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly crush the potato chips into the egg mixture and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the chips are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the onion.
3. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the egg mixture and cook until it begins to set, about 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the eggs are firm and the top is golden and slightly crisp, 30-35 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes, then slide onto a plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy nomzing!