Chilaquiles with Chipotle Salsa, Soft Scrambled Eggs & Refried Beans
These chilaquiles are literally all of my favorite foods stirred up in one dish, topped with cheese and broiled until golden. Soft scrambled eggs, refried beans, homemade salsa, and avocado. Comfort food at its finest. These are based off the chilaquiles at my favorite diner in Chicago. I've been maybe 6 times and have never ordered anything but the chilaquiles because I am a creature of habit and I know what's good. I've been attempting to recreate them basically since I ate them for the first time last Spring. And now here they are!
I don't know how authentic they actually are- usually the beans are served on the side and the eggs are fried on top but these are my version - everything all mixed together in a big sloppy delicious mess. I also love the simplicity of baking it all together in a big casserole dish and then eating it (for literally breakfast, lunch or dinner) throughout the week. It reheats beautifully and feels fresh when it's topped with avocado and cilantro!
Serves 8
2 cups chipotle salsa
12 corn tortillas
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
10 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can vegetarian refried beans
4 oz can mild green chiles
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (or any cheese of your choice)
avocado & fresh cilantro for serving
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Stack a couple tortillas at a time, then slice them (like you would a pizza) into 8 slices roughly the size of tortillas chips. Divide the tortilla "chips" among the sheet pans and drizzle with grapeseed oil. Using a pastry brush, smear the oil evenly over the tortillas (no need to do both sides) then top liberally with salt and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown - they will crisp up as they cool.
Crack the eggs into a large saucepan over medium heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir the eggs constantly preventing them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring until they look scrambled and creamy (here's a play-by-play with photos if it's unclear). Once the eggs are creamy and just barely cooked add the salt, salsa, refried beans, and chiles and stir over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes until bubbly and heated through. Add the tortilla chips to the mixture and stir until just combined. Pour the contents into a large casserole dish.
Turn the broiler to high. Top the mixture with shredded cheese, then place under the broiler for 3-6 minutes until the cheese bubbles and browns (watch carefully!)
To serve top with fresh avocado and cilantro!
Seedy Sprouted Sourdough Waffles
2017 was the year I finally got the courage to tackle sourdough! It's been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember so this summer when I had a couple months off I took the plunge. I used King Arthur Flour's starter recipe to create my own starter over about a week. For those of you familiar with sourdough you know that each time a starter is "fed" you need to discard about half of it. It can feel pretty wasteful, at least for me, until I realized you can actually use discarded starter for recipes like these waffles! I've since made these waffles what feels like dozens of times.
The original version calls for all purpose flour and don't get me wrong, it's delicious. But I was hoping for something a little more sustaining so I loaded this version with protein-rich hemp seeds, spouted wheat flour, oat flour, and lots of seeds! The result is a waffle that's strong enough to eat for weekday breakfast and feel full until lunch. You can dress it up with maple syrup and whipped cream (like I did for my husband's birthday this week) or dress it down with almond butter and banana. It freezes beautifully and makes for a quick easy breakfast that just needs to be reheated in the toaster. And, like you'd expect it has that subtle lovely sourdough taste!
If you've never considered making your own sourdough, these waffles are just one more excuse to take the plunge, it's well worth it!
Makes about 10 waffles
For the "Overnight Sponge":
1 cup unfed sourdough starter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups milk of your choice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sprouted wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1 oat flour (I just pulse 1 cup old fashioned oats in the blender)
2 tablespoons chia seeds (optional)
For the waffle batter:
all of the overnight sponge
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
The night before you want to make the waffles combine all of the ingredients for the overnight sponge in a large bowl, cover and let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
The following morning, warm your waffle iron. Add eggs, vegetable oil, salt and baking soda to the overnight sponge and stir to combine. Spray the waffle iron with oil, pour batter into the iron and cook per the manufacturers instructions. Serve immediately!
Notes:
These waffles freeze beautifully in freezer bags between sheets of wax paper and re-heat excellently in the toaster oven!
Healthy Chocolate Banana Smoothies
During the year I normally alternate between green smoothies, overnight oats, and green juices for breakfast but this summer I've started switching things up with these chocolate banana smoothies. They are sweetened with dates and filled, literally filled, with plant-based protein.
In an attempt to clean up my diet a bit while I'm off of school this summer I reached out to my brilliant nutritionist friend/guru, Colleen, of Colleen's Nutrition {seriously guys she is the smartest and most helpful person I know when it comes to all things health/food/fitness}. She recommended I start tracking everything I eat through an app. Instead of counting calories she recommended tracking macronutrients in attempt to reduce the amount of carbs {and sugar, damn you sugar} I eat and increase healthy fats and plant-based proteins. It's been challenging, especially give my homemade bread addiction. And trust me, I'm still enjoying bread regularly and eating things like beans, lentils, and quinoa on a daily basis.
When you're a vegetarian A LOT of people will have opinions about your protein intake. It's SO easy to not have to worry about protein when you eat meat, but as a vegetarian it feels more effortful. I normally roll my eyes at these types of comments, quietly worrying if I actually am getting enough protein. Then you hear leaders of vegan/vegetarian movements talking about how most Americans actually get more than twice the amount of protein they need. So whose right?! Since I've started tracking the results have been quite shocking. I haven't even come close to my recommended daily protein intake, I've been consistently and daily over it! Most women need about 45 grams per day and men need about 55 grams. On some days I've gotten up to 70g! And on my lowest protein days I've still come in at around 50g.
This smoothie has 25g, that's more than half the protein I need in a day in one meal. I don't know about you but that makes me feel excited and empowered and reinforces the idea that our bodies can be well-served on a plant-based diet. I've got this! Also this smoothie is delicious and leaves me full for hours thanks to the hemp seeds, oats, and almond butter.
Makes 1 serving
1 frozen banana
3 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 pitted date
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon cocoa nibs (optional)
large handful of spinach
1 - 1.5 cups almond milk
Add all the ingredients in a blender. Top with 2-3 ice cubes and blend until smooth, adjusting the amount of almond milk until desired thickness is achieved. Feel free to sprinkle cocoa nibs, hemp or chia seeds on top.