Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs

Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs

Five miles in, and struggling to keep up, I still had a smile plastered over my face. It was Memorial Day weekend, and we were spending it up at Mount Evans. For the first time all week, the stress headache building at the back of my head had calmed itself. I went back to that moment in my head at mile nine, on our way back out.

The hike to the Mount Evans climbing area is unique because you have to climb up and then down and then up again, which means that on the way back home you have to climb down and then up again before you get to go down again. You are exhausted and that last little stretch of climbing is a mental battle. It didn’t help that it was our first day in the alpine this season -- where the air is thin.

Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs
Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs

Once back at home, we snuggled into the couch with plates of food (you know when you are just too tired to make anything, so you just throw stuff together?) and binge watched the last few episodes of Atypical (which I recommend doing). 

The next morning a feast was an order: a hearty breakfast with starches, carbs, and eggs with runny yolks. Revitalization! Fuel. That’s how this dish came to life. And oh, did it hit the spot.

If you’ve read Foraged Breakfast, you might be familiar with my story about Huevos Rancheros. My love of Tex-Mex breakfasts continues here: the potatoes have been spiced with chili powder, cumin, and paprika. The addition of avocado is a no-brainer for me; you might want to add some cheese two (we were out). 

I also used a little hat trick, boiling the potatoes with a bit of baking soda before roasting them. This coats the outside of the potatoes in a starchy slurry, which when roasted, turns into those super crispy bits we all love (like at the restaurants 🤤). 100% worth the extra step! It also means the potatoes need less time in the oven… and since this weekend it was over 90°F (in May no less!), keeping the oven use to a minimum is a huge bonus. 

You also cook the eggs in the same pan as the potatoes, adding them in part of the way through. Read: Less dishes.

This is a perfect way to serve a crowd — if you double the recipe, use a 9x13 inch casserole dish!

Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs

Tex-Mex Potatoes & Eggs

Published June 7, 2018 by
   |     Print This Recipe

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 60 minutes



Ingredients:

  • 4 cups diced Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 4-5 cups water
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil (avocado oil or melted coconut oil)
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for serving
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for serving
  • 4 eggs
  • Cilantro, minced, for serving
  • Optional: Avocado, for serving

  • Directions:

    1. Preheat over to 425°F.
    2. Place diced potatoes with water and baking soda in a pot and set on stove over medium-high heat. Water should complete cover potatoes -- if it does not, add more. Bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes.
    3. Pour potatoes into a strainer and discard of water. Place potatoes in a glass baking dish. Drizzle with cooking oil, and the sprinkle with spices: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir potatoes with a spatula until all are equally covered in oil and spices. Place in preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
    4. Potatoes should be tender all the way through and starting to get crispy on the outside. Use a spoon to make four wells in the potatoes for the eggs. Crack an egg into each one, and then return the dish to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until egg whites are set and yolks are cooked to desired doneness.
    5. Sprinkle with minced cilantro and salt & pepper to taste, and serve hot with sliced avocado.

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    Smokey Sausage and Cabbage Soup

    The fall equinox was officially yesterday, which means we can all start exclusively eating soup, casseroles, and occasional slices of pie, right? 

    Many years ago, I asked my mom the classic question: "What food would you eat if you could only eat one thing?" 

    "Soup," she said. You, like me, might be thinking, Hey! That's not fair! Soup is more than one thing. Her loophole in the system seemed like a cheap answer at the time, but it only took a few minutes before I decided it was, perhaps, the best answer. Especially considering the number of times her soups had the entire kitchen table begging for a the recipe. (She rarely gave it up: "Oh this? It's just everything we had in the fridge.")

    Adopting her love of soup was quick and easy. Adopting her nonchalant soup attitude was not. How could I pretend my soup "just happened" when everyone knows I was likely spinning some sort of soup web of a recipe in the back of my head all day? Despite putting some planning into these cozy bowls, the recipe is incredibly simple. A handful of cheap ingredients, a swirl of smokey hungarian paprika, a dash of salt, and the deal is done. 

    One thing my mom always (always) had in the fridge was Kielbasa. And while I do not remember ever just eating kielbasa, I do remember always finding smokey chunks of European sausage in my soups. Between the paprika broth and the smoked sausage chunks, this soup has a unique flavor that makes it seem like an age-old recipe handed down from some great-great-grandmother who would spend all day working on dinner. (Don't worry, it doesn't take all day to make this dinner. I made the soup pictured here one hour before class, snapped the pictures, and jumped in the car with a tupperware full). 

    If you're a fan of paprikash, you know exactly what flavor I'm talking about. This is like paprikash in a soupy form, with sausage, stewn potatoes, and cabbage. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's okay--you'll figure it out when this soup fills your bowl and you start to feel like you've been transported back to some little kitchen in Eastern Europe. 

    Let soup season in: I'm ready hungry!

    Smokey Sausage and Cabbage Soup

    Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |       |    Print This Recipe

    Simple and comforting.

    Serves: 4   |    Total Time:



    Ingredients:

    • 3 garlic cloves
    • 1 small white onion
    • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
    • 12 oz pork kielbasa
    • 1/2 head cabbage
    • 1 large sweet potato
    • 1/2 pound frozen cauliflower florets (optional -- using an additional sweet potato instead is fine too)
    • 7 cups bone broth
    • 2 teaspoons salt

      Optional: For the Cabbage Chips:
    • 10 cabbage leaves
    • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
    • Salt to taste

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare the cabbage chips: Carefully tear the outermost leaves from the cabbage head, with out tearing them (some tears are OK- just aim for larger pieces). Use a knife to cut the thicker stem portion from each leaf. You want to cut out the parts that are thicker (and will therefor cook slower) than the rest of the leaf. Place the remain leaf pieces in a bowl, drizzle with avocado oil, and use your fingers to gentle work the oil around the bowl until it covers each leaf (they shouldn't be soaked, just lightly coated). Place the leaves in a single, flat layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven. For 15-20 minutes, or until the leaves become crisp, golden chips. Sprinkle cooked chips with salt. Set aside to cool.
    2. While the chips cook, prepare the soup. Heat the coconut oil in the bottom of a large soup pot over medium heat. Mince the garlic, and dice the onion. Once the coconut oil is hot, add the onion and garlic to the pot. Sauté them until soft and the onions are translucent. Tip: Adding a dash of salt at this point will draw water out of the onions and shorten their cooking time (optional).
    3. Slice the kielbasa into 1/4-inch rounds or half-circles. Add them to the pot, stirring briefly. While the sausage browns, dice the sweet potatoes and cabbage.
    4. Deglaze the pan: Pour a cup of broth into the pot, and use a wooden spoon with a flat edge to scrape the bottom of the pot (releasing the good sauté flavors into your soup). Stir in the paprika.
    5. Add the chopped potatoes, cabbage, and cauliflower florets to the pot. Pour in the remaining broth and salt. Cover pot and bring to a simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

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