Brunch Tostadas!

Yes, the exclamation point is a necessity here. We accidentally didn't have time to try out the Shredded Chicken Hard Tacos recipe we had planned this week, so in a pinch we decided to use all the ingredients and substituted eggs for the chicken. It was a very exciting way to start the day.

Brunch Tostadas!

5 eggs
1 -2 tbsp skim milk
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, diced & divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup salsa, divided
6 oz shredded light Mexican cheese blend
2 corn tortillas
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Sour Cream
Avocado
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced


In a small saucepan, heat about 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add 1/2 of the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and stir until the scent of garlic is released, about 1 minute. Add black beans and stir until combined. When the black beans are heated through, stir in 1/4 cup of salsa. Reduce heat to low and cover to retain liquid.
Roughly chop the avocado. Place in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash with a fork. It's okay if the avocado is still a little chunky - that's the best part.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add milk and whisk until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Spray with olive oil spray to lubricate. Add eggs. Wait about 1 minute and then stir the eggs with a wooden spoon, gently scraping the bottom of the pan. Repeat this process until the eggs are scrambled and all the liquid has been cooked/evaporated, about 10-12 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, heat a small pan over medium high heat. Spray quickly with olive oil spray. Add one corn tortilla and toast until both sides are brown and the tortilla is almost crispy.
Place the toasted tortilla on a plate. Spread 1/2 of the mashed avocado mixture on the tortilla. Add the black beans, sprinkle the cheese, then cover with eggs. The lettuce, tomato and sour cream will top off a deliciously complete brunch meal. Too bad we didn't have any guests to share this with! We'll be sure to make it again sometime.

Mexican Quinoa with Sausage, Beans and Pico de Gallo

This is a repeat of the mexican quinoa dish we made several months ago and really enjoyed. We wanted to add some more protein to the meal more filling so we quickly sauteed some andouille sausage from Trader Joes and added it on top as a garnish. We also sliced up some avacado and added it into the mix. This recipe is a definite keeper and we'll be making more of it in the future.

Mexican Baked Eggs

Tonight's recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs: Closet Cooking. This is a fairly standard tex-mex dish in that it resembles nothing authentically Mexican, yet incorporates all the ingredients that are commonly stereotyped as being south of the border. No matter the authenticity, this turned out pretty well and had some fantastic flavors to it. We served it over some roast potatoes I had baked in olive oil, salt, pepper, tons of minced garlic, and smoked paprika. For future meals we would add some more protein with some chicken sausage pieces to help make the dish even more filling.

Mexican Baked Eggs
(originally found on the Closet Cooking blog)

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chipotle chili powder
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and diced
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 tsp oregano
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
4 eggs
Grated cheese (we used a reduced fat Mexican blend)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Saute the onions in the oil over medium heat until soft. Add in the garlic, cumin, chipotle powder and jalapeno. Saute for a minute and stir in the tomatoes with their liquid and the black beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and oregano.

Closet Cooking's blog entry actually forgot to include the oregano in the instructions, so I figured this would be the appropriate time/place to add them in. None of the blog comments mention the missing oregano, so I'm not sure what other people did. Oops!

Transfer half of the sauce to a baking dish (I used an 8x8 inch dish) and crack 4 eggs directly on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce around the eggs and bake 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs begin to set. Generously sprinkle cheese on top and broil until the cheese is super melty. The egg whites should be fully cooked at this point.

Chicken and Refried Bean Fajitas

I saw a fajitas recipe on the Closet Cooking blog and got inspired. Brit and I love making any sort of Tex-mex dish and put together an easy recipe for us to try.

Fajitas

Whole wheat tortillas
1 can refried beans
Salsa
Sour cream
Brown rice
Avocado, sliced
Chicken slices (we used pieces of meat from a whole chicken that Brit had recently roasted)
Bell pepper, sliced
Onions, diced
1 tomato, diced
Lemon juice
Jalapeno pepper, minced
Salt
Pepper

Heat up the refried beans with a few scoops of salsa. Also use a few scoops of sour cream, if you don't forget to include it, like I did.

Saute the bell pepper with half of the onion and set aside.

Make a pico de gallo with the remaining onion, tomato, lemon juice, jalapeno pepper, salt and pepper.
Heat up the tortillas in a skillet with some non-stick spray and assemble the fajita.

Put down a layer of refried beans, rice, chicken, pico de gallo, avocado, salsa, and sour cream.
Try your best to eat with grace, but just give in, cut it all up with a knife, mix it together into a tex-mex mush, and enjoy.

Mexican Quinoa with Beans and Pico de Gallo

Tonight's recipe was another suggestion from the great Closet Cooking blog: Mexican Quinoa with Beans and Pico De Gallo. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to eat it. My mother and brother even found the recipe printed out and also grew interested too.

Mexican Quinoa
(Originally posted by Closet Cooking)

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups veggie stock
1/2 cup tomato, diced
1/2 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of cilantro, chopped

Saute the onions in the oil until soft. Add the garlic, cumin, and chili powder and cook for another minute. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the cilantro and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. The recipe normally calls for the cilantro to be added as a garnish, but we refrained because we were making a pico de gallo instead.

Pico de gallo

1 tomato, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
Handful of cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix everything together and enjoy!


The Mexican quinoa was mixed with the pico de gallo, a can of black beans that were drained, and a dollop of sour cream. Everything mixed together was delicious and such a great meal.

Veggie and Bean Tostadas

Brit and I had leftover tortillas that needed to be eaten and expected to have leftover black beans from earlier in the week. We love all "Mexican" dishes and decided to make tostadas (my first time!).

Veggie and Bean Tostadas

Serves 4

Refried beans
Salsa (we have Costco salsa in the house right now)
Cuban Black Beans
Brown rice
Limes
Guacamole (Brit made from avacados, minced onion, minced garlic, diced tomato, lime juice, salt, and pepper)
Tomato, diced
Diced onion
Pepper, julienned
Chicken stock
Mexican blend cheese
Tortillas
Sour cream

I heated the refried beans over low heat after mixing with a few large scoops of salsa.
The leftover black beans and brown rice were re-heated from our meal earlier in the week.
The onion and pepper were sauteed and I added some chicken stock because I was worried the onions were going to burn before the peppers were done cooking. Season with salt and pepper.
Tortillas were briefly heated (2-3 min per side) in a frying pan sprayed with non-stick olive oil until they were browned and crispy

I layered the tortillas with refried beans, cheese, black beans and rice, guacamole, sour cream, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. I then squirted some lime juice on top and dug in! It's really hard to cut into the tostadas and eat without making a mess, but that's something that Brit and I love about "Mexican" food;. It doesn't matter how you eat it (by hand or with utencils); it's always delicious. Brit's friend Kirsten has been visiting and both Brit and Kirsten got seconds. All of the flavors work so well together and we will definitely be making a dish like this again