Southwestern Breakfast Bake

Southwestern Breakfast Bake (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings 6-8, Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

·         ¾ cup canned enchilada sauce

·         2 4.5 oz. cans diced green chile peppers, drained

·         ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 cup shredded taco cheese

·         3 egg whites

·         3 egg yolks

·         2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         ½ cup skim milk

·         1 tsp. dried cilantro

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2.       Spray a 2-quart square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In the prepared dish, combine black beans, enchilada sauce, green chile peppers, green onions, and garlic. Sprinkle with cheese.

3.       In a medium mixing bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl); set aside.

4.       In a large bowl combine egg yolks, flour, and salt. Using a wire whisk, beat mixture until combined (mixture will be stiff). Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Fold the beaten egg whites and cilantro into egg yolk mixture. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the bean mixture in baking dish.

5.       Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until egg mixture appears set when gently shaken. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Both my husband and I liked this dish, and he even ate some of the leftovers!  I used green chile enchilada sauce, which was a bit spicy, but tasty.  If I had used regular or mild enchilada sauce, I may have added a dash of hot sauce (as recommended in the original recipe).  I cut back on the green onions (using ¼ as opposed to ½ cup) because my husband claims that he doesn’t like them – although, I will say, he didn’t seem to notice that they were in this dish (the blend in with the green chiles).  Sneaky, sneaky!

I served the egg dish in soft taco shells and I don’t think that it needed anything extra (i.e. salsa or sour cream).  The black beans were firm and provided a good texture difference against the soft and chewy eggs.  The 1 cup of cheese was also plenty – it made the whole mixture creamy and everything bound together quite nicely.

I will definitely make this dish again, but I plan to make a few changes.  8 oz. of green chiles is a lot and the dish might work just a tad better with 4 oz. green chiles plus a can of diced tomatoes and green chiles (or just one can of diced chiles and one can of plain diced tomatoes).  The regular enchilada sauce would definitely add some color, but I think that some variation of veggies would also be nice.  I think that adding corn would also be a nice addition.  Enjoy!

French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole (from AllRecipes, Servings: 3, Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 ½ cups bread cubes

·         2 eggs

·         ¾ cups milk

·         1/8 cup white sugar, divided

·         1/8 tsp. salt

·         ½ tsp. vanilla extract

·         ½ Tbsp. margarine, softened

·         ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1.)    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.)    Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.

3.)    Line bottom of pan with bread cubes.

4.)    In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 1 Tbsp. sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.

5.)    Combine remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.

6.)    Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

I made this for my husband for his birthday breakfast.  It came out soft and fluffy – very good looking – and made the whole house smell like cinnamon.  He loved it!  He topped it with some maple syrup and had at it!

Tomato & Basil Quiche and EZ Drop Biscuits

Tomato & Basil Quiche (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Total time: 45 minutes, 4 servings)

I found a quiche recipe a few years ago that I got stuck on because it tasted so good.  I finally decided to pull myself out of my rut this past weekend when my mom and stepfather came to visit.  This recipe looked tasty and fairly healthy (if you cut out the pastry crust and cut back on the cheese).  I thought the end product worked out quite well, and I received compliments from my mother on a dish well done.

Ingredients

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         ½ onion, diced

·         2 plum tomatoes, sliced

·         2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         2 tsp. dried basil

·         3 eggs

·         ½  cup milk

·         salt and pepper to taste

·         1  cup shredded Italian cheese, divided

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.      Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until soft; remove from skillet.

3.      Sprinkle tomato slices with flour and basil on each side.  Sauté 1 minute on each side.

4.      In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

5.      Spread ½ cup shredded cheese on the bottom of a pie pan. Layer onions over cheese.  Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese on top of onions, then top with tomatoes. Cover with egg mixture and top with remaining ¼ cup shredded cheese.

6.      Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve warm.

This egg dish has a delicious, but not overpowering, taste.  The spices do not overwhelm the other ingredients and the Italian cheese adds just a bit more flavor than a regular mozzarella.  The only drawback is that the quiche is about half the thickness of what I am used to.  Next time, I will double the ingredients to make it a more filling meal.  Well, not the onions.  Although I love the onions and do not think that they detract from the dish in anyway, my husband is not a fan and could not finish his slice.  Luckily,  this is an easy dish to make your own!

Since I didn’t use the pie crust, I served the quiche with biscuits.  I found the following recipe on AllRecipes and chose it because of good ratings and a minimal amount of ingredients and instructions.  Unfortunately, they did not turn out as well as I had hoped.  They were flat and pretty dry.  The only way to make them tasty is douse them in either butter or gravy.

E-Z Drop Biscuits (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Total Time: 30 min., 16 biscuits)

Ingredients

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 Tbsp. baking powder

·         2 tsp. white sugar

·         ¼  tsp. cream of tartar

·         ¼  tsp. salt

·         ½ cup melted butter

·         1 cup milk

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and lightly grease one large cookie sheet.

2.      In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar and salt.

3.      Stir in butter and milk just until moistened.

4.      Drop batter onto cookie sheet by the tablespoon.

5.      Bake in preheated oven until golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Zucchini Frittata

I have never made a frittata before, but I certainly will again!  I had no intention of making this for dinner last night, but my fiancée had started shredding the zucchini that we had (I needed cubed for what I wanted to make).  So, I did some searching and found this frittata.  We had all of the ingredients except Swiss cheese, so I subbed Italian Pizza cheese.

 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-frittata/detail.aspx

I used a sweeter onion and it off-set the more savory flavor of the dish quite nicely.  Overall, a thumbs up in my book!

(My fiancée had a slice of Amish Friendship Bread on the side - very cinnamony, so not a favorite of mine, but he LOVES it!)