Tex Mex Brunch

In Texas, restaurant after restaurant, fast-food joint after fast-food joint serves Breakfast Tacos every day. It’s a staple around here — corn or flour tortillas wrapped around scrambled eggs and bacon or chorizo. You can add pico de gallo, roasted pepper salsa or a fresh tomatillo salsa.

It’s simple and it’s heavenly.

When contacted by LAND O LAKES about using their eggs for a “bite sized” brunch recipe, I knew that the Tex-Mex favorite Breakfast Taco was something I wanted to play with but I wasn’t sure how to make it different.

Fortunately, a very good friend, raised in Texas but born in El Salvador, gave me the idea of baking the eggs and tortillas together and serving them with a cooked salsa.

“I just call it Eggs and Tomatoes,” Aracely told me, as she described how to break down the tomatoes into a simple sauce.

“Do you have to take the seeds out first?”, I asked after admitting that I never know what to do with tomato seeds (should they stay or should they go).

“Nope — just squeeze and crush the tomato with your hands, over the pan, and then use a spoon to break it up as it cooks.”

It sounded easy enough.

And, it was.

Since I am secretly in love with bell peppers and red onions, I decided to add those to my vine-ripened tomato, adding depth to the warm salsa. As this trinity of scarlet cooked and simmered, I felt sorry for the Husband, who was off at work. He. Was. Missing. Out.

For the baked egg taco (or, Aracely and I decided to call this dish, Huevos on the Half Shell), I cut small strips of corn tortillas and wrapped them around the inside of my mini-muffin baking pan. Then, opting to use egg-whites only (Mommy’s trying to cut a few calories here and there), I poured the separated egg whites over the tortillas. A sprinkling of salt and pepper and then the pan was ready for the oven.

The result is an “amouse-bouche” — a perfect solitary bite of all the flavors I’ve grown to love in Texas.

It’s good, y’all.

(p.s. If you want to win a “foodie” prize pack, including items from Crate and Barrel and Williams-Sonoma, come check out my giveaway from LAND O LAKES Eggs)

[print_this]

Huevos On The Half Shell with Salsa Rojo

Mini baked taco bites with a cooked tomato and pepper salsa

Ingredients

8-12 Corn Tortillas
8-12 Eggs*
salt and pepper
1 Whole Tomato
1/2 Cup Diced Red Onion
1/2 Cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
1-2 Tablespoons of Grapeseed Oil

Instructions

Cut or tear the corn tortillas into pieces small enough to fit into mini-muffin tin “cups.” Layer two to three tortillas strips inside each cup.
Crack (and separate yolks from whites, if desired) the eggs into a mixing bowl. Whether using the egg white or the entire egg, beat the eggs with a fork.
Pour or spoon the eggs into each tortilla lined muffin cup.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the egg is firm.
While the eggs are cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan or small skillet over med-high heat.
Add the diced onion and diced bell pepper.
Hold the whole tomato over the pan and “crush” it, allowing all of the liquid and pulp to drain into the pan.
Add the remaining tomato to the pan and continue to cook over medium high heat, using a wooden spoon to stir and “break down” the tomato.
Once broken and the onions have softened, remove from heat.
Dollop the salsa over the baked egg taco bites and serve.

Notes

*I used egg whites when I prepared this dish.

Makes 16-24 single bite servings.

[/print_this]

Linked with Eat At Home.

Disclosure: I received a premium gift package from MoArk, including an On-Ice Deviled Eggs Server, Mini Muffin Tin, Two-Tier Server with Plates and a full-value coupon redeemable for any variety of LAND O LAKES^® Eggs. All opinions are my own.