Chilaquiles (Breakfast Nachos!)

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Chilaquiles (tchee/lah/KEE/lehs) is a traditional Mexican dish that you may have never had...or even ever heard of. At least I had never heard of this dish until moving to California, at which point my tastebuds REJOICED over the amazing explosion of flavors in my mouth while eating (inhaling) this dish. Essentially, chilaquiles are breakfast nachos - but really, so much more than that. 

My favorite part of eating nachos is finding those chips that are semi-buried in the pile. You know the ones I'm talking about, they are still crispy yet somewhat soggy from being baked with all that amazingness on top, and always have the perfect balance of toppings on it. Well basically chilaquiles is a plate full of the PERFECT nachos. For breakfast. I mean, what more could a girl want out of life?

I've tried my best to lighten this dish up as much as I could without losing the critical flavors and components of the dish except for one aspect - the light fried (gasp!) tortilla chips which make the base of this dish. These lightly fried tortillas are then smothered and simmers in chile verde salsa.

After the base is complete, all that is left is to top these are topped with eggs, chorizo, black beans, red onion, queso fresco, guacamole and cilantro! Like I said previously, I tried to make this dish lighter than the traditional. I am using turkey chorizo instead of full fat pork chorizo, as well as substituting egg whites in place of full eggs.

Breakfast (er..more like brunch) is served!

Chilaquiles

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 corn tortillas, cut into 6 triangles each
• 2 cups salsa verde, I use HERDEZ
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (for frying, not all will be used)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp butter
• 8 oz turkey chorizo
• 1 cup black beans, canned
• 4 oz queso fresco, crumbled
• 1/2 cup guacamole, recipe previously posted!

For garnish:

• Red onion, chopped
• Cilantro, chopped
• Jalapeños 

Directions:

1. Start by preparing the tortillas. Cut the tortillas into 6 equal pieces. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Layer paper towels on cookie sheets or a large cutting board. Lightly fry the tortillas in batches - make sure you do not let the chips get too brown. This should take more more than a minute or so each side. We want the chips to be crispy, but not completely browned. Remove from oil and arrange in a single layer on paper towels so that excess oil can be drained. Continue frying remaining tortillas in batches. Once all chips are lightly fried, set the skillet and oil aside to cool.
2. In a nonstick skillet cook the turkey chorizo. Transfer from pan to a small bowl, set aside and cover to keep warm.
3. In a separate bowl scramble the eggs and egg whites together. Melt butter over medium high heat in same pan as used for the chorizo, pour in eggs. Scramble, set aside and cover to keep warm.
4. Next, prepare the guacamole by following my recipe here.
5. All that remains is to warm the beans in a small saucepan over medium heat, crumble the queso fresco and chop the onion, cilantro and jalapeños.
6. Drain oil used for frying chips from skillet and pour salsa verde into skillet and bring to a low boil over medium high heat. Add tortillas and toss in salsa. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes so that chips are completely smothered in salsa. 
7. For plating: divide tortillas evenly among 4 plates (12 tortilla chips per plate) and top with any remaining salsa verde. Next, top the tortillas with the chorizo, eggs and black beans evenly among plates. Sprinkle queso fresco, red onions, cilantro and jalapeños and finish each plate off with a dollop of guacamole. Serve immediately while its hot!

Slow Cooker Carnitas

This is one of my go-to dishes that I love making. Truthfully, I've made this for the past 4 weeks in a row but who is going to stop me?? There is nothing easier than putting a roast of some sort in your crock pot, turning it on low and walking away. Come back 10 hours later and you have the most tender meat with hardly even any effort. This can be eaten for lunch or dinner and saves so much time during the week when I'm prepping my meals for the following day. 

If you follow my blog regularly, I'm sure you have started noticing a theme. I don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the week. Between work, working out and social activities I am always busy. I need simple, efficient and delicious. This pork is SO tasty and SO tender it falls apart with hardly even touching it with a fork. 

Remember that Rosemary Pork Roast I made a while back? I'm using the same lean pork roast again in this recipe. This makes a good sized batch of shredded pork so that you can eat this for a few meals. The thing I love about this pork is that it is so versatile. Throw it on a salad for lunch, serve it up in some taco shells for dinner, warm it up and slather it in my Avocado Lime Dressing - really the possibilities are endless! 

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8-10 hours

Servings: 6 (1 serving = 4 oz)

Ingredients

• 2 lb Pork Sirloin Tip Roast
• 1 cup Chicken Stock
• Mexican Spice Blend
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Mix together spices in Mexican Spice Blend and set aside. Cut the pork roast into smaller pieces (I aim for 6 pieces or so). Toss the pork with the spice blend to even coat all sides of the meat. 
2. Transfer the pork to a Crock Pot and slowly pour the chicken stock around the perimeter of the bowl. Try not to pour directly onto the meat - we don't want to rinse away the spices!
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Transfer pork to a cutting board or bowl and easily shred with a fork. You can save the liquid and heat up to serve poured over the pork. I like to save the liquid and use a little with the pork when I reheat the meat as the week goes on.

Eat on its own, over a salad, on a sandwich, in a taco...get creative!

Nutritional info (1 serving = 4 oz cooked pork carnitas)

140 Calories - 30 g Protein, 0 g Carbs, 2 g Fat