Breakfast

Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Toast

March 10, 2021 by Tamara Giebel Leave a Comment

Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Toast combines layers of pinto beans, smashed avocado, pickled onions, Cotija cheese, cilantro and a fried egg on a bolillo roll.

If you like avocado toast, you will love this Mexican inspired version that uses a fresh Bolillo roll. This Mexican roll can be found in the bakery section of your local grocery store. They are the perfect size for building all the layers of this Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Toast a.k.a Avocado Molettes. Molettes are a Mexican sandwich using refried beans as the base and usually melted cheese. Our version is an open faced breakfast molettes with a sunny side up egg dripping over fresh cilantro, radish, pickled onion, smashed avocado, refried beans and a toasted Bolillo roll.

Ingredients

Bolillo Rolls – Mexico’s version of the baguette only shorter like a roll. it’s crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Usually found in the bakery section of your grocery store and a key ingredient in this Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Molettes.
Refried Beans – I like to make my own by simmering soaked pinto beans in chicken broth with carrot and onion, then gently smashing with a fork. You can also use canned, but the flavor will be a little different.
Avocado – Smashed roughly with lime, salt and pepper.
Quick Pickled Onions – Red onions get pickled in just 15 minutes.
Bacon – Thick cut bacon cooked in the oven.
Cilantro – Fresh sprigs of cilantro.
Radish – Thinly sliced radish
Eggs – Fried egg – farm fresh is best and has a nice yellow yolk.
Cotija Cheese – Mexican crumbly cheese similar to feta.

Preparation

Make the Quick Pickled Onions by soaking thinly sliced red onions in white vinegar, salt and sugar.
Make the Smashed Avocado by smashing avocado together with lime juice, salt and pepper.
Warm the refried beans and keep warm until ready to use.
Cook the bacon in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Butter and broil Bolillo roll halves.
Fry eggs in butter over medium high heat until whites are firm and yolk is runny.
Assemble: Spread some refried beans on Bolillo half, top with a little smashed avocado, some Quick Pickled Onions, cilantro, radish, Cotija cheese and your fried egg on top. Serve with bacon on the side.

Avocado Breakfast Molette is a Mexican inspired avocado toast with layers of pinto beans, smashed avocado, pickled onions, Cotija cheese, cilantro and a fried egg on a bolillo roll.

Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Toast

Zesty Mexican Inspired Avocado Toast combines layers of pinto beans, smashed avocado, pickled onions, Cotija cheese, cilantro and a fried egg on a bolillo roll.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Farm to Table, Farmer’s Market, Mexican

Servings 4

Ingredients

8 strips thick cut bacon
2 Bolillo rolls split
2-3 tbsp. butter
2 cups refried beans
4 eggs
4 radishes sliced thinly
15 sprigs fresh cilantro
1/4 cup Cotija cheese

Quick Pickled Onions

1 cup red onion sliced thinly
1 cup white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Smashed Avocado

1 large avocado
1 wedge lime
salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the Quick Pickled Onions and the Smashed Avocado (see recipe below).
Warm the refried bean in a small pan over medium heat.
Place bacon strips on a sheet pan and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and place on either wire rack or paper towels to catch the grease.
Butter each half of the Bolillo rolls.
Turn oven to broil and broil the Bolillo rolls until just browned. Remove from oven.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
Add 1 tbsp. butter to the pan and let it melt.
Crack each egg separately in the pan and fry. Using a spatula, gently pull any egg white towards the egg yolk to create a nice round shape.
After about a minute, add 1 tbsp. water to the pan and cover. Cook until egg white is opaque and egg yolk is slightly soft to the touch. Remove from heat.

Quick Pickled Onions

Heat white vinegar, sugar and salt over medium heat until just hot. Place thin sliced red onions in a small bowl. Pout hot vinegar over red onions. let site for 15 minutes.

Smashed Avocado

Peel and peel the avocado. Place avocado in a bowl and roughly smash with a fork. Squeeze the juice from your lime wedge over the avocado, salt and pepper generously.

Assembly

Spread about 1/4 cup warmed refried beans on each toasted Bolillo half.
Next, spread 1/4 of the Smashed Avocado over the warmed refried beans.
Add a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, some pickled onions, sliced radishes and a fried egg.
Garnish with Cotija cheese and either crumble bacon or eat on the side.

Keyword Avocado Toast, brunch, Mexican Breakfast

Related Recipes:

Flavorful broth based Poblano Corn Tortilla Soup with cilantro, lime and Queso Oaxaca — **Poblano Tortilla Sou**p

Crispy flour tortilla with cumin beans, fresh vegetables — **Poblano Tortilla Sou**p

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Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie

January 14, 2021 by Tamara Giebel Leave a Comment

Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie combines anti-inflammatory curcumin compounds, sweet pineapple and tropical guava to make a delicious drinkable breakfast to start your day the healthy way.

Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie combines anti-inflammatory curcumin compounds with pineapple and guava to make a delicious drinkable breakfast to start your day the healthy way.

Both tumeric and ginger have anti-inflammatory properties, which means this Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie really packs a punch. Inflammation is the body’s response to irritation and injury and by consuming tumeric and ginger on a regular basis, you fight the effects of inflammation on your body.

Like it spicy? Studies show that adding black pepper to your tumeric intake increases the power. The peperine in black pepper allows your body to absorb the tumeric better. Just add a pinch to your smoothie!

This Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie has no added sugar. It’s all about fresh, healthy ingredients. If you like your smoothie sweeter than the natural fruit sugars, just add a teaspoon of agave nectar or honey.

Having your ingredients prepped and ready makes mornings easy. Keep fresh cut fruit in your freezer to make things easier. You can even make individual portions of pre-cut fruit, so all you have to do is drop it in the blender. Place your portioned pineapple, guava, banana, tumeric and ginger in freezable containers ahead of time and it’s ready when you need it.

Ingredients

Tumeric – Fresh tumeric root found in the produce section of your grocery. It looks similar to ginger and is shown in the photo in this post. You want to store your tumeric in the refrigerator. When ready to use, peel off the outside and put in the blender.
Ginger – Fresh ginger root, also found in the produce section of your grocery. use it just like tumeric root, only in a lessor amount.
Pineapple – Frozen pineapple gives this smoothie the texture it needs.
Guava – Frozen guava also adds to the texture. I like to use fruit that has been frozen when making smoothies.
Banana – Peel and freeze your bananas so they are ready when needed.
Orange Juice – Fresh orange juice like Simply Orange.

Preparation

Place all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.

Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie

Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie combines anti-inflammatory curcumin compounds, sweet pineapple and tropical guava to make a delicious drinkable breakfast to start your day the healthy way.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Course Breakfast, Drinks

Cuisine Farmer’s Market, Healthy Recipes, Vegetarian

Servings 1

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

1/2 cup pineapple frozen
1/2 cup guava frozen
2 inches tumeric root skin removed
1/2 inch ginger root skin removed
1/4 cup banana frozen
1 cup fresh orange juice

Instructions

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Keyword Breakfast Smoothie, Healthy Smoothie, Tumeric Recipes

Tropical Tumeric Ginger Smoothie combines anti-inflammatory curcumin compounds, sweet pineapple and tropical guava to make a delicious drinkable breakfast to start your day the healthy way.

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Mushroom Tarragon Strata

September 25, 2020 by Tamara Giebel Leave a Comment

French tarragon transforms this Mushroom Tarragon Strata into an elegant breakfast dish with rustic bread, leafy kale, bacon and parmesan.

Breakfast is Served

What do I like most about a breakfast strata? Breakfast strata can be made with whatever you have in your fridge. Whether you want to use up a few vegetable odds and ends, maybe some leftover ham or that last piece of cheese. These are all perfect ingredients to pair with day old French bread to make a delicious strata.

Whenever I have leftover French bread, you know I’m going to turn it into some kind of strata….and with the Covid baking frenzy, we’ve made our fair share of bread around here. Mushroom Tarragon Strata starts with crusty old French bread torn into large cubes. They don’t have to be perfect, in fact, I like a little bit of size difference for added texture.

Next, I like to render bacon lardons and use the leftover bacon fat a.k.a grease to sauté my sliced mushrooms, onions, garlic and kale. These ingredients need just a quick sauté before they are combined with the other strata ingredients. Once they are lightly cooked and cooled, they get folded into the egg mixture with the addition of grated parmesan cheese and French tarragon. Toss together with the torn bread cubes and place in a prepared baking dish. At this point, you could refrigerate for use the next morning or bake until egg is firm and bread is golden brown.

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Mushroom Tarragon Strata

French tarragon transforms this Mushroom Tarragon Strata into an elegant breakfast dish with rustic bread, leafy kale, bacon and parmesan.

Course Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine Breakfast, Farm to Table

Keyword brunch, Make Ahead Breakfast

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

4 strips thick cut bacon cut into lardons
1/4 yellow onion halved, then sliced thinly
1 mounded cup mushrooms sliced
2 cloves garlic about 1 Tbsp. minced
1 cup kale torn
8 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. French tarragon chopped

Instructions

Butter an oven safe casserole dish. I like using a 9×9 square dish.
Place bacon lardons in a medium pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon in cooked through. Remove bacon and set aside, leaving fat in the pan.
Sauté the onion, mushrooms and garlic in the bacon fat until just softened about 3 minutes.
Add kale to the pan and stir to combine. This remaining heat from the pan with soften the kale just enough. Add bacon back to pan, then remove pan from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Combine bread cubes, sautéed vegetables, egg mixture, parmesan cheese and tarragon.
Place evenly into prepared baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until eggs are firm and bread is toasty.

Related Recipes:

Farmer’s Market Frittata

July 18, 2020 by Tamara Giebel Leave a Comment

Fresh, seasonal baby potatoes, kale, cherry tomatoes and basil combine with farm fresh eggs, country smoked ham and cheese to create this Farmer’s Market Frittata that’s ready in just 15 minutes.

Farmer's Market Frittata with seasonal vegetables, eggs and cheese

Support Your Local Farmers

So…you’re at your local Farmer’s Market and you pick up all of these beautiful vegetables, maybe some fresh cheese and meats, but you’re not sure exactly what to do with them all.

Make a Farmer’s Market Frittata, of course. Frittatas are the perfect way to showcase whatever ingredients you have on hand and the best thing is they only take about 15 minutes to pull together.

Tender baby potatoes are sliced thinly and sauteed with garlic and olive oil until just tender, then combined with diced country smoked ham, fresh kale, halved cherry tomatoes and sharp cheddar cheese. This gets folded together with whisked farm fresh eggs and a splash of cream, then baked for just 10 minutes in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Top with fresh torn basil.

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Farmer’s Market Frittata

Fresh, seasonal baby potatoes, kale, cherry tomatoes and basil combine with farm fresh eggs, country smoked ham and cheese to create this Farmer's Market Frittata that's ready in just 15 minutes.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Breakfast

Keyword Easy Breakfast, Egg Dishes, Farmer’s Market Meal

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

6 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pinch salt and pepper
1/2 cup baby potatoes sliced thin, such as Fingerling, Yukon or Red
1 large garlic clove minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup country ham diced
1/2 cup kale rough chopped
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup cheese grated, such as sharp cheddar
1 tbsp fresh basil chiffonade cut or torn

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Whisk eggs, heavy cream, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
Saute potatoes and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender.
Combine ham, kale, tomatoes, cheese and half the basil with egg mixture.
Fold potato mixture in with egg mixture and pour into a oiled 12 inch cast iron skillet.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until just firm and no longer jiggles.
Top with remaining fresh basil and serve.

Find a Local Farmer’s Market

Most larger cities have a local Farmer’s Market that’s advertised in a variety of places like social media, banners and local flyers, but you can also search the internet and find local Farmer’s Markets in your state such as wafarmersmarket.org for my home state of Washington.

They often rotate days that they are open. For instance, Everett, WA has their Farmer’s Market on Sundays and Lake Stevens, WA is on a Wednesday. This makes it easier to find one based on your schedule.

Similar Recipes:

Savory make ahead dish using leftover bread, roasted broccolini, caramelized onion and white cheddar

Campfire Recipes & Tips

July 3, 2020 by Tamara Giebel 2 Comments

Step up your camping game with these easy to make gourmet-ish Campfire Recipes & Tips perfect for your weekend getaway in the woods.

Make ahead Muffuletta sandwich with layers of meat and pickled vegetables

Make Ahead Food

TIP # 1 Prep Your Food Before You Leave

Want a stress free camping trip? Make what you can before you leave, like this Muffuletta Sandwich, which is better the next day anyways. Crusty French bread layered with thin sliced ham, Italian dry salami, smokey provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini and green olive tapenade gets wrapped up tight overnight for the perfect camp sandwich.

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5 from 2 votes

Muffuletta Sandwich

Make ahead sandwich layered with meats, cheese, olive tapenade, roasted red peppers and sliced pepperoncini

Course Main Course

Cuisine Burgers, Sandwiches, Pizza

Keyword Camping Recipes, Make Ahead Sandwich

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 large loaf Crusty French bread split
6-8 tbsp Green olive tapenade
1/4 lb Provolone cheese with natural smoke flavor
1/4 lb Good deli ham thin sliced
1/4 lb Italian dry salami thin sliced
6-8 Jarred roasted red peppers in oil
6-8 Pepperoncini thin sliced

Instructions

Scoop out part of the inside of French bread halves and discard.
Spread green olive tapenade on each French bread half.
Place a layer of deli ham, a layer of provolone cheese and a layer of Italian dry salami on each French bread half.
Place roasted red peppers and pepperoncini on one French bread half and cover with other French bread half to complete the sandwich.
Wrap tightly in Saran wrap,then in Ziplock and place in cooler at least over night or until ready to eat up to 3 days.

Bring Fresh Vegetables

TIP # 2 Pick Up Some Fresh Vegetables & Fruits Along The Way

You’re driving down that perfect country road, passing local farm stands, so why not pick up some fresh vegetables and fruits to add to your meal plan. You can transform any standard campfire meal with the addition of some fresh seasonal finds from the locals. Steamed Asparagus with Charred Lemon & Bacon is a quick campfire side that looks and feels gourmet.

Place asparagus in cast iron pan and cover with water.
Steam over fire until just tender.
While steaming, cook bacon in another pan and place cut lemons on edge of pan to sear in bacon grease.
Drain water from asparagus, add bacon and squeeze of lemon.

Steamed asparagus with bacon and charred lemon — Steamed Asparagus with Bacon and Charred Lemon

Bacon, bacon, BACON

TIP # 3 Bacon Doubles as Grease for Cooking Your Food

We all know that bacon makes everything better, right? I like to use bacon grease to cook my campfire meals. It not only saves room from not having to pack butter or oil, but adds a lot of flavor to your food. And if you freeze your packs of bacon before you head out on your getaway, they also double as ice packs in the cooler. It’s really a WIN WIN situation.

You see that Ziplock bag floating in the hot campfire water? That’s the easiest, no-mess way of cooking scrambled eggs while camping.

Before you head out, just crack your eggs in Ziplock bags, add a dash of cream and place in your cooler.
Keep it to about 6 eggs per large Ziplock bag for evenness of cooking.
When you’re ready to make breakfast, bring a pot of water to a low boil and drop in the Ziplock bag.
Make sure the bag doesn’t touch the edge of the hot pot by placing a rubber band around the top and cinching together.

Ziplock campfire scrambled eggs — Scrambled Eggs, Smokey Bacon and Baby Potatoes with Tortillas

Let Your Drinks do the Work

TIP # 4 Bring Boxed Wine to Use In Your Cooking

Boxed wine has come a long way. I always take a box of red wine with me on camping trips. Not only is it good for drinking, but it works well as a marinade for beef like these Beef Short Ribs with Rosemary & Cherry.

And…Remember that farm stand you stopped at on the way? I hope you grabbed some cherries because they pair perfectly with red wine.

Pop a few cherries in a Ziplock with your beef short ribs
Add a plash to 1/2 cup boxed red wine
Got leftover BBQ sauce packets from the drive thru? Throw those in the Ziplock too or hot sauce packets from Taco Bell
A little salt and pepper, then let it all sit while you make the fire.

Cherry, red wine and rosemary short ribs — Rainier Cherry, Red Wine & Rosemary Beef Short Ribs

Use Magnesium to start your fire

A fun and easy way to start a fire is by using magnesium. This little block is very powerful and heats to 4000 degrees F. making it a very quick way to start a fire without a lot of effort. All it takes is a block of magnesium and a pocket knife.

Layer campfire wood either alternating cross ways or teepee style
Use small pieces of kindling to ensure the fire will catch
Layer in a few pieces of paper
Shave off some magnesium onto the paper
Ignite using a spark tool or lighter