Easy Breakfast Skillet

I've been terrible at keeping up with this blog lately and I apologize.  I've been working a lot and any time I get any free time, I have to do laundry, clean, or go to a practice for either tennis, softball, or soccer.  I typically don't get home from any of my activities or job until after 7 and by that time, it's dark and there's no point taking pictures of food because they look like crap.  Josh has also been gone a lot this month so being alone, I don't feel like cooking nice meals anyway. 

I managed to cook a decent breakfast one day when I didn't go in to work so early last week.  It's one of my easy favorites that I usually make when I have a bunch of veggies about to go bad or just lying around because it's very forgiving as far as ingredients go.

This is how I made mine: 2 servings, 30 min

2 tbs olive oil
3-4 decent-sized red potatoes, chopped into 1/2" cubes
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/4 yellow bell pepper, chopped (or about 1 small red bell pepper if you don't have the others)
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
5-7 slices low-sodium turkey bacon, chopped (optional)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

2 eggs (optional)

 

Start by whipping out your cast iron skillet (that's why it's called a "breakfast skillet") and heating the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and potatoes and let them cook until the onions are juuuuuust starting to get translucent.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop your peppers.  When the skillet contents are ready, add the peppers and give it a stir.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the mix and let cook another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the potatoes get cooked evenly and nothing is getting burnt to the bottom of the pan.

When the potatoes are almost completely tender, add the garlic, bacon, parsley, and cumin.  Stir to combine and let cook until the garlic is very fragrant and the potatoes are soft.  If you want, you can use regular bacon but add it to the pan at the beginning with the onions and potatoes and only use 1 tbs oil.  It's quite a bit greasier than my bacon so it'll lube the pan up all by itself once the fat renders out.

Oh goodness, smell that garlic!  Add a touch more salt if you think it's necessary.  You must taste throughout the process to get the right flavors!

While your skillet is finishing up, get a pot of salted water boiling.

I have these cute little egg poachers from my personal Heaven, Crate and Barrel.  I've tried many times to poach eggs the old-fashioned way but it's very difficult to get right without having boiled egg ribbons all over your pot so go ahead and spend the $4 to get one.  It's totally worth it.

Boil the eggs until the whites are almost completely opaque.  I found myself needing to use a spoon to flip the egg over in its little cup to properly cook the top.

What you end up with is a relatively quick, healthy, hearty breakfast that will keep you full well past when you think you should be eating lunch.  That's always a plus for me.  Cereal or smoothies sometimes just don't do it and I'm hungry an hour later.

Not so in this case.

The egg puts that perfect finishing touch on this dish.  When you split it open and the gooey yolk spills out over the potatoes and veggies, it adds this wonderful softness and creaminess to an otherwise rather business-like meal.  You can easily make this dish vegetarian by leaving out the bacon and egg, but what's life without bacon?  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Grilled Potatoes, Chicken, and Haricots Verts with Lemon Mint Pesto

Oh lordy, I hit a home run with this dinner.  The potatoes, beans, and pesto for the most part came from a Food and Wine recipe by Sheamus Feeley.  He's a chef at an organic farm with a farm-to-table restaurant that puts all their effort into using the freshest ingredients to make delicious meals.  This is exactly what I'd like to do someday.  Using the food I've grown myself just tastes so much better than anything in the store and I'd like to share that with others and make a business of it.
After reading over the recipe, I decided that I'd rather grill the potatoes instead of boil and bake them, as the original recipe directs.  I also wanted to use haricots verts because they're sweeter and taste better than regular green beans.  I added chicken with my own marinade to make a complete meal.  I was cautiously optimistic about using mint and lemon together because to me, they seemed like a weird combination.  I was so wrong.  Mint and lemon love each other.  They love when you mix in parsley and chives and then they all make sweet, sweet love in your mouth.  It was magical.

4 servings:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs chives, minced


4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs minced chives
3 tbs finely chopped parsley
2 tbs finely chopped mint
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
1 lb haricots verts (french green beans)


Start by mixing the first set of ingredients in a bowl and transferring it to a ziploc bag with the chicken.  Squish it around and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Next, wash the potatoes, cut them in half, and toss them in a bowl with about 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tsp salt.

Mix the 4 tbs olive oil in a bowl with the chives, parsley, mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt.  Let that magical mixture sit and grow exponentially in yumminess for at least 20 minutes.  While you're waiting, light your grill.  Put on the potatoes and let them cook on the first side for 15-20 minutes.  When they get browned and crisp on one side...

flip them over and throw on the chicken.

Let the potatoes cook for another 15 minutes or until you can easily poke them with a fork.  Cook the chicken for 5-10 minutes on each side.  You can use a probe thermometer or just watch them carefully.  The temperature of your grill can vary alot from time to time so just keep and eye on them and take them off when they're just barely done.  The chicken's secret is to keep it juicy.
While all that is grilling, boil some salted water and cook the haricots verts for about 5 minutes or until they're tender, but still crisp.  

Drain the green beans and immediately toss them in a bowl with half the herb pesto mixture.

Cut up the potatoes as soon as they come off the grill (they're hot but if you cut them up before cooking, they'll fall through the grates and getting the grill flavor is better than using foil) and toss them with the other half of the herb pesto.  Let the chicken rest under some foil while you're preparing the potatoes and beans but then serve it all together as soon as it's ready.

Josh said this might be the best chicken he's ever had.  It was certainly the most tender and juicy that I've ever made.  I couldn't believe how good it was since I just threw the ingredients together without a recipe.

I know I said I hate green vegetables before but I really like french green beans.  We actually served them at our wedding and I'm always looking for ways I can prepare this rare veggie I'll actually eat.  The lemony sauce was so perfect with the crisp sweetness of the beans.

As awesome as everything else was, my favorite was the potatoes.  Every fresh herb and lemon flavor was perfectly balanced with the saltiness and crunch of the grilled potatoes.  I can't imagine not grilling the potatoes because it just gave them so much more flavor and texture.  These are without a doubt the best potatoes I've ever had and they were so easy!  The little time spent chopping and grilling is so worth it.  This is my new go-to recipe for guests.

Oven Fries with Romano and Herbs

Yesterday was Josh's birthday.  He hates his birthday.  He hates all the fuss.  Not even in the "I hate my birthday, but not really *wink wink*" kind of way but he genuinely doesn't even want to acknowledge it.  I ask if he wants something special for breakfast.  Nope, eggs are fine.  Something special for dinner? Nope, just whatever.  I finally convinced him that he wanted steak so I made that.  The stupid grill wasn't cooperating though, so the steak just came out so-so.  The savers were these Food and Wine oven fries I made.  They were soooo good.  I never make oven fries right.  They're always too soft and I can't seem to remedy the problem no matter what I try.  This recipe called for baking potatoes but I had Yukon Golds on hand so I used those instead for smaller, cuter fries.  The type of potatoes may have been the problem all along because these came out so delicious and crispy.  They were just perfect.

2 servings:
4 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2"x1/2" pieces
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp sage, minced
1/2 tsp rosemary, minced
Fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice up the potatoes and toss them with the oil and salt.  Spread them evenly on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes, turning the pieces every so often, until the fries start to get crispy.  Mix the garlic and herbs together and sprinkle over the mostly-cooked fries.  Cook for about 5 minutes longer until the garlic is fragrant and the fries look evenly crisp and cooked.

Transfer the hot fries to a bowl, grate the cheese over the top, and serve immediately.  They were the perfect complement to steak.  They were also so easy that I believe I'm going to make them again for lunch.  Naughty me.