Post by Alison Hein.
We were preparing for our last outdoor party of the season. I always like to have at least one hearty vegetarian dish. This time, I was making Baked Vegetable Enchiladas – pure corn tortillas filled with a medley of vegetables and cheese and baked in a spicy tomato sauce. As I was mixing up the filling, I thought, why not save some of this for a spicy, Latin-style egg bake?
So, out came my cute little mini-cast iron pots (easy to buy from Lodge or use other small baking dishes). To my mixture of cumin-spiced black beans, spinach, corn and green onion, I added a little Monterey Jack cheese and a few eggs. I poured the concoction into the pots and covered them with a crumbling of Mexican queso fresco (you can substitute any kind of semi-firm cheese). Then I popped them in the oven and made a cilantro-lime sour cream sauce as a topping.
A quick thirty minutes later, we were enjoying a vegetarian, Mexican-style breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon black beans
1 tablespoon chopped spinach
1 tablespoon corn kernels
1 tablespoon sliced green onion
1 tablespoon Monterey Jack cheese
1 teaspoon cumin
4 eggs
2 tablespoons queso fresco, crumbled
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
¼ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, plus 2 sprigs for garnish
1 teaspoon lime juice
Equipment
2 mini-cast iron pots (or substitute any ½-pint baking dishes, such as ramekins)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Add black beans, spinach, corn kernels, Monterey Jack cheese, and cumin to a large mixing bowl and stir together. Crack eggs into medium bowl and whisk until thick and smooth. Add to vegetable / cheese mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover tops with crumbled queso fresco.
Lightly oil mini-cast iron pots (½-pint baking dishes). Pour egg mixture evenly into each pot. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes, until eggs are cooked through and puffed up.
While eggs bake, make sour cream cilantro sauce. Add sour cream, cilantro and lime juice to a small bowl and mix well.
To serve, remove eggs from oven. Place an equal amount of sour cream cilantro sauce on each and garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Serve immediately with hot sauce on the side.
NOTE: If you would like a spicier, non-vegetarian version, add a little chopped chorizo to the mix before baking.
Makes 2 servings.