Green Chile and Pepper Jack Egg Bake

This is officially my new favorite egg dish!

I had big plans to make it last weekend but... I don't know, something happened and it just didn't work out.  You know how these things go.  Days went by and I finally remembered I had bought the cheeses specifically for this so I should probably get on with making it.

And that is how we came to have "breakfast for dinner".  In order to make the meal not so breakfast-y  though I did throw together a side of black beans (butter, onion, garlic, cilantro - easy) and that rounded out the meal nicely.

Here's the super simple and oh, so yummy recipe:

6 eggs, beaten
1/2c pepper Jack cheese, shredded
1c cottage cheese
1/4c all-purpose flour
1/4c green chiles, chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.

2.  In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, pepper Jack cheese, cottage cheese, and flour.

3.  Fold in the green chiles.

4.  Pour everything into a prepared 8x8 baking dish.

5.  Bake 1 hour, or until eggs are set.  Serve warm.

P.S.  The leftovers were great the next day.  

I spooned some into flour tortillas and devoured them for lunch!

Garlicky Cauliflower Gratin

I've been experimenting with cauliflower quite a bit lately with this gratin dish being the latest creation.  As always, I used non-dairy butter.  Served over Basmati rice, with a side of sautéed asparagus, this was a delicious meal!

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBSP butter, melted 

1 TBSP olive oil

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets

1/3c Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper, to taste

1 TBSP fresh Italian parsley

1/c Panko breadcrumbs

1.  Preheat oven to 400* and butter an 8x8 baking pan.

2.  In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with the butter, olive oil, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

3.  Cover and bake 25 min.

4.  Uncover and top with Panko breadcrumbs.

5.  Switch oven setting to Broil and allow another 3-5 min. cook time to allow for a nice golden brown top.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm.

                                     

Shepherd's Pie

Whenever I make mashed potatoes, I always make way more than we can actually eat in one meal.  I don't know why.  Seems like I would learn to scale back a bit but I haven't done that.  Instead, I've just accepted the fact that there will be leftovers, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Last night, I decided to use the mashed potatoes leftover from the Thanksgiving feast for this super yummy, surprisingly easy shepherd's pie.  You'll need your potatoes already prepared as this recipe is just for the meaty filling part of the pie:

 

1 TBSP vegetable oil

1/2c onion, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 ground beef

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 TBSP all-purpose flour

1 tsp. tomato paste

1/2c chicken broth

1/2 Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1/3 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1/4c frozen corn

1/4c frozen peas

 

1.  Preheat oven to 400*

 

2.  In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high.  Add the onions and carrot slices; saute 3-4 minutes.

 

3.  Add the garlic and continue cooking another minute or so.

 

4.  Add the meat, salt, and pepper.  Cook and stir until nicely browned and cooked through.

 

5.  Sprinkle flour over the top.  Toss to evenly coat the mixture.

 

6.  Add the tomato paste, Worchestershire sauce, rosemary, and thyme.  Cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

7.  Add the corn and peas, stirring to combine.

 

8.  Spoon everything into a prepared 8x8 baking dish.

 

9.  Top with your mashed potatoes and spread to completely cover the meat filling.

 

10.  Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

 

*I made my shepherd's pie vegetarian by using good quality substitutes for the meat, broth, and Worchestershire sauce.  This could be made even healthier by using vegan mashed potatoes.

I totally forgot to snap a photo of the shepherd's pie so you'll just have to take my word that it looked amazing.  I'll remember next time.  For now here's a photo of the mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving:

Served with rosemary biscuits on the side.