Popper Breakfast Sandwich is an easy, yet robust and a bit unusual, sandwich that I just tried at Brickhouse Coffee in Willets, CA.
This is a very simple breakfast sandwich that’s sure to be a hit. It’s a jalapeno popper on a bun … but with the addition of an egg, bacon, and Pepper Jack cheese. Can’t go wrong with that, right?
This is actually my photo of the one I ordered (& ate) at Brickhouse Coffee in Willets, CA. We’ve always stopped in Willets on our way to Laytonville where our camping trip is. This year, we kept expecting Willets would be the next exit, nope – next exit …. and then we were in Laytonville? Where’d Willets go? Towns don’t disappear like that. It’s like being in the Twilight Zone. It turns out, in the 3 years since I’ve been here, a bypass was built, and you can’t even see Willets from the freeway. Anyway, the Popper Breakfast Sandwich is an easy crowd pleaser.
I had it on a brioche bun, but your choice of bread will do. This one had 1 egg, but if you want it eggier, use 2. Otherwise, proportions are a matter of taste.
This is an easy way to fix up a special breakfast for one. It’s essentially a scrambled egg dish with chiles, onions, peppers, and tomatoes … but the addition of corn tortillas makes it particularly interesting. Sort of like breakfast enchiladas in a scrambled egg form. Not your typical scrambled eggs at all. You can use as much or as little corn tortillas as you wish. I only used one 6-inch tortilla – trying to keep the carbs down, you know. I thought it was very good and satisfying. You might prefer it with two tortillas. This would be especially good with avocado or guacamole as garnish.
Saute the bell pepper, onion, and tortillas in the butter. The tortillas will first soften and then firm up.
As the tortillas firm up and just start to brown, stir in the tomato and green chiles. Add the egg mixture and stir until the eggs are set.
Top with cheese and lightly stir in so it just starts to melt.
Serve with warmed salsa.
Notes
Commentary: This is an easy way to fix up a special breakfast for one. It’s essentially a scrambled egg dish with chiles, onions, peppers, and tomatoes … but the addition of corn tortillas makes it particularly interesting. Sort of like breakfast enchiladas in a scrambled egg form. Not your typical scrambled eggs at all. You can use as much or as little corn tortillas as you wish. I only used one 6-inch tortilla – trying to keep the carbs down, you know. I thought it was very good and satisfying. You might prefer it with two tortillas. This would be especially good with avocado or guacamole as garnish.
Garlic Zucchini Chile Sauté is a simple, nutritious vegetable dish packed full of flavor. Quick to make, it’s paleo, vegetarian, yet very satisfying.
This dish has a lot of flavor for something you can make in 15 minutes or so. It’s a classic combination of Southwest flavors – garlic, chiles, and oregano. Take that combination and vary the vegetables. And this is a particularly nutritious dish. I used a hot green chile, which was great, but I’d use any chile ranging from mild to hot and I know they’ll all be good.
I’ve probably been going through a dozen bell peppers a week or so – and this is another great way to use them. It’s good by itself, as a side dish, with eggs, or in my case, I put about 1/2 cup of it inside a pita with a half an avocado sliced up.
Sautee onion in olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add garlic, zucchini, bell peppers, chiles, oregano, salt and pepper and cook, covered for about 5-8 more minutes (to desired softness).
If desired, top with fresh parsley and serve.
Enjoy!
Notes
Commentary: This dish has a lot of flavor for something you can make in 15 minutes or so. It's a classic combination of Southwest flavors - garlic, chiles, and oregano. Take that combination and vary the vegetables. And this is a particularly nutritious dish. I used a hot green chile, which was great, but I'd use any chile ranging from mild to hot and I know they'll all be good.
I've probably been going through a dozen bell peppers a week or so - and this is another great way to use them. It's good by itself, as a side dish, with eggs, or in my case, I put about ½ cup of it inside a pita with a half an avocado sliced up.
Eggplant Tomato Casserole is a healthy, vegetarian, Paleo dish that is flavorful, versatile and addictive. Serve it as a vegetarian main dish or a side vegetable.
I really love this particular dish. I ate half of it in a few hours all by myself. It’s a bit reminiscent of ratatouille, but with a different balance of flavors. It can be time consuming if you make it using just one skillet (took me 5 batches of sauteing the eggplant). Use 2 or 3 large skillets and the first stage of cooking the eggplant will be done in 10 minutes or so. The parsley is a key element – I’ve made it twice and doubled the parsley the second time. Also the chiles add a special spiciness to it. I used 1 tbsp of hot green chiles, and I thought the balance was very good (the heat was subtle), but I would also make it with 2-3 times the hot green chiles for a distinctly spicy dish. If you’re making it with mild or medium chiles, increase the amount of chiles and adjust to taste.
I also took the remaining 1/3 of the casserole, put in in a food processor and turned it into a dip. It was fabulous on tortilla chips.
This is a dish I’ll be making again and again. Hope you like it!
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or more to taste), divided
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly sprinkle salt on the eggplant slices and let sit for 20 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
Pour a thin layer of olive oil (1-2 tbsp) in a very large skillet (or 2 large skillets to shorten cooking time) and pan fry the eggplant in batches over medium-high heat till starting to brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Add more oil as needed between batches, but keep it light.
Set the eggplant aside, pour about ½ tbsp olive oil in the skillet, and saute onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chile flakes, cinnamon, and ½ tsp salt. Cook for another minute.
Add the tomatoes, green chiles, and 1 tbsp parsley and simmer until thickened a bit, about 5-10 minutes.
In an oven-proof baking dish, about 9"x9", spread a couple tbsp of the sauce, then a layer of eggplant, more sauce, another layer of eggplant, then top with sauce - like a lasagna. The layers of sauce will be sparse, but it comes out fine.
Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 45 minutes - until the eggplant is completely soft. Allow to sit about 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with remaining parsley and serve.
Enjoy!
Notes
Commentary: I really love this particular dish. I ate half of it in a few hours all by myself. It’s a bit reminiscent of ratatouille, but with a different balance of flavors. It can be time consuming if you make it using just one skillet (took me 5 batches of sauteing the eggplant). Use 2 or 3 large skillets and the first stage of cooking the eggplant will be done in 10 minutes or so. The parsley is a key element – I’ve made it twice and doubled the parsley the second time. Also the chiles add a special spiciness to it. I used 1 tbsp of hot green chiles, and I thought the balance was very good (the heat was subtle), but I would also make it with 2-3 times the hot green chiles for a distinctly spicy dish. If you’re making it with mild or medium chiles, increase the amount of chiles and adjust to taste.
I also took the remaining ⅓ of the casserole, put in in a food processor and turned it into a dip. It was fabulous on tortilla chips.
This is a dish I’ll be making again and again. Hope you like it!
Lulu’s Farm Homemade Hatch Hot Salsa is a specialty of Lulu’s Farm and is only sold at Lulu’s Farm and The Chili Guys. Is it hot? Yup, good & hot. This salsa has proven to be a favorite of those who like their chiles hot. It’s a tomato-based salsa with hot red chiles in it.
You can serve it with chips, but be aware that some people may find it too hot for a chip dip. The heat-lovers won’t, though. I’m not the super-hot type, though, so I’ll tend to use it as an accent on dishes that can use some more heat and flavor. Like stir it into hummus or cheese dip. Or you might add some to a vat of chili to make it more memorable.
Try it out – if you like your salsa hot, you’ll be glad you did.
Watermelon Tomatillo Salsa is a bit of an unusual salsa or sauce – basically a tomato salsa with fruity and tangy overtones. Good on chips or over meat or seafood, low in calories and nutritious.
It’s the season for a variety of salsas, and this one is a bit unusual – the watermelon adds a bit of sweetness along with a bit of a different character. The other main ingredients are seared in a skillet, which means this salsa can be frozen and will keep for a week or so.
Of course this is good on chips and with veggies, but I’ll also be serving it on fish and chicken. Hope you like it!
Granny Smith Salsa is a classic salsa with a sweet crunch – nutritious and versatile. Serve with chips, meats, cheese, just about anything.
Here we have an interesting variation on classic salsa. Diced Granny Smith apples add a sweet-tart crunch – definitely another dimension. This is good with plain old tortilla chips or as an accent to a variety of dishes. I’d put it on top of meats, with cheese or dips, as a side with lunch or dinner, whereever.
One gotcha – this is definitely better served within about 6 hours of preparation. And be sure to refrigerate it until serving.
I made this with 505 Southwestern Green Chile. It’s also very good with minced jalapeno. Hope you like it – let me know if you have interesting ways to serve it.
1½ cups diced fresh tomato (about 1 large or 2 cups cherry tomatoes)
¾ cup diced red onion
3 tbsp 505 green chile or 1 medium-large jalapeno, minced
1½ cup diced Granny Smith apple (about 1 large)
3 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp honey
salt & pepper to taste (about ¼ tsp each)
Instructions
Combine tomato, onion, chile/jalapeno, diced apple, and cilantro in a bowl and stir to blend.
In a small bowl, blend lime juice and honey. It blends more quickly if you microwave it for 30 seconds.
Pour honey/lime mixture over the tomato-apple mixture and mix thoroughly.
Add salt & pepper to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for up to 6 hours and serve.
Enjoy!
Notes
Commentary: Here we have an interesting variation on classic salsa. Diced Granny Smith apples add a sweet-tart crunch - definitely another dimension. This is good with plain old tortilla chips or as an accent to a variety of dishes. I'd put it on top of meats, with cheese or dips, as a side with lunch or dinner, whereever.
One gotcha - this is definitely better served within about 6 hours of preparation. And be sure to refrigerate it until serving.
I made this with 505 Southwestern Green Chile. It's also very good with minced jalapeno. Hope you like it - let me know if you have interesting ways to serve it.
Like sweet and sour chicken? Well, this is a version of it. It’s a simple recipe – just a sauce with a half dozen ingredients and seared chicken cutlets. If you make it with mild chiles, you get sweet and sour chicken (with a lumpy green sauce). I made this with Southwestern 505 chiles, which are medium hot to hot, so you don’t really notice the sour part – it’s more of a sweet-hot than sweet-sour. Just adjust the heat with your choice of chiles. You can also make this sauce, refrigerate it and serve it on other meats or fish as you wish. It will also freeze well.
I used the Costco chicken breasts that come frozen in 6 sealed pouches about 3/4 lb each. They are in smaller pieces, like cutlets, so it wasn’t really necessary to pound them. I cook with these all the time, very convenient and they come in just the right size package.
Combine the first 7 ingredients (through the chiles) in a saucepan and cook over medium heat till you get desired consistency. Set aside.
In the meantime, pound the chicken breasts to ½ inch thickness and sprinkle with salt.
In a large nonstick skillet, pour in 1 tbsp olive oil, and sear the chicken over medium high heat until browned.
Pour about half the sauce on and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Serve and top with more sauce to taste. Top with sour cream, if desired.
Notes
Commentary: Like sweet and sour chicken? Well, this is a version of it. It’s a simple recipe – just a sauce with a half dozen ingredients and seared chicken cutlets. If you make it with mild chiles, you get sweet and sour chicken (with a lumpy green sauce). I made this with Southwestern 505 chiles, which are medium hot to hot, so you don’t really notice the sour part – it’s more of a sweet-hot than sweet-sour. Just adjust the heat with your choice of chiles. You can also make this sauce, refrigerate it and serve it on other meats or fish as you wish. It will also freeze well.
I used the Costco chicken breasts that come frozen in 6 sealed pouches about ¾ lb each. They are in smaller pieces, like cutlets, so it wasn’t really necessary to pound them. I cook with these all the time, very convenient and they come in just the right size package.
Seared Corn Salad is a robust combination of fresh seared corn, tomatoes, avocados, and green onions, anda spicy Southwestern dressing that makes a wonderful side for any picnic or cookout.
I ate this one for dinner last night – yep, it was my whole dinner. It’s very satisfying and certainly can be a whole meal; with avocados and corn it probably has enough calories. I made this version just a bit spicy – you can always add more chiles if you want it really hot.
This is very easy to make, and since we’re in the height of corn season, it’s a great way to use all that fresh corn. This is also an ideal recipe to experiment with – maybe add different vegetables like celery, pimentos, bell pepper, etc. I noted black olives are optional – actually, I didn’t think of them until after I made and photographed this. The olive are a natural for this, so I’ll definitely add them next time.
Avocado Chile Deviled Eggs are a healthier, tangy, tasty, and have just a bit of heat. They are also a lovely shade of pale green, and always popular.
I’ve always loved deviled eggs, and this is an interesting twist. These have less mayonnaise and … avocado, which works amazingly well. And of course it’s a healthier, more nutritious version. Not that you would call these health food, but it’s getting there.
We’re going to the Renaissance Faire today, and having a little picnic beforehand, so we’ll be chowing down on these and some fruit. Very satisfying. I’ll definitely be making these again. Hope you enjoy them!
Slice eggs in half lengthwise and put the yolks into a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mash thoroughly with a fork or potato masher.
Spoon filling into each egg white and sprinkle with cayenne or chili powder.
Chill until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Notes
Commentary: I’ve always loved deviled eggs, and this is an interesting twist. These have less mayonnaise and … avocado, which works amazingly well. And of course it’s a healthier, more nutritious version. Not that you would call these health food, but it’s getting there.
We’re going to the Renaissance Faire today, and having a little picnic beforehand, so we’ll be chowing down on these and some fruit. Very satisfying. I’ll definitely be making these again. Hope you enjoy them!
