Recipe: Southwestern Potato & Egg Bake

I’m always looking for new ways to make eggs… and this recipe for Southwestern Potato and Egg Bake sort of evolved… as many of my recipes do…. yesterday I posted a recipe for Potatoes O’Brien…. Potatoes O’Brien make a great starting point for numerous recipes… this being one of them.

I set aside 1 cup of the Potatoes O’Brien for this recipe… and went from there.

This recipe does contain hot sauce… but be assured, it isn’t really spicy.

This recipe makes two servings… you can adjust this recipe to make however many servings you want…. for example … double the recipe and use a 9 x 13 inch baking dish…. up the time to about 40-45 minutes… check it after 40 minutes by inserting a sharp knife point into the center… if it comes out clean and the top has browned a little bit… it’s done… if not check it again after 5 minutes… until it’s done.

I served this with the Mexican Chili Cheese Corn Muffins I posted earlier today…. add a glass of juice and coffee and you have a really nice breakfast.

The picture at the top shows only one square (out of four)… so a serving would be two of them.

TIPS

You don’t have to grease the bottom of the baking dish… the grease from the potatoes will be enough so that it won’t stick. I would put a little bit of oil on a paper towel and rub it along the side to make sure the sides don’t stick … I didn’t have to… I ran a knife along the sides and that was enough to loosen it… but next time I will rub the oil to be sure it won’t stick.

This recipe uses 4 eggs… you can use the equivalent in egg substitute to cut some fat and calories if you want.

For the dash of milk in the eggs…. I used skim (fat free) milk.

If you further want to cut down on the fat in this recipe… you can drain the Potatoes O’Brien on paper towels while they’re still hot…. I did that … I wanted this as light as possible.

The ingredient picture below is missing the tomato… I added tomato to the recipe at the last minute.. glad I did too… it really added more flavor.

For the tomato… I used a plum (Roma) tomato…. I seeded it… then diced it… by taking out some of the pulp and seeds … it didn’t make the dish watery…which can happen when using tomatoes.

You can also use frozen Potatoes O’Brien… use 1 cup. If you made Potatoes O’Brien from scratch for another meal… reserve 1 cup for this recipe and skip the potato instructions.

This was extremely easy… I prepared the ingredients ahead… and refrigerated them… in the morning.. I assembled this while the oven heated…. it made making breakfast a snap and relaxing too!








Recipe: Southwestern Potato & Egg Bake

All you need:

1 cup of prepared Potatoes O’Brien OR

To make the potatoes:


1-2 small to medium potatoes, peeled and diced
6 tablespoons finely diced onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
2 teaspoons melted butter, divided
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste



Remaining Ingredients:


1 can (4 ½ ounce) chopped mild green chiles
4 large eggs, beaten
Dash of milk
½ teaspoon hot sauce
½ cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions (scallions)
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped

All you have to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub olive oil on the sides of an 8 x 8 baking dish. Set aside.

To prepare the potatoes (you can skip this step if using left overs):

Heat 1 teaspoon of the butter and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a medium skillet.

Add the onions and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the red and green pepper.

Sauté over medium heat, the onions and peppers, until the onions are translucent and the peppers are cooked, stirring frequently. You do not want them to brown.

Remove the onions and peppers from the skillet to a plate and set aside.

Heat 1 teaspoon of the butter and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in the skillet.

Add the potatoes and turn them with a spatula to coat them with the butter/oil mixture.

Cook them until they are cooked through and golden brown, turning them periodically.
When potatoes are cooked and golden… add the onions and peppers back into the skillet and stir well to mix.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare the Potato Bake:


Put the cooked potato, onion and pepper mixture on the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish.

Put the canned green chiles on top of them.

Sprinkle the green onions over the chiles.

Sprinkle the cheese over the green onions.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk.

Add the milk and hot sauce to the eggs and whisk.



Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and other ingredients.







Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until a sharp knife is inserted in the center and it comes out clean… and the top should be slightly brown in spots.



Let stand for 5 minutes…. then serve hot by cutting into squares.