When there's "nothing" in the fridge...

Disclaimer: Both of these dishes involve eggs with runny yolks.  If you don't like eggs fried, poached or over easy,  you really should give them another shot, they are amazing and can transform a rather basic dish into something gorgeous and delicious.  I also think that cage free or even better, farmer's market eggs really make a difference when serving these dishes.  If you're pregnant and craving runny eggs (like I always did) just bookmark this and come back to these recipes after the babe arrives.

As I've said before, I am not a meal planner and I don't really plan on becoming one anytime soon.  I've tried, believe me I've tried, but for some reason it just doesn't work for me.  I do, however, have a couple stand-by recipes for when there's "nothing" in the fridge that I turn to and last week I made one of my favorite "something from nothing" recipes--Dave Lieberman's Santa Fe Enchiladas.

I discovered this dish watching a show on the Food Network  in the days when our TV was tuned into cooking shows rather than PBS cartoons.  I was in love with the dish from the very beginning and went strait to the computer, printed the recipe, made the dish, saved the print out for all posterity in one of my recipe binder and  flagged it so it wouldn't get lost in my recipe collection (at least I'm organized with my recipe hoarding).  Well, that was at least six years ago and it's still one of our favorite dishes I never actually plan on making.

One of the reason it's so terrific is that it's so easy to adapt to what you have on hand and it involves a fried egg on top.  I always have canned tomatoes, eggs, cheese and tortillas on hand, even the day before grocery day (which is exactly when this landed on our kitchen table).

This time around I ended up with the version of Dave's brilliant dish I've shared below.  And by the way, where is he these days?  His show was great, am I the only one who remembers it?

This week I ended up with odds and ends for vegetables, and not much in the way of proteins except eggs, so I turned to my good friend Pinterest for a little inspiration and found this terrific idea for a roasted vegetable salad (I'm slightly obsessed with roasted vegetable right now).  I adapted it to what was left in my fridge and pantry and came up with a brand new recipe that Joe and I both devoured.  

 

So next time your cupboards and refrigerator shelves are looking a little bare at dinner time check the egg carton and see if this weekend breakfast staple can help you pull together dinner.

 

What food "staple" do you always have on hand?  What's your go-to dinner the night before a grocery run?

 

Santa Fe Enchiladas (adapted from Dave Leiberman's recipe)

1 Medium Onion, Sliced
1 Bell Pepper, Sliced

4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
1/4 Cup Salsa Verde (I've used canned chiles many times as well)
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram (which I've been substituting oregano with lately)
1 Teaspoon Chili Pwder

Salt
1 (28-ounce) Can Chopped Tomatoes (I think crushed works best though)
9 Corn Tortillas (I do not recommending substituting flour tortillas)

1 cup shredded cheddar (about 4 ounces)
4 large eggs

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil or canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onions, garlic, cumin, marjoram until tender, about 5 minutes, add salsa and cook another minute. Add the tomatoes and simmer about 10 minutes, the sauce will thicken slightly.

Char the tortillas slightly over the flame of a gas burner--keep a very close eye on them and flip when they puff up slightly (do not try this with flour tortillas).  If you have an electric stove top, brown in a dry skillet.
 

These are stacked enchiladas rather than rolled, so the assembly is similar to making a lasagna.  

 

Layer some tomato sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x9 casserole dish then top with three tortillas and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat this ending with cheese on top. Bake 20-25 minutes until browned and sauce is bubbling around the edges.

While the enchiladas bake heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat and cover the bottom of the pan with canola oil. Break an egg into a small bowl or cup and gently pour them one at a time into the hot oil.  Spoon the hot oil over the tops of the eggs until the whites are cooked through and the yolks are still runny. Use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from the pan and drain on a paper towel.  I find that it works best to cook them two at a time, and for the little person in our house I break the yolk so it cooks through.  Fry two eggs per person (and one for any egg-loving babies in the house).
 

Scoop out the enchiladas and serve with the fried eggs on top. Enjoy!

Roasted Veggie Salad (adapted from Martha Stewart's Roasted Vegetable Salad)
2 Zucchinis
3 Carrots
1 Beet
1/2 Red Onion
Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Herbes de Provence
Salt
Pepper
Romaine Lettuce, chopped
White or Apple Cider Vinegar
Poached Eggs

Dressing:
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Heat oven to 425.  Slice veggies into 1/4" thick disks (or chop in similar sizes), drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the herbes de provence.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until caramelizing on the bottoms and cooked through. 

While the vegetables roast poach two eggs per person. 

To poach the eggs, fill a high-sided skillet half-way with water and add one teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar to the water. Bring the water to almost simmering, break the eggs one-at-a-time in a small bowl or cup and gently pour into the water.  Allow the eggs to cook without touching them and remove with a slotted spoon when the whites are cooked.

For the dressing, add equal parts of olive oil to the balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk or shake to mix.

Spoon the roasted vegetables over the lettuce and top with the eggs.  Drizzle with the dressing and dig in!