Again, I can make no claims to the authenticity of this dish but it has been on breakfast café menus around Melbourne for some time now. I’m not sure whether it is traditionally a breakfast or dinner dish, but I made it for dinner this week and it was thoroughly enjoyed. I can see why it is favoured as a breakfast dish in Australia, containing many of the favoured weekend breakfast foods including beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and of course eggs.
I also chose this dish for dinner this week because it is Meat Free Week. Although I am not vegetarian, we do eat plenty of vegetarian meals for our dinner through the week and I eat a vegetarian lunch at work everyday. I personally think it is a healthier way to live and it certainly increases my daily vegetable intake. If you’re not a person who usually enjoys vegetarian meals, check out the Meat Free Week website for lots of ideas or maybe consider starting with a tasty serve of huevos rancheros, as per the recipe below.
Ingredients:
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 heaped tsp cumin
- 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
- 1 level tsp chilli powder (optional)
- 1 tbs tabasco/other chilli sauce (optional)
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 125g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red capsicum, diced
- 400g tin kidney beans
- 400g tin diced tomatoes
- 4 eggs
- ½ bunch coriander leaves
- Juice of half a lemon
Put the oil, onion, capsicum and mushrooms in a large frypan. Fry gently until the capsicum and onion are soft. Add in all the spices and garlic, stir until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes, kidney beans and lemon juice. Cook until the mixture comes to the boil. Stir through the chopped coriander leaves (reserve a little for garnish). Crack the eggs gently on top of the vegetable mixture and cover the pan. Simmer for 3 – 4 minutes until the egg whites are cooked. This method of cooking the eggs gives a beautiful flavour to both the eggs and the vegetables.
Gently spoon the vegetables and eggs out between four bowls, sprinkle with remaining coriander and serve with tortillas if you wish. Enjoy immediately.
A Tale of Two Kitchens 