While I had the tv on for background noise on Saturday morning, I was listening to one of the chefs on a cooking show talk about making Huevos Rancheros. I’ve never actually had Huevos Rancheros before, but I know my husband, Dennis, loves it. I thought of it as a breakfast dish and to me having beans for breakfast didn’t sound appealing. As I was listening to the chef talk in the background, I was thinking that maybe I could try to make Huevos Rancheros, but serve it for dinner. Well, let me tell you … I’m certainly glad I did. I didn’t realize how much I was missing out! This was amazing and was the perfect dinner for Taco Tuesday.  This may have been the first time I tried Huevos Rancheros, but I can tell you, it is definitely only the first of many to come. I really enjoyed this dinner and I also enjoyed that it was on the lighter side.

I chose to use pinto beans for my Huevos Rancheros and also chose to add a spice mixture that I mixed together for a little something extra on our beans. I used two cans of pinto beans and to that added a mixture of kosher salt, cumin, dried oregano, coriander seed that I crushed with a mortar and pestle, dried orange peel, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.

As my beans were heating and simmering, I heated my corn tortillas over the open flame on my gas cooktop. I cook them until they have a nice char to them in several spots and then turn them to do the same on the other side.

Once the tortillas were done, I started making the eggs. I was cooking for four people so used 8 eggs and 1/2 tablespoon of butter per 2 eggs.

Once the eggs were done, I was able to build the Huevos Rancheros in each dish. I started with a couple large spoonfuls of beans on the bottom of the dish, topping the beans with two tortillas.

On top of the tortillas, I placed 2 eggs.

To the top of the eggs, I added a couple spoonfuls of store bought pico de gallo, a small amount of light shredded Mexican cheese blend and a few pieces of avocado, topping it all with a splattering of cilantro.

Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I’ve never tried this wonderful dish until tonight. I am so glad I made this for dinner tonight. It was very satisfying, while being on the lighter side for dinner, which I prefer. I hope you’ll give this a try and enjoy it as much as my family and I did.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

2 cans pinto beans (no salt or low-sodium)

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds (crushed)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried orange peel

pinch of red pepper flakes

8 eggs

8 corn tortillas

2 tablespoons butter

1 16-ounce container pico de gallo

1 avocado

light shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions

1. Mix kosher salt, cumin, oregano, crushed coriander seeds, garlic powder, dried orange peel and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl.
2. Place beans into a small saucepan and add the spice mixture, stirring it into the beans. Heat the beans until they are hot.
3. Cook tortillas over open flame on cooktop. If you don’t have a gas cooktop, heat them in the microwave to warm them. Set aside.
4. Cook eggs in butter, sunny side-up.
5. Layer Huevos Rancheros into each dish. Starting with beans. Next, two corn tortillas, then two eggs. Top with pico de gallo, shredded cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris