Mexican Eggs

Mexican Eggs

This recipe was inspired by many things so I’ll try to be brief. Back in May our local Mexican restaurant, Gusanoz, was made over by the Food Network’s show Restaurant Impossible. Essentially, when a restaurant is failing they appeal to the show to come and make over their establishment to help turn things around. On Wednesday night the show aired on the Food Network and Dr. Court and watched. Let me just say sometimes it’s better to NOT know what’s going on behind the scenes in a restaurant. Anyway, we were inspired to go back last night and see what the “new” Gusanoz was like. As it turns out the food was fresher, the décor clean, albeit a little stark for a Mexican restaurant, but overall a very pleasant experience. I also happened to bring home a doggie bag which leads me to the next piece of inspiration for this recipe.

Our friend and fitness coach Ben Dearman of KDR Fitness had mentioned that putting black beans in your eggs was really good. I’ll admit that the first time he said it I thought he was crazy. (I should give him a little more credit as he has written a chapter on fiber in a book that was just released, Results Fitness.) As we were sitting in the “old” Gusanoz for dinner I watched him place an order for extra black beans to take home and thought I’d give it a try with my few leftover black beans. As it turns out my eggs were awesome the next morning!

Here we are. Last night I had some black beans leftover from my dinner at Gusanoz so I asked to have them boxed up. We don’t usually eat a lot of beans but you can hardly eat Mexican and not have beans and rice (although I never eat the rice). This morning as I was making our breakfast I thought the beans would be fantastic with tomatoes and onions and cheddar cheese. I was right! They were amazing! Check them out and let me know what you think!!!

Mexican Eggs

Butter

Ingredients you need…

Chopped onion

Chopped tomato (I used half of an heirloom tomato I had leftover and some organic cherry tomatoes, sliced in half)

1 Tbsp of black beans

Garlic powder

Cumin

Salt and Pepper

Red pepper flakes (optional)

Eggs

3 Tbsp of cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a small skillet.

Add the onions and tomatoes and sauté until the onions are starting to soften then add the black beans.

Sauté another minute or two adding the garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

Add your eggs to the pan (I have 2 and Dr. Court usually has 3) and cook through.

Mix in the cheddar cheese until melted.

Transfer to a plate and enjoy!

I just want to mention that I’ve never tried this by just opening a can of black beans and putting some into the eggs. While I am sure that would be good, I think part what makes this great is that the black beans from the restaurant have been seasoned with garlic, onion, cumin, cilantro etc. If you don’t have a Mexican restaurant near you I would suggest making a batch of beans using these thing and then adding it to your eggs. Also,this recipe would also be great with some green or red peppers but I didn’t have any on hand at the time.

Cancer Fighting Compounds!

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality here in the United States. As our population continues to get unhealthier because of sedentary lifestyles and poor eating habits, the numbers will continue to grow.

Many cancers are preventable, and there are compounds you can get from your diet that will reduce your risk.

See the video below!

Snacks for the On-the-GO

Ok, ok so this post isn’t exactly a recipe but I still thought it was information worth sharing. One of the questions we are most often asked is, “what can I eat on the go?” There are a number of things that you can do at the beginning of the week to make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks on hand. I make a couple of bags of mixed nuts up each week. One goes to the office and one goes in my purse. I’ve been caught with out anything to eat enough that now I don’t ever let it happen. I hate it when I’ve gone too long without eating because I start to get sleepy and cranky. Here see for yourself:

A glimpse inside Dr. Carrie’s purse.

If you look closely you can see something sitting under the nuts….that’s my backup snack. It’s a packet of almond butter with a little honey in it. I can get the little packets at the local COOP. They’re about 200 calories and perfect when I need something in a hurry and don’t want to eat crap.

Backup Snack

At the of office we often have a stash of apples/pears and cheese sticks in the fridge so we never to too long without eating. Other great snack ideas are hard-boiled eggs and veggies sticks. It just takes a few minutes to chop some fresh veggies and hard boil some eggs. In fact, you can chop the veggies while the eggs boil. Instead of cheese sticks you can always get a block of cheese and slice it up.  A little prep can go a long way in making sure you have healthy food on hand.

If you don’t have time to that you should keep some of these on hand….It’s called a PaleoKit and is one of our favorite snacks. You get them from Steve’s Originals.com.

PaleoKit from Steve’s Originals

I mentioned them in and email I sent out earlier this week. They are easy, yummy and healthy. We usually order a bunch at time. We like the grass-fed beef kit and often get the Coconut PaleoKit as well. He also carries a product called Just Jerky which is pretty self-explanatory. The PaleoKrunch bars are good when you need a sweet treat or they could be eaten after a workout to replace carbohydrate. Plus, 15% of the proceeds from the PaleoKits, PaleoKrunch and other Steve’s Original products goes to the Steve’s Club National Program to help bring Crossfit, nutrition and personal development to youth across the country. (We don’t do Crossfit but we do support programs that get children and adults up and active.)

 
You’ll notice that the focus is on snacks that for the most part of whole foods. There are tons of bars on the market but honestly I’ve not really found one that has enough protein that’s not soy or doesn’t have too much carbohydrate. Kind bars are one option that are low glycemic but often for me they still seem to have too much carbohydrate and not enough protein which leaves me feeling hungry not long after I eat it. However, if I manage to somehow run out of both of my snacks and need something quick I’ll probably grab one but it’s not my first choice.

 

What are your favorite snacks? Are they listed here? If not, share them with us.

Can Your Supplements Do This?

 

Recently, a patient told me their medical doctor stated emphatically that supplements were a waste of money. He was told supplements were not digested and passed out of his system without imparting any benefit.  Watch the video below to see what this is not true!

 

Summer Tomatoes

There is nothing better than fresh tomatoes in the summer! Now that they are in season you may be wondering how to best prepare them. There are tons of things you can do with them like slice them up for burgers, add them to salads, make a caprese salad and now you can try this recipe. It’s easy, delicious and yes, tastes like summer! This recipe came from the June issue of bon appétit magazine. It’s perfect for a hot night and tastes great with just about anything. I have made it 2 ways. One exactly as the recipe states with the watercress but I’ve also just made the tomatoes and omitted the watercress salad which is what I have pictured.

 

Summer Tomatoes

Serves 4-6

4 large tomatoes sliced 1/4” thick

1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings

¼ cup (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 Tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch watercress, tough stems removed (about 4 cups)

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

 

In a medium bowl toss watercress with 1Tbsp each oil and lemon juice. Season watercress to taste with salt.  Mound watercress on a platter.

Arrange tomatoes around the watercress on the platter. Scatter shallots and parsley over tomatoes: drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

 

For the version pictured I only used 1 large tomato and half of a small shallot. I omitted the watercress salad but squeezed half a lemon over the tomatoes along with the olive oil, salt and pepper, shallot and parsley.

Bon appétit!