Spanish Tortilla
My good friend Martha is an excellent cook. She has traveled the world and always has a unique dish or healthy way to prepare common ingredients. One of my favorites is her Spanish tortilla. This is generally served as an appetizer – but my teenagers love it for breakfast. I start with some small yukon gold potatoes.
Sliced Yukon Golds
Slice them evenly and thinly – about 1/4 inch thick. Add a healthy amount of olive oil to a non-stick pan and heat until it sizzles when a potato is added – don’t let the oil get too hot and smoke. If you choose, you can also add chopped onion. Cook the potatoes on medium heat until they can be pierced with a fork. Strain the excess oil into a ramekin – I use it within a few days for other potato dishes. Season with salt and pepper and dried herbs of your choosing. This morning I used some of those Herbes de Provence I brought back from France a few weeks ago. Make sure to use enough salt or the dish can be bland.
Cooked Potatoes
Now, mix about five eggs with a splash of milk, more salt and pepper and herbs. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cooked potatoes.
Eggs
Cover and cook gently until the bottom and the top of the tortilla is quite set. Slide the tortilla onto a plate – place the pan upside down over the plate and flip the tortilla over – cook an additional ten minutes.
I slice it up and serve with their favorite hot sauce!
Spanish Tortilla
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Italian Egg Sandwich
I have already mentioned the mustard green and egg sandwiches I would carry to school for lunch on freshly baked Italian bread. Here’s a slight modification on that to give it a healthier twist. I take a beautiful, locally grown bunch of mustard greens and wash them well. I trim the tough stems off at the part where the leaf starts.
I then chop the greens into bite size pieces and mince a few cloves of garlic.
I start by adding the greens to olive oil that has been heated in a cast iron pan. I add salt and pepper and let the greens wilt a bit while they give off some moisture. This is when I add the garlic – adding it now prevents it from burning when it hits the hot oil. I let this cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat – test the greens to see if they have become tender – it may take a little longer.
Now I beat about four eggs with a fork and turn up the heat under the greens. Pour the eggs into the greens and scramble until satisfied. Instead of Italian bread I use a sprouted whole wheat, toasted and lightly spread with mayonnaise. You can add tomato, mustard, hot sauce – whatever you enjoy on a sandwich – but here’s how I like it:
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Avocado Toast
I love avocados. I love them so much that sometimes they are all I can think about. This obsession with avocados is a California-born one. Growing up in Boston I wanted to like avocados. They were just never ripe. Try as I did to ripen one at home and catch it at the right moment – I always failed. I could not get the timing right. They were either brown and rotted or hard as an apple. Right now with avocados at the peak of ripeness here in California I am buying them ripe and ready – chopping, mashing and scooping them all over everything. Here is my favorite breakfast treatment for avocados:
You’ll need a lime. Here is a photo of some beautiful Bearss limes from the tree in my yard.
You’ll need a ripe avocado. This is from my local Whole Foods – I wish I had a tree!
Now – toast a slice of whole wheat bread. Find the densest, chewiest brand you can – Trader Joe’s has some flourless sprouted breads that are great for this. Grab some olive oil, salt and pepper and see below:
Scoop out the avocado pulp and mash away…squeeze on the lime juice, drizzle the olive oil, and salt and pepper to your liking…
Feel free to add a soft boiled egg…
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