Happy Huevos -- or the Perfect Food I Can't Live Without

If I could only have one food forever, the one I'd probably choose is the super versatile egg. And not just any egg -- tasty local eggs from Ivy Acres Farm in Shawnee, Okla., about 40 miles from our home in Norman, Okla. I buy them at Norman's Native Roots Market.  The egg carton label notes they were packed May 20, and I purchased them on May 23. Another favorite egg source from Native Roots is the Chicken Shanty, which even has the most beautiful light turquoise eggs.

I'm big on using the best quality ingredients. If you can't eat a lot of food like I can't after my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve surgery, you sure want to eat the good stuff.  

Huevos Rancheros - salsa, cheese and eggy goodness without beans or tortilla

And local eggs taste infinitely better than the ones you buy in the grocery store and cost $4 a dozen -- about the same as a brand like Eggland's Omega 3 eggs. That may sound like a lot, but if you think about it, it's about 33 cents an egg. 

One of the ways I like to fix them is my version of Huevos Rancheros without the tortilla underneath -- breaking a couple of eggs into my about 4-inch round metal ring to keep them from running all over my griddle. When they start to set, I flip them over and cover them with about 1/4 c. of shredded low-fat cheddar cheese and Salsa with Roasted Chilies from Cocina San Pasqual, which says on the label that it's from Perkins, Okla., but is really from the tiny nearby town of Tryon. I purchased the salsa at Native Roots Market also. About the time the cheese melts and gets gooey, the eggs are perfect. I don't even add any salt or pepper -- the salsa gives more than enough kick. 

Cocina San Pasqual's salsa is home-style canned, made with fire-roasted chilies, vine-ripened tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lemon/lime juice, sea salt and garlic. The texture is just right to go on your eggs, but not fight them or upstage them. 

It's a simple, sumptuous dish I often eat for breakfast, but I've been known to eat it for lunch or supper too. 

Onward,

Carol 

'Mild' Salsa with Roasted Chilies
from Cocina San Pasqual in Tryon, Okla.