Huevos Rancheros Zola Style (Mexican eggs with a spicy tomato sauce)

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe. If you like Mexican comfort food this is your go-to. Perfect for lunch or dinner. This version is spicy enough to make most noses run but not too spicy for most tastes. If you want it truly hot, add another adobo chili to the mix or splatter on hot sauce when you eat it.

Serving Size: Serves  4

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz of tomato sauce (Hunts brand with no sugar is good)
  • 2 adobo chiles in sauce. Caution – these are SPICY! If you don’t want the heat, just add a little of the sauce. 1 – 2 tsp will do.
  • 16 oz container of your favorite fresh salsa (from the refrigerated section)
  • 1/2 onion, sliced thin (optional – this depends on how much onion is in your salsa and how much you like onions in your eggs)
  • 1 cup fresh tomatoes chopped
  • 3 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will work)
  • juice of one lime (optional)
  • 8 eggs (I’m factoring two eggs per person, but you can adjust to your liking)
  • cilantro (optional)

Instructions:

In a small blender add the tomato sauce and the adobo chilies. Caution – those chipotle chiles are spicy. If you’ve never used them before, taste a little bit of one so you can decide how much heat you want. If you don’t want the heat, just use the sauce from the can. Or cut the chiles and remove the seeds (those are the spiciest). Whiz til smooth. Taste it. If you like heat and want it spicier, add more chiles and whiz again! Set aside.

In a large skillet add a bit of olive oil spray and then add the onions. Cook them on medium until they loosen. Stir often. Then add the salsa, tomatoes and the garlic. Transfer in half of the adobo/tomato sauce. Cook for a few minutes so the onions in the salsa cook down, then taste and adjust to your liking. If you want it tangier, add the juice of the lime. If you want it spicier, add more sauce. If you want to add spices like a dash of cumin or taco seasoning, now’s the time. Get creative. Make it your own. Cook this sauce at a simmer for 10 minutes to meld the flavors. Stir periodically.

Now, at this point if you like your eggs soft, you can just drop them into this hot, bubbly sauce and let them sit (don’t stir) until the whites are hard. Then sprinkle cilantro on top and serve!

If you like your eggs firmer (like me), take out a large sauté pan and lightly spray with olive oil. Cook your eggs sunny side up until the whites are firm (unless you like them fried hard). Then lay them gently in the sauce so they can absorb those yummy flavors for a minute. They’ll continue to cook in the bubbling sauce. Then sprinkle cilantro on top and serve immediately. Oh so yummy!

You can have a plain salad on the side if you’d like and your breadstick/cracker portion.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Notes: You can easily make this a heavier meal by adding your favorite veggies when you cook up the onions. If you all a lot, it might make your sauce thicker. If that happens, just add a little bit of chicken broth (or water) when you add the adobo/tomato sauce to the pan to get it the consistency you like.

In ZReduction, you can have a little bit of sour cream as a garnish when you serve. In ZReboot, you can serve this with fresh avocado.