Tortilla Breakfast Bake @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here. I spent last weekend with my friends and author pals, the Wicked Authors, on our annual in-person retreat. 

I had volunteered to make a breakfast casserole for all to share. One in the group doesn't eat gluten or meat. What to do? I cast around in the fridge and saw a packet of corn tortillas. Aha! I had peppers and cheese and eggs. With the acquisition of some non-meat, it was a meal, and one easy to prep ahead and pop in the oven the morning of.

Tortilla Bake

Recipe inspired by Workweeklunch.com

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red bell pepper chopped

1/2 green bell pepper chopped

Option: 6 oz chorizo or vegetarian sausage (about 1 cup)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili pepper

15 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained (not shown in photo)

Option:1 small can chopped green chilis

1 cup salsa

9 corn tortillas, halved

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican Mix cheese

4 cup milk

8 eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a 9x11 baking dish with olive oil.

Combine bell pepper, chorizo/sausage if using, and beans, and any other veggies you want to use. Stir well and season cumin and chili powder. 

Add 6 tortilla halves in a layer to the bottom of the baking dish. Add half the veggie mixture, followed by 1/4 cup shredded cheese and a drizzle of salsa. 

Add another layer of tortillas on top

Add the remaining half of the mixture, more salsa, and more cheese. Place the last layer of tortillas on top and sprinkle the remaining half cup of cheese on top.

Whisk eggs with milk in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. 

Pour the eggs over the tortilla layers. Tilt the pan a little to get the eggs to spread evenly in the dish.

Cover the dish and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

Note: I baked at 400 and forgot the foil, so this got a little overdone. Please follow the recipe!

Enjoy warm with a helping of fruit salad and a cup of hot coffee.

Readers: What flavor do you like your breakfast casserole? Should Robbie Jordan serve this one in her country store restaurant?

🌮🧀🫑🌶

A Case for the Ladies is out and available wherever books are sold!

My most recent releases are Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

And Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, which released in late October.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

 

Garden Veggie Bake

Our apologies to our readers.  Blogger has been playing tricks on us and our posts aren't posting when they should!


I'm going to shock everyone today because I'm posting something almost healthy. No sugar or chocolate involved! The garden vegetables are coming in, so I was testing a garden veggie pizza recipe that will be in one of my books.  The combination of eggplant, zucchini, garlic, mozzarella, and goat cheese was wonderful, so when I saw a vegetarian recipe that called itself a quiche and used some of those ingredients, I was intrigued.  The thing is -- it was a crustless quiche!  It sounded more like something in between a frittata and a quiche.  So I used the fresh veggies I had on hand and this is the result.

Feel free to adjust the vegetables.  Omit whatever your family doesn't like to eat. I'm thinking this could be breakfast, lunch, or dinner!  It tastes a lot like a vegetarian pizza, though I have to admit that when I was posting the pictures, I wondered how good it might be with bacon crumbled into it . . . .

Garden Veggie Bake

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1 average zucchini, sliced thin
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced red and/or yellow peppers
1 small eggplant, diced (about 2 cups)
6 eggs
salt (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt)
pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella
5 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup goat Gouda
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
hot pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter an 8x8 pan.  Saute the onion in the olive oil until almost soft.  Add the zucchini, oregano, garlic, and peppers and then the eggplant.  Saute, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, add salt and pepper to taste, then mix with sour cream, mozzarella, and Gouda.  When the vegetables are cooked, but not limp, mix the veggies and the eggs together and pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.  Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until set and baked through.

  Enjoy!