I was at a bit of a loss for dinner the other night. I haven't been sleeping well lately and have been very much flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to meal planning.

I needed something that would come together quickly, without too much effort, with the ingredients that I already had on hand. And this fit the bill. It's not the greatest meal ever. And, having tried it both ways now, I actually think I prefer it as a pasta sauce rather than serving it on buns like you're "supposed" to. But it got the job done. (And it is excellent on pasta!)

Sloppy Joes

Slightly adapted from Delish.com

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• black pepper, to taste
• 450g ground beef (preferably extra lean)
• 1 c. tomato sauce

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until softened.
3. Add the bell pepper and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the ketchup and cook until the colour darkens slightly (2-3 minutes).
5. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook for another minute.
6. Add the vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce and season to taste with pepper.
7. Add the ground beef and simmer, stirring and breaking up any large chunks, until meat is cooked through (~5 minutes).
8. Add the tomato sauce and simmer until heated through (3-5 minutes longer).
9. Serve on buns or over pasta with toppings of your choice. Dill pickles, lettuce, and cheddar cheese are all particularly good.

Huevos Rancheros (The Breakfast Bible version)

I know I've made a few different versions of huevos rancheros ("farmer's eggs") before and there's at least one recipe for them already posted on this blog. But, as noted, I can be a bit of a completionist sometimes and there was a different recipe for them in one of my breakfast cookbooks, so of course I had to give that a try as well.

This is actually quite different from what I think of as typical huevos rancheros. Rather than making a saucy bean-and-tomato stew (possibly with peppers and other veggies mixed in) and poaching the eggs in the stew, these eggs are fried and then topped with a puréed tomato sauce and beans. (Ideally black beans, but I already had a tin of chickpeas opened, so I just used a few of them for this rendition.) You still get a lot of the same elements, they're just combined in a different way.

Huevos Rancheros

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. canola oil (or bacon grease), divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 chipotle in adobo + 1/2 tsp. adobo sauce
• 8 corn tortillas
• 8 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 c. cooked black beans, warmed
• 1/2 c. crumbled queso fresco or feta¹
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook for ~2 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Remove from heat and transfer to blender.
5. Add the tomatoes, chili powder, chipotle, and adobo sauce and purée until smooth.
6. Pour the sauce back into the pot and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened slightly (~30 minutes).
8. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. of the remaining oil over medium heat.
9. Add a tortilla and cook until warmed through and slightly crisped on the outside, flipping once. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer the tortillas to a plate as they come of the the pan and keep warm.
10. Once the tortillas have all been warmed, begin cooking the eggs. Fry sunny side up, over easy, or however you'd prefer using any remaining oil (if any) to cook them and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Place an egg on each tortilla, top with a generous portion of sauce and a few of the warmed beans.
12. Top each egg with ~1 Tbsp. each of cheese and cilantro.
13. Serve as is or add a bit of avocado, sour cream, and/or thinly sliced radish if desired.

---

¹ I didn't have any feta (or queso fresco), so I just used a bit of grated mild cheddar for this version. Feta would have been great, but the cheddar still worked well. ^Back