California Avocado Breakfast Burrito

We just spent a long, sunny, glorious weekend in San Diego visiting our good friends, The Korns. At the time, summer had not yet hit Washington which made that sunny weather extra special. While there I learned about a new food, local to San Diego: The California Burrito. The definition from Serious Eats:

There are burritos, and then there are California Burritos. The San Diego staple is not trying to be authentic Mexican cuisine—it's basically meat and potatoes stuffed into a flour tortilla for hungry, sand-crusted surfers. The beast of a thing usually involves carne asada, french fries, a bunch of cheese, salsa fresca and of course guacamole.

I didn’t have a chance to try one while we were there (guess we need to go back soon!) but this surfer super food did come up a few times in conversation. Michelle said she likes the breakfast burrito version best and Al mentioned she and JT make them at home with tater tots. So in honor of avocado month combined with a hankering for this newly discovered delicacy; I did my best to create it. And we made it even better by having it for breakfast and adding avocado.

For the “French fries” my options were to run to McDonalds or to use the tater tots we had in the freezer. Running out to McD’s would have been quicker than the 25+ minutes it took to cook tater tots in the oven, but it would have meant changing out of my pj’s, so in the end the frozen tater tots won! Does McDonalds sell French fries before noon or would I have been stuck with a hash brown patty?

Here’s my version of the California “Breakfast” Burrito. The key components here are French fries (or tots) and avocado.

California Avocado Breakfast Burrito 

Tortillas
Tater Tots or French Fries (5+ per person)
Bacon (3 pieces per person)
Sharp cheddar cheese (we used Coastal)
Cabbage, shredded
Chipotle Sauce (canned chipotles mixed with sour cream, Greek yogurt, cream cheese or mayo - make ahead and dip chips in your left over sauce!)
Eggs, scrambled (2 per person)
Avocado, sliced (lots!)

Optional Condiments: 
Feta
Green onion
Cilantro
Salsa
Ketchup
Sour Cream
Extra chipotle sauce

1. Cook the tater tots or French fries
2. Get the bacon going and fry it until it’s crisp
3. While the fries/tots and bacon are cooking, get out the rest of the ingredients for your burrito bar
4. At the last minute scramble a few eggs

To build the burrito:
Melt grated cheddar cheese on a tortilla. Add a little shredded cabbage (for crunch) and chipotle sauce (this is best made ahead, I combined canned chipotles with ½ Greek Yogurt and ½ cream cheese). Add a layer of tots, scrambled eggs, bacon and all the slices of fresh, delicious avocado you can fit. Roll it tight and top with salsa, feta, green onions, sour cream and extra avocado. And yes, if you’re following along that means there were three kinds of cheeses in our breakfast burrito. We may not be hungry surfers, but that’s how we roll.

I’d still like to try an authentic “California Burrito” but let me tell you, this was amazing. Perfect for a big breakfast on a lazy weekend!

Quick highlight of our trip:

The beach at Coronado Island

Handsome PJ, my San Diego doggie love

The San Diego Zoo

Maggie the Polar Bear

WWU reunion with JT and Alison, Kevin and Amy, Rob, Michelle & Maggie at Craft & Commerce. Besides the company the highlight there was bacon corn dogs. I never knew I could love a corn dog that much. The night before we had tapas at Davanti Enoteca in Little Italy. We got to eat under the stars and every bite we had was amazing, but the white bean bruscetta with arugula and parm and the mascarpone polenta really shined!

Our awesome hosts and good friends, The Korn family!

And of course we were happy to come home to this guy and sunshine in the NW!

All Kale Bacon!

Okay, I have had some exciting things happen to me in the last couple of weeks.  First, I got this beauty:

Yes, that is a cup holder.

I finally got to go Stand up Paddle Boarding with my friend Joyce:

Me working those abs!  They are there somewhere.... I swear.

Then an even MORE exciting thing happened to me:

That's right it is Girl Scout cookie season!   I can't resist those cute little girls at the grocery store who say "Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies ma'am?"  I ignore the ma'am of course and then buy myself a couple of boxes that magically disappear*.


*Since I couldn't stand to post a close up picture of me on the paddle board I realized I had to lay off my cookie eating (don't judge).  I was super pumped to discover that you can now buy them and the Girl Scouts ship them to the troops!  This way I can still buy them and feel good and not consume them, you know one or two at a time......


I decided that I should actually cook a meal for myself before I turned from "ahhhh, poor Megan" to "um, that is pathetic and I can't read anymore".    I have to tell you this was a struggle for me to do.   I am now going to be eating the bag of kale I bought for a week.  This would be fine since I love me some Kale except that means dirtying some dishes and having to turn on the stove.  I have the Pinterest bug like several of us beauties.   I have had my radar up for anything with Kale in it.  I am also cheap these days.   I have to admit some of the reason for my lack of cooking at home is that I have to buy every single ingredient.   It gets expensive!  I finally found both an easy and cheap meal to throw together:

Kale Carbonara

You can find the original recipe on a different blog: Kale Carbonara.  This was really delicious.   It turned out exactly like I was hoping for: cheap, easy, and good (nobody comment on that please).  How can you go wrong with some top food favorites: pasta, bacon, cheese, and red pepper flakes?


Kale Carbonara

Ingredients

1 lb whole-wheat thin spaghetti

3 pieces thick-cut bacon, diced

1 bunch Lacinato Kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped

2 eggs

Garlic

1 cup grated parmesan chees

salt and pepper to taste

1 package of mushrooms

red pepper flakes

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions
2. While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat
3. Add diced bacon, and saute until crispy
4. Remove half the fat from the pan, and add the kale, garlic, and mushrooms to the pan with the bacon
5. Saute kale until wilted
6. Whisk eggs together in a bowl with the cheese and some salt and black pepper (and red pepper if you want spicy)
7. Once pasta is cooked, add it to the pan with the kale and bacon.  Turn off the heat
8. Immediately add the egg/cheese mixture to the hot pasta, kale and bacon.  Stir to combine.  If it appears too dry, add some of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up a bit.

Fun Beauties Fact:  Rachel, Jolie and I shared an apartment for 3 years in college.  Rachel and I would  often make pasta, throw in some butter, parmesan cheese, and garlic and eat it right out of the pot.  When I graduated college, I had to throw out several of my shirts due to the butter stain in the exact same spot.  That is how I roll!