Kale, Butternut Squash, and Bacon Breakfast Burritos with Spicy Chipotle Sauce

Perfect Pairing:  Leftover adobo sauce recipes

These were so good.  It was the kind of breakfast that you wanted to eat again for lunch.  The combination of sweet butternut squash, crispy bacon, earthy kale, and spicy sauce was crazy delish. 

These are super filling, and a definite change from your standard breakfast burrito.  It would be easy to double the recipe and serve to a large group for breakfast or brunch.  I would let everyone build their own…. but I would have to put in my two cents in on exactly how I thought they should be made.

Start with your warm tortilla, a good amount of the chipotle sauce, and a scoop of squash roasted with cumin, coriander, and a dash of cayenne.

Top that with some kale that was sautéed in the bacon pan and simple scrambled eggs. Then finish it off with crumbled crispy bacon and fresh green onions.

I’m telling you, these are darn good breakfast food.

The chipotle sauce is made with adobo sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo.  That stuff is spicy so you don’t need much.  You will have a lot leftover.  Good news is that it freezes well, and it is a great ingredient to have on hand.  Here are some ideas on how to use the leftover sauce.

Spicy Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Chicken Chilaquiles

Fajita Stuffed Potatoes

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Kale Salad with Spiced Sweet Potatoes, Crispy Kale and Sweet Sesame Dressing

Perfect Pairing:  Winter salad craving

This is my new favorite winter salad.  It was inspired by a salad I had at a great restaurant here in Chicago called Trenchermen.  I was determined to recreate the salad at home so I looked up the description on the website.  The description of their version says it includes vegetable escabeche, bagna cauda, avocado, pumpkin seed, and manchego.  Hmmm vegetable escabeche and bagna cauda?  I decided to ignore that part because I had no clue how to make those things. 

My version actually ended up being quite different.  I pretty much only kept the pumpkin seeds and one other very cool idea I got from them.  They topped the fresh kale salad with pieces of crispy fried kale.  It added great texture and a nutty flavor.  Instead of frying the kale I used my standard kale chip recipe.  My version features baked sweet potato spiced with pumpkin pie spice and a dash of cayenne, pepitos, freshly grated parmesan, and an awesome sweet sesame dressing.

This sweet sesame dressing has become my new “go-to”.  It kind of tastes like the dressing used on the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad.  I used to LOVE that salad.  Applebee’s was like THE place to go in high school and college. 

I hope you love this salad as much as I do!  It is the perfect fit when you have a salad craving in the winter.  I am not even going to get into the health benefits. Kale!  Sweet potatoes!  Mayonnaise?  Just make it!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Flatbreads with Thyme, Honey, and Sea Salt

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Sweet Potato with Kale, Mushrooms, and Pancetta

Perfect Pairing – Deli Counter

Well I have stuffed potatoes with arugula and parmesan….

Fajita inspired ingredients…

And all of this stuff…

 

BUT I have yet to do anything with sweet potatoes.  Until now!

This was one of those random dinners you throw together to try to use what you have on hand.  In this case I had kale, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes.  I was thrilled with the result.  It was super hearty and healthy (ignore the small amount of pancetta).  Kale and sweet potatoes are powerhouse ingredients, full of nutrients.  It may not be beautiful, but it was darn tasty.

Freshly grated nutmeg is a great complement to dark greens, so I used that in my version but it is optional if you don’t feel like investing in nutmeg.  Personally, I love having a few whole nutmegs on hand and I grate them on my microplane.   

I topped the potato off with a dollop of ricotta mixed with parmesan and salt and pepper.  It kind of acts like sour cream here.  If you are following the paleo diet, which is incredibly popular right now, you could leave the ricotta off. 

One of my biggest annoyances is waiting at the deli counter at my grocery store. There is always a line and I swear they could move much faster.  I hate pulling my number out of that little machine and realizing I am 12 people from the front of the line.  Ugh.  I decided to stick it out when I was making this, because I knew I could save a fair amount of money.  I bought the pancetta and ricotta from the deli.  I was able to get the exact amount I needed and I think I saved about $7.  Totally worth the wait.  You could also use bacon if you are not feeling the pancetta.

If you have leftovers they are great repurposed for breakfast.  I chopped up the leftovers (potato, kale, mushrooms, and pancetta) and sauteed them in a skillet until lightly browned and topped it off with some ricotta and a fried egg.  Whoa.  It didn't suck.

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Un-Recipe Files - Kale Chips

Kale is extremely popular right now.  I see it all over the food blog universe and on menus throughout Chicago. 

Kale is so extremely healthy and good for you.  According to WebMD, it is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet!  It can provide significant health benefits like lowered cholesterol and cancer prevention.

I started eating kale a couple of years ago when I tried an 11-day detox diet that required a serving of it every day.  I was getting pretty creative around day 10 with the old kale.  I really wish I knew about these chips when I was doing that detox!

Even if the health benefits didn’t lure you in, try these chips for how great they taste.  Really!   It is honestly surprising how tasty they are, especially if you have a craving for something crunchy and salty. 

A cup of kale is just 35 calories, 0 grams of fat and has 5 grams of fiber.  Compare that against a bag of Doritos!

Here is how you make the chips….

·         Tear the leaves away from the woody stem (1 bunch of kale makes a small bowl of chips)

·         Spread the leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet

·         Spray with cooking spray until all of the leaves have a light coating

·         Sprinkle with your desired seasoning (any combination of salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic salt, seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc.)

·         Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until they are crispy

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