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Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.
You wake up just a little hungover from last night’s impromptu party, wander into the kitchen, and along with the empties piled up in the recycling there’s picked-over tortilla chips and salsa still on the counter. While it might be tempting to just dump them in the compost, a much better move is making chilaquiles. They won’t cure the hangover, but they’ll help you forget it.
Traditionally made by frying leftover tortillas until crisp, adding salsa to barely soften them up, and piling scrambled or fried eggs on top, chilaquiles naturally became morning-after food. But they’re good all day long, and you don’t even need to party the night before.
While leftover chips replaced the tortillas for all but the most hidebound, most versions of chilaquiles stick to the basic approach of cooking them in salsa and offering an array of toppings.
But ever since I ate Los Chilakillers’ chilaquiles in Mérida a few years ago, I’ve been making them the same way they do. The tiny, one-table storefront in the old colonial city on the Yucatan Peninsula takes your choice of recognizable taco fillings—carnitas, chicken tinga, lengua, carne asada, and more—adds shredded cabbage, and a handful of chips, and lets you customize the salsa and toppings with everything from pickled red onions, fresh cilantro, queso fresco, and, since it is the Yucatan, habanero salsa.
My approach at home tends to be simpler since it’s usually driven by the leftovers in my refrigerator. I may have some form of protein, but I’ve almost always got cooked beans, so my quesadillas usually include them. And I’m more likely to have cheddar than queso fresco. But you do you, so feel free to go wild with whatever you’ve got.
Recipe
1 onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped (remove white membrane and seeds if desired)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chile powder*
2 cups cooked red beans (or any cooked bean)
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese*
2-3 handfuls of good tortilla chips, preferably Hot Mama brand
1-2 cups finely sliced green cabbage
Avocado, limes, cilantro, and your favorite red or green salsa to serve
*I like the beans well seasoned, so I’ll usually add cumin and garlic powder as well as the chile powder. The cheese is optional, and almost any cheese is okay.
Cook onion, carrot, and jalapeño in olive oil and salt until very tender, add beans and simmer 20 minutes or longer until any liquid has been reduced. Add the cheese, if using, and stir it in. Assemble your chilaquiles by spooning some of the beans into a bowl, add a handful of shredded cabbage, another handful or two of tortilla chips, crushing them a bit as you add them, and top it off with salsa, avocado, a squeeze of lime, and whatever else you feel like.