Welcome to my first blog recipe! Are you as excited as I am?
So SuperHusband and I are dieting. That's right, we're in the midst of a full-on "let's relearn how to cook and eat" lifestyle change. It's actually going pretty well, given we chose quite possibly the worst time of year to try to lose weight!
Anyway, in the process, I created this super-yummy-ridiculously-easy take on huevos rancheros and thought I might share it with you. I tried to get more good photographs, but really, it was so good we dug in before I got the shots. ;) Read on for the recipe!
It all started when our way-cool friend K. invited us to participate in a DietBet. Now, if you haven't heard of this, you should check it out. It's pretty neat. You and a bunch of friends turn dieting together into a game! The game starter chooses an amount for each person to pony up...you buy your way in, so to speak. Then everyone has 28 days to lose 4 percent of his or her body weight. (That ain't much, y'all. If I can do it, anyone can!) At the end of the 28 days, everyone who succeeds splits the pot and the folks who don't make the cut forfeit their ante. Money's a great motivator. We plan on at least getting our money back, you know? :)
Other things about this game motivate besides the money, though. For one, it's social. You can post pictures, make comments, talk smack or boost each other up. It can be as fun as you make it. Like many forms of public humiliation, accountability plays a roll, but we're not taking this to a negative place. We're just using it to get our behinds in gear.
So anyway, this year took us for a ride. Our homelife changed drastically and with it our workout schedules and eating habits. We both put on a significant amount of weight: about 10 lbs for me. (No, I'm not in the habit of volunteering something like that on behalf of SH.)
So with Day 1 of our DietBet approaching, we needed a strategy. I did a little research and found this program. So far so good! Before Thanksgiving Day I was down 10 lbs in the first 15 days! (Held steady through the weekend.) I know that sounds crazy, but this isn't a crash diet and it did occur in a healthy, controlled way. (SH is down even more!) Anyway, this plan calls for weight loss in four stages, with the first three occurring in 17-day cycles. We just completed the first cycle and it worked as advertised!
So here's the recipe, which fits nicely into the first cycle of our diet:
JSO's Huevos Rancheros Lettuce Wraps
- 2 large eggs
- 4 T. Fresh Salsa (I like this recipe...It tastes like the delicious stuff we get at our favorite Mexican restaurant.)
- 4 leaves rinsed Butter Lettuce or your wrap lettuce of choice
- Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
Apply a light coating of cooking spray to a small nonstick skillet and let it heat on a burner set to medium high. (You want the skillet nice and hot when you start.)
While you wait for the skillet to heat, rinse and arrange four nice-sized butter lettuce leaves around the outer edge on one side of a large plate. Put 1 tablespoon or less into the bottom of each leaf.
Marble the eggs. To do this, crack the eggs into the skillet. Dust them with a little freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Break the yolks and cut into the already cooking white to allow more uncooked egg to contact the surface. Turn the whole mess over. The idea is to keep the eggs moving until everything is cooked and nothing browned. It's not exactly scrambled and not exactly fried. Mmm...my favorite!
Place the pile of eggs on the free side of the plate.
Cut your eggs into equal portions and center over the salsa. (This way you can eat the eggs while they're still hot, but the cool salsa will keep them from wilting the lettuce or burning your fingers.)
Sprinkle with Romano or Parmesan cheese and DIG IN. It's messy. So what? :) Trust me, you'll love it!
