Tex-Mex Migas

Growing up in San Antonio, there are just certain things that you don’t think twice about.  A lot of times, this pertains to food: chips and salsa should always be complimentary, the chips are often red and green during the holidays, and migas are really tasty.

Then you go north for school and notice the absence of all these things.  In fact, you see things like canned tamales.  Pardon??  I don’t even want to know.

When you come back, you find yourself working and hanging out with people from all over who have been transplanted into this seemingly other world.  That’s just how music is.  They can’t believe that it’s 75 degrees in December.  You catch them gawking in awe at the Christmas-colored chips, expecting them to be flavored.  (They’re not.)   And if you tell them of a great place to get migas, they’ll give you a blank stare, probably thinking you misspoke about where to find female friends. 

Okay, I’ll stop writing like that.  It’s true, though!

I’m guessing a lot of people who read this won’t know what migas are, but all should become familiar with their deliciousness.  I didn’t have them much growing up, but whenever my parents made scrambled eggs, they were pretty close.  Migas means “crumbs” in Spanish, and there are evidently quite different versions of this dish in Spain and Portugal.  The Tex-Mex rendition is basically made up of eggs, onions, peppers, cheese, and fried corn tortillas.  The tortillas get soft, but I think it’s important that you don’t use plain corn tortillas.  I used tortilla chips, which is a pretty common shortcut!

Hey, they even look kind of festive!

Tex-Mex Migas

As a redheaded Euro-mutt, I’m not even going to pretend like this recipe is  authentic.  However, being from Tex-Mex land, I know good migas when I taste them.  I made these and promptly cleaned my plate.  Feel free to simply use this as a guide…don’t like onions too much?  Use less onion (etc.).  Since I can’t eat 6 eggs by myself, I ended up only cooking 3 of them and using half of everything else.  Will cook the rest tomorrow!

6 eggs

about 1/8 to 1/4 cup milk

oil as needed (I used olive oil) – optional: AND a pat of butter

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

about half of a small (7 oz) can of diced green chiles

salsa to taste

cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (shred it yourself!)

a couple handfuls of tortilla chips, roughly smashed

salt and pepper to taste

optional toppings: avocado, tomatoes, cilantro

Scramble the eggs and milk together in a bowl.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of oil (and butter if you’re using it) over medium heat.  Saute the onion until tender, then add the pepper.  Once the pepper is soft, turn the heat down to medium low and pour in the eggs.  Add the green chiles and salsa and stir everything together.  When the eggs are about halfway cooked, mix in the tortilla chips.  Cook until the eggs are no longer slimy, but not dried out.

To serve, top with the shredded cheese and whatever you fancy (I fancied avocado), then eat up!

Half of this could have been a light breakfast for two, but I ate it all for a big lunch.  So I guess you could say the full serving could feed 2 to 4, depending on appetites.

Update: I made these again today, but added a pat of butter to the oil.  As you can imagine, this only made things tastier.