Serve up Southwestern Eggs Benedict at your next Sunday brunch. A fantastic option when you want to lighten up a classic recipe.
When I go to a restaurant for brunch, I want something good. Really good. There will be no yogurt parfaits at my brunch out. Those are relegated to weekday mornings (oh, and how I love those parfaits). Nope, when I go out on the town for brunch, there will be some sort of fatty meat involved, preferably bacon and some sunny yellow poached egg yolks sitting atop a golden brown English muffin. By the way, the fact that I refer to brunch at a restaurant as "going out on the town" should tell you how often we actually venture out of our house for meals. We spent a lifetime's worth of "going out to eat" money when we lived in New York City. Seriously, between the monthly garage fee and our restaurant budget, it's a wonder we had a place to live. Do I ever love New York City but, man, it is a penny-pincher's worst nightmare.
So what is a Egg Benedict-loving person to do on all those non-restaurant brunch mornings? Learn to poach an egg, of course (see How to: Poach an Egg). I don't typically have the inclination to whip up a lemony Hollandaise sauce on a lazy morning, so I found a way around this. Yummy sauces and spreads. I first experimented with egg-loving sauces when I made one of my favorite egg dishes, Poached Egg on Toast with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Bacon & Avocado. That smoky, spicy mayo gave my friend, Hollandaise, a run for its money. So, I started playing around with other options.
By smashing together black beans, olive oil, cumin, cilantro and a dash of salt and pepper, I came up with this spread that almost didn't make it onto the English muffin. It kept trying to take a detour onto a fork...on the way to my mouth. Perched on top of that spread, some creamy slices of avocado and golden brown English muffin, those poached eggs didn't look as though they missed their creamy, saucy sidekick in the least. And guess what? I didn't either. The tastes touched every part of my tongue on the way down to my satisfied stomach.
When made with whole wheat English muffins and paired with tomato salsa, this dish is actually very healthy. If you are watching your cholesterol, consider eating just one of these. Fill up on additional fruit instead or eat the second half of the English muffin with all of the toppings, except the egg. Healthy fats come from the touch of olive oil in the spread and the avocado, and there's a punch of protein from both the eggs and the black beans.
The best part? You can eat this without ever changing out of your pajamas.
The recipe:
In a medium bowl, combine black beans and olive oil. Mash with a fork until the black beans are crushed and the mixture starts to stick together.
Add ground cumin, salt, pepper and cilantro. Stir to combine.
Split English muffins in half crosswise and toast until golden brown. Place two halves on each of four plates. Divide the black bean mixture evenly between the English muffins and spread. Top with avocado slices.
Poach and drain eggs (See my post on How to: Poach an Egg. It's easy. I promise.), set one on top of each prepared English muffin and garnish plate with dollops of salsa. Serve immediately.
Other recipes with poached eggs:
Cookin' Canuck's Poached Egg on Toast with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Bacon & Avocado
Closet Cooking's Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Pesto, Goat Cheese & Poached Egg
Southwestern Eggs Benedict
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
- 4 English muffins preferably whole wheat
- 8 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vinegar for poaching eggs
- pinch of salt for poaching eggs
- ½ cup salsa
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine black beans and olive oil. Mash with a fork until the black beans are crushed and the mixture starts to stick together.
- Add ground cumin, salt, pepper and cilantro. Stir to combine.
- Split English muffins in half crosswise and toast until golden brown. Place two halves on each of four plates.
- Divide the black bean mixture evenly between the English muffins and spread. Top with avocado slices.
- Poach and drain eggs (see my post on How to: Poach an Egg), set one on top of each prepared English muffin and garnish plate with dollops of salsa.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Tim
This recipe is great. We make it all the time. I use a small food processor for the black beans, pulse a couple of times instead of mashing with a fork. I recently added this avocado hollandaise sauce, that pairs perfectly with this dish. Don't worry it is a healthy hollandaise. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/avocado-hollandaise
bridget {bake at 350}
Um, yes please.
Kevin (Closet Cooking)
These would certainly make for a tasty breakfast!
Becky at VintageMixer
I'm not huge on eggs in the morning but this looks amazing... plus I could eat it for dinner too right?!
Deborah
You have this breakfast-food-loving girl drooling!
Dana
It's no surprise that this sounds fantastic to me... my favorite breakfasts are always Mexican inspired. I will definitely be trying this out!
brandi
goodness gracious, this looks good. i love making egg breakfasts with beans, avocado, and salsa anyway - but on an english muffin? yum.
love cooking
This is great. I love the poached eggs, when cut through the egg yolks and mix with other ingredients. Really is a great combination. I am wondering how the avocado taste when mix with all this ingredients. It must be delicious. 🙂
beti
such a complete dish and it looks pretty delicious
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen
What a hearty meal! I could eat that any time of day!
Shirley @ gfe
I'm all for this recipe, Dara. I'm weak for Eggs Benedict in any form. 😉 Will use some gluten-free bread or a gluten-free English muffin. 🙂
Thanks!
Shirley
Roz@weightingfor50
Hi Dara. As always, your photos are spectacular. (love the square plate!!) This looks absolutely delicious, like many of your recipes, I've bookmarked it. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
Beth
Is there anything better in this world than a perfectly poached egg? The benedict looks great, but I'm in LOVE with the plate its sitting on.
Frank
I love when classic dishes get reinterpreted through the lens of another culinary tradition. The results are often fantastic—and this looks like one of those!