White Bean Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs & Cashew Crema

Slowly but surely, as the years pass, I am morphing into a paranoid Jewish mother like many of the women who come before me. Only, I don’t have kids. So naturally, I often turn to WebMD at any immediate sign of something that feels off. But last year I had a weird dizzy spell in the parking lot of a Trader Joe’s somewhere between LA and San Francisco. My friend and I were driving to my cousin’s wedding and we had planned to camp in Big Sur and head to the Esalen sulfer baths on this beautiful evening, but unfortunately my dizzy spell led us to a nearby urgent care and a decision to play it safe and stay in a hotel. It was still a beautiful trip, and most importantly, we finally arrived in SF and celebrated my cousin’s wedding with all of our favorite people. When I returned to NY, I started sporadically feeling off-balance and this continued for many months. I finally decided to see a doctor, which led to me seeing three different specialists. Everything was normal and the only diagnosis I received was possible headache-less migraines. I tried taking magnesium as they suggested, and nothing changed. So I  turned to what I’ve known to make me feel better in the past—food.

I somehow managed to curb my cheese cravings and eliminated dairy and gluten from my diet. That off balance feeling? It went away. I also started to gain back energy I had lost during many months of a winter-is-here-eat-whatever-the-fuck-I-want lifestyle. I felt happier and I began to cook more again. I may never know what triggered this strange ailment, but it seems eliminating these inflammatory foods helped kick it to the curb. I was also reminded that cooking dairy free and gluten free can still be decadent, delicious, and satisfying. Case in point: these White Bean Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs and Cashew Crema.

Give them a try, and make them your own. Add meat if that’s what makes you feel good, eliminate the beans if they don’t agree with you. At the end of the day, I really believe it’s important to experiment with the food you eat and listen to your body. It will tell you how it really feels. And I hope this blog will serve as an inspiration guide for the foods you and your body love.

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Ingredients

• 5 corn tortillas, cut into triangles (or whatever shape you want!), brushed with EVOO, sprinkled with salt, and baked for 10 minutes at 350 degrees (for this I used sprouted grain Ezekiel tortillas. Also, as my gal Ina says, store-bought is fine!)

• Cashew Cream
  1 cup raw cashews, soaked for a few hours or overnight (strain and discard water)
  Juice of 1 lime
  Zest of one lime
  1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
  1 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  2 big pinches of salt
  3/4 cup water

• Sauce

  2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
  2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  One 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
  One 15 oz can great northern or cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
  1/2 cup chicken or veg broth
  1 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
  1 Tablespoon chili powder
  1 Tablespoon chipotle chili powder
  Salt to taste
  4 eggs
  Cilantro for garnish
  Thinly sliced red onion or shallot for garnish

How to make it

• Make cashew cream: Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth (consistency of crema ). Set aside.

• Make base: Heat ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil and garlic. Sauté until fragrant but not browned, just less than a minute. Add tomatoes and spices and a few pinches of salt. Add beans and broth and cook over medium-high heat until liquid reduces and sauce thickens (about 3-5 minutes). Mix in tortilla chips and toss with sauce and beans so half of the chips are in the liquid and a few are on top

• Add eggs: Make space for eggs and crack each one into the sauce and chips. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until eggs are cooked as desired – check for whites to be cooked through

• Finish and enjoy: Remove from oven, serve with crema, cilantro, and red onions or shallots.