Healthy Recipe, Skillet Potatoes and Broken Eggs

Huevos rotos, or “broken eggs,” is a popular bar food served in taverns across Spain at all hours. Typically, it consists of fried potatoes, onions, chorizo sausage or ham, and eggs that are broken and mixed with the other ingredients before serving. Here’s a healthier version of this rustic one-skillet meal, with spinach and bell pepper standing in for the meat. The potatoes and vegetables are allowed to caramelize a bit in a few tablespoons of olive oil first, then covered with a lid to finish steaming in their own juices. The eggs are cracked directly into the pan, and the yolks broken just before serving and allowed to flow into the potato and veggie mixture.

If the high carb count steers you away from potatoes, it’s good to remember that they’re loaded with fiber, antioxidants, potassium, and other vitamins and minerals. The darker the flesh, the higher the nutrient value, so consider red, purple, or gold-fleshed potatoes — sometimes bagged and sold as a tri-color mix. From Atlanta-based food writer and cookbook author Susan Puckett. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 large yellow or red onion, thinly sliced

• 1 red (or any color) bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

• 3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• Kosher salt

• ¾ pound baby gold, red, or purple potatoes (or a mix), halved or cut in bite-sized chunks

• 3 packed cups spinach (about 3 ounces)

• 4 large eggs

• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a large skillet with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne, and ½ teaspoon salt, and sauté until the onions and peppers have wilted, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and onions begin to caramelize, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Spread out the potatoes and vegetables in an even layer, cover the pan, and let cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, removing the lid occasionally to redistribute the mixture with a spatula. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

4. Gently stir in the spinach, cover, and let cook another minute or so, just until the spinach is wilted.

5. Remove the lid and crack the eggs into the skillet. Sprinkle with a little salt and a few grindings of black pepper.

6. Cover again and let cook for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the whites are cooked through but the yolks are still runny. Break up the eggs with a spatula so the yolks run all over the potato mixture and serve immediately, straight from the pan.