Running for chilaquiles

Here in Mexico, around eleven in the morning, when you are dying for brunch and your stomach is roaring, chilaquiles are very often the dish of choice.

Chilaquiles are a complicated blend of red or green sauce (each in itself a complex mix of ingredients which are then cooked separately), tortillas in chips, cheese, onions, and cream.  My daughter-in-law makes such delicious chilaquiles that, once having tried hers, you can forget about having them anywhere else.

When the sauce and the tortillas are put together, it has to be done right before eating.  People hang around the stove, plate in hand, and wait for each serving to be ready.  Otherwise, mixing the chips and the sauces too soon would make the chips soggy, a big no-no for chilaquiles.  If you have the impression that Mexican cooking is labor-intensive, you are right. 

On Sunday we celebrated my husband's and son's birthdays at our house, and my daughter-in-law whipped up a big batch of chilaquiles, both with red and green sauce, for the entire crowd.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, she left me both sauces, the tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and chopped onion.  For the past two days I have had chilaquiles for breakfast, and I intend to do so until the ingredients run out.

Chilaquiles are incredibly nutritious, but they are also loaded with calories.  So I use them as a reward for getting myself out to run.  The exercise alone is too minor to make a dent in the calories consumed, so yesterday I had spinach and lettuce for lunch--that was it.  Same today.  Sounds horrific, but the spinach is from my square foot garden and I sautèe it in olive oil and add a little garlic.  The lettuce is also from the garden, and both products are almost too good to describe.  It makes a world of difference to step outside, harvest your veggies, and five minutes later eat them.

Now that the orthopedist has told me it isn't my ancient joints giving out that is causing me pain, my new running program is going to be "The Great Chilaquiles Run".  So far it has worked; today was drizzling and cold, but I was there, my Judi Dench haircut standing on end as if were a punk rocker.  Maybe later, after I've gotten tired of chilaquiles or have used up all the sauce, we can start the "Great Tres Leches Cake Run", or the "Great French Chocolate Tart Run".  I can see my lunches are going to be reduced to coffee and a breath of fresh air.