Skillet Scramble —rsquo; The Kind of Meal That Feeds a House in Motion

Early February. The household has settled into the winter rhythm, which is the rhythm of cold mornings, dark drives, and the slow accumulation of weeks toward spring. Lisa has been doing physical therapy twice a week. Her back is improving but slowly. The PT — a guy named Aaron, mid-thirties, an ex-college soccer player — has Lisa doing exercises that look ridiculous and that have, over six weeks, started to give her back the strength it needs to hold her up through twelve-hour shifts. I have gone with her to four of the appointments. She rolled her eyes the first two times. By the third she had stopped rolling her eyes. I count this as marital progress.

Diego has been at the school every morning for senior spring lifting. He has gained two more pounds of muscle since signing day. He is up to one-eighty-eight. He looks like a college football player now. Coach Ramos at CSU has texted me three times this month asking how Diego is progressing. I have told him the truth: my son is in the best shape of his life and is preparing to be a freshman at a Division One school in August. Coach Ramos has been pleased.

Sofia ran a personal best in the 800 indoor — 2:15.8 — at a meet in Boulder Saturday. She did not go for the win, because the field included two seniors who are going to run at top D-1 programs. She paced. She ran the second-fastest time of any freshman in the Mountain West region. Anya, who is now a freshman at Stanford and was home on winter break, came to the meet to watch and gave Sofia a hug afterward and said, "You are the next Anya." Sofia laughed. Sofia laughed in a way that was, for Sofia, a major emotional outburst. Anya is going to be a force in Sofia's life for the next four years. Lisa and I are grateful for her.

Saturday I made a big pot of red chile beans. The recipe is one I have been refining for fifteen years. Pinto beans, soaked overnight. Onion and garlic and a smoked ham hock. The cooking liquid for the second half of the simmer is enriched with a quart of red chile sauce I had made earlier in the week from dried New Mexico chiles. The beans simmer for four hours. The kitchen smells like the houses I grew up in. The leftovers feed us for three days.

Sunday morning Lisa and I went on a walk. The neighborhood was quiet. Forty-two degrees, sunny, no wind. We walked for an hour. We talked about the house — there are repairs we have been putting off, the upstairs bathroom needs to be re-tiled, the dishwasher has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. We talked about Lisa's dad. Doug has not yet moved into the assisted living facility, but he has agreed to do a tour Wednesday with Lisa and Carrie. I am going to clear my schedule to go. I cleared it on Sunday afternoon. I texted Mike Reyes that I would be out of the office Wednesday morning. He texted back, "Got it. Take care of family." Mike is a good man.

The road bends. Feed your people. The game is won at the table.

The red chile beans were Sunday’s reward for a week of early mornings and long drives, but it’s the weeknight meals that hold the rhythm — the ones that come together fast, in a single pan, while Diego is still stretched out on the floor doing his recovery work and Sofia is going over split times at the kitchen table. This skillet scramble is that meal. It asks almost nothing of you and gives back heat, protein, and the particular comfort of a kitchen that smells like something real is happening inside it.

Skillet Scramble

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb smoked sausage or chorizo, sliced into half-moons
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack or sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Par-cook the potatoes. Place diced potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes, until just tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.
2. Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large (12-inch) cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.
3. Saute the vegetables. Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until softened and beginning to color at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more until fragrant.
4. Add the potatoes and spices. Return the par-cooked potatoes to the pan along with the browned sausage. Sprinkle in the smoked paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir everything together and press into an even layer. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes to develop a little crust on the bottom.
5. Add the eggs. Use a spoon to create 6 shallow wells in the skillet mixture. Crack one egg into each well. Cover the pan with a lid or foil and cook over medium-low heat for 4 to 6 minutes, until the whites are fully set but the yolks are still slightly jammy. (Cook 1 to 2 minutes longer if you prefer fully set yolks.)
6. Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Scatter the shredded cheese evenly over the top and let it melt for 1 minute. Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro and serve straight from the skillet with warm tortillas or crusty bread alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 780mg