Broccoli Omelet and Spicy Hash Browns

Serves 2
Total time: 30 minutes
Cost per person about $4

1-2 poblano peppers, depending on your heat tolerance
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes (don’t use baking potatoes because they don’t stand up well to cooking in the pan)
salt
No-stick cooking spray
4 eggs
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen broccoli
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
pico de gallo
cherries or whatever fruit you like

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the poblano(s) in a baking dish and put in the oven. We are going to roast these suckers to bring out their flavor.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a non-stick pan. Rinse off the potatoes and dry with a dish towel. Julienne the potatoes into matchsticks. The best way to do this is to use the shredder blade on a mandolin, like the one pictured. It makes short work of matchsticking potatoes. All you do it slide the potato up and down the blade, et voila, matchsticks. The other way to do this would be to use the large holes on a grater or you could chop them by hand. However I think everyone should own a mandolin because it makes short work of all kinds of slicing chores. You can find them in most houseware stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond. Place the potatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with salt, then stir them around to mix. Add them to the pan and let cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
3. Take the poblanos out of the oven, flip them over, and put them back in. The side touching the baking dish should be a little blistered and charred.
4. Heat a smaller pan over medium heat and spray with no-stick spray. Break the eggs into a bowl and scramble with a fork. Dump in the broccoli and feta and mix to combine. You can make two personal omelets or make one big one and cut it in half. I go for the one big one because I’m lazy. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cover with a lid. This is a little trick one of my friends taught me. If you cover the omelet with a lid the top will cook without having to flip the omelet. I always make a pig’s ear of my omelets when I flip them so I like this method. The trick is making sure the egg isn’t too thick, or you will burn the bottom before the top cooks through. You could also just flip it or make scrambled eggs and to hell with all this flipping business.
5. By now the potatoes on the bottom of the pan should be browning. Flip them over and stir them around a bit to get more browning, hence the name hash BROWNS. Let those cook for a few more minutes. Keep an eye on the omelet. You will be able to tell when the top is solid or when you can flip it without it slopping around everywhere.
6. Take the poblano out of the oven. The skin should be charred and blistered. Put the poblano in a plastic bag for a few minutes. This will steam and loosen the skin. After a few minutes you should be able to pull off most of the skin. Chop the poblano into small pieces.
7. Remove the potatoes from the heat and stir in the chopped poblano. If the omelet is done cooking, remove that from the heat as well. Plate the potatoes and top with some pico de gallo (of course). Serve with the omelet and some cherries.

Like I said, if you don’t feel like dealing with omelet making just scramble the eggs. I’ve done it before and it works great with the broccoli and feta. I bet next time I visit my boyfriend he will get me to make these hash browns for him. He loves him some hot peppers.