Keto Chilaquiles a.k.a. "Breakfast Nachos"

• Some quantity of "Keto" / "Low-Carb" tortillas.  The low-carb tortillas that I find work best for this recipe are the brown whole-wheat ones, preferably which have flax in them.  I talk about other substitute tortillas elsewhere in this page -- obviously the "egg crepe" and sliced-cheese tortilla substitutes... don't work for this recipe.  White flour "Carb Balance" tortillas work fine, they're just a bit more fragile than the wheat ones, and don't keep as long.
  
• Oil for frying.
  
• Eggs.  About 2 eggs per serving that you are making.  A dash of cream added to the scrambled eggs makes them fluffier.
  
• Cheese, preferably shredded, but you can use slices if that's what's available. Melted nacho cheese sauce can be used with or without the real cheese.
  
• Optional as desired -- seasonings to taste such as black or cayenne pepper, garlic, small-diced onion or onion powder, chili pepper, adobada powder, canned sliced jalapenos, sliced olives, guacamole, sour cream, salsa casera, etc. etc. 
  
• Optional as available -- make them more hearty with meat such as leftover fajitas (cut small), bacon, shredded chicken or pulled pork.  Other vegetables such as thin sliced bell peppers, sautéed mushrooms, etc. etc.
  

Bet you thought you'd have to give up Chilaquiles and Nachos when you went Keto!  Not the case.  Chilaquiles are essentially Breakfast Nachos, and who doesn't love Nachos?  The thing that makes them a Breakfast food is simply because they should contain a generous amount of eggs. 

Everybody likes different things on their Nachos, so go wild.  There are as many recipes for Chilaquiles as there are cooks.  The degree of spice and pepper is dependent on your own taste.

Many cultures have recipes for breakfast which are meant to get rid of leftover starches (breads, chips) from dinner the night before.  For example, the Czechs make flour dumplings, and you can dice the leftover dumplings from dinner and scramble them with eggs and mushrooms the next day.  Chilaquiles have the same origin.  If you have leftover meat and vegetables from last night's dinner -- including onions, peppers, fajitas or thin slices of meat -- they go great in here.

First you make your own low-carb tortilla chips.  A miracle, you say?  Not exactly.  I find the flavor of these chips is not good enough that I can just eat them out of a bag with salsa, like I used to do with regular corn tortilla chips.  Bleah.  Nevertheless they form a good base layer for dishes that include tortilla chips -- Chilaquiles and very Loaded Nachos.

1) Take around 6 low-carb raw tortillas and cut them into pizza wedges first, then cut the wedges into four small triangle chips each.  Cutting these with scissors tends to make them clump together, so separate them before frying.  This will make at least 3 to 4 servings of Chilaquiles in a big baking dish.

2) Heat around a half-inch to an inch of a high-temperature / high-smoke-point oil in a deep pan.  Coconut oil and avocado oil work well.  Heat it to a good frying temperature (it barely starts to smoke) and then reduce the heat to medium-high, like around 6 to 7 on a dial that goes up to 10.

3) Drop and sprinkle the tortilla triangles into the hot oil.  Generally these things are well-behaved... they will bubble but don't tend to spatter.  Watch out for hot oil spillage, though.  Don't go anywhere or do anything else, because these get done very quickly.  If they brown too quickly, turn your heat down.

4) You will want to remove the chips from the oil with a slotted spoon after only about 30 seconds to a minute max.  Place them on a plate with a paper towel under the chips to help them drain.  The chips continue to cook for several moments from the hot oil they've absorbed.  Therefore, if you wait until they're golden brown, they will end up tasting burned.  Pull them out with your slotted spoon before they look ready.  Also note, most cooks know...  if you fry a very large batch of these, your oil will take on a burned flavor towards the end, and impart that flavor to the chips.  Small to medium batches are better.

5)  Allow these homemade chips to cool and drain.  If you make more than you need right away, store them at room temperature in a sealed ziploc bag with a little salt (maybe a paper towel to absorb moisture) to preserve crispiness.

You're going to line a baking dish with these chips -- do it now, as soon as they're cool enough to handle -- add then you'll add scrambled eggs and smother them with your favorite Nacho toppings.  So you will have to make sure the eggs get cooked, and maybe some of your favorite toppings need cooking as well.  Often in Mexico we simply pour raw scrambled eggs over regular tortilla chips and bake the dish for 40 minutes +/- to be sure the eggs are cooked.  But if you do that with these low-carb chips, they might get burned by the time the eggs are cooked.  I prefer this procedure:

Dice a half an onion into small cubes, dice bell peppers small also, chop a green onion thinly.  If desired, also dice a hot pepper such as an Ancho pepper.  Sautée the two types of onions and the peppers briefly until they only begin to get cooked/soft.  Add some minced or chopped fresh garlic.  If you're adding meat that is not yet cooked, like ground beef or raw chunks of chicken, you should cook the meat most of the way in the pan at this step. Throw in the diced peppers.  Optionally some other vegetables like diced mushrooms could go here.  Add some spices that would make an omelette hearty, such as black pepper, oregano, basil, and/or paprika.  Then break an appropriate number of eggs (2-3 per serving?) into the pan.  Before the eggs set & solidify -- as they're just starting to get cooked, they're still soft and liquid-y -- pour & scatter everything over the baking pan with the chips.  It seems like better Chilaquiles if runny eggs are poured over the chips and coat them (before baking), rather than crumbling cooked eggs into the dish.  But at this point, do what thou wilt.

Some other traditional Nacho toppings can be scattered on top here, such as canned black beans.  As mentioned, some people advise to avoid eating a lot of beans due to phytic acid & lectins.  Some traditional Loaded Nacho toppings are high-carb and should be avoided, including corn or tomatoes.

Smother the dish with as much shredded cheese as you like.  Some people like to cover the dish with tinfoil so the top doesn't get burned, then maybe remove the tinfoil for the final 5 minutes of baking.  Now bake in a 350-degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is well melted.  Between the pan and the oven, the eggs should get cooked, but not over-cooked.  You could do this with a few minutes in the microwave, but an oven tends to get better (crispier) results.

After it comes out of the oven (or served along the side) you can add some other garnishes like cold Guacamole and sour cream, canned Jalapeno peppers, warm Nacho Cheese Sauce or Re-fried Beans, or raw diced onions & cilantro, as desired.  A really hearty plate of Chilaquiles will keep your stomach full until mid-afternoon.