Winter’s Don’t-Miss Dish
Ask Crista Fleming about any dish on the menu at Scarlett Begonia in Santa Barbara and you’ll get a story. A delicious food story, with characters and influences and reasons for each ingredient, lingers behind each creation being served at breakfast, lunch or the bakery counter.
Fleming’s varied background in catering, culinary school, traveling, cooking and editing a food and lifestyle magazine gives her restaurant a rich background in flavors—and the thoughtful dishes show it. On the menu this winter, Green Huevos was inspired by a trip to Big Sur, where Fleming experienced a new kind of huevos rancheros with grilled shrimp and local garnishes. After collaborating with her culinary team, she decided to make her huevos green, using tomatillos and watermelon radishes from Sunrise Organic Farms in Lompoc, and avocados from AvoGanic in Carpinteria. Santa Barbara’s coastal farms provide ideal growing conditions for these veggies even into winter. Fleming loves the bright, tart flavor of tomatillos, whether in this cooked sauce or in a raw salsa. She balances it with fresh guacamole—made simply with just five ingredients: local avocado, onion, tomato, salt, lemon—and a garnish of big, gorgeous watermelon radish slices. It’s almost too pretty to eat.
To make Green Huevos, she roasts tomatillos in the oven until lightly browned, then blends with garlic, onion, water, salt and pepper. She makes guacamole and warms up some black beans.
Next, she heats frying oil in a skillet, and lightly fries two corn tortillas. Then she sautés shrimp until just pink (1–2 minutes per side) and, finally, fries an egg to your liking. To assemble, she spreads some tomatillo sauce on the plate, layers the tortillas with beans and sauce and slides the egg on top, sprinkling queso fresco around the plate. Then she tops with the shrimp, fresh guacamole, micro cilantro and big slices of watermelon radish.
