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By Becky Krystal

Loaded Potato Chips With Steak, Eggs and Salsa Verde. (Tom McCorkle/For The Washington Post; food styling by Gina Nistico)

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Hi, all. Hope your week went smoothly. We survived our first week back at school with relatively few hiccups, which I consider a huge win. We did run out of our meal-prepped food a bit earlier in the week than I would have liked, but thankfully, there’s always quesadillas.

There’s also always potato chips. This week, we released our refreshed ranking of 12 top-selling bags, and if that doesn’t send you straight to the grocery store snack aisle, I’m not sure what will. While it’s tempting to grab a handful of chips in between meals, have you ever tried making them the foundation of a full dish? That’s exactly what you should do on those evenings when you’re not sure what’s for dinner.

Food writer Justine Lee shows us how in this week’s featured recipe, Loaded Potato Chips With Steak, Eggs and Salsa Verde. Think nachos, but with a different crunchy base. You start by searing a boneless strip steak in a skillet, after which you slice the meat into thin strips. Next, fry up a few eggs. Then add those hearty toppings on top of the chips, finished with convenient jarred salsa verde and a scattering of cilantro. The vibes are tailgate meets breakfast-for-dinner, and my entire family, including my fourth grader, devoured it.

The beauty of this approach is that you can mix up the toppings (protein, sauce and supplemental garnishes) however you like. That kind of flexibility makes it ideal for those Thursday or Friday nights when you’re trying to create something out of nothing with the odds and ends hanging around the refrigerator and pantry. Below you’ll find a few more recipes that can be pulled together with what you have on hand.

Ellie Krieger’s Pkhali (Georgian Beet, Carrot and Walnut Dip) is another such dish. As written, the recipe calls for the titular root vegetables, but you can easily employ whatever others you need to finish off. Different nuts or seeds can replace the walnuts, too. Then serve with a variety of household staples, including crackers, crostini (a great use for stale bread) and crudités. Whatever you pick, you’ll enjoy the dip’s dance of sweet, sharp and tangy flavors.

If you’re staring at a bunch of ingredients and wondering what to do with them, I can help in my live weekly cooking chat Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Send along your query now, then come back to join the conversation in real time.

Until next week, happy cooking.

Pkhali (Georgian Beet, Carrot and Walnut Dip)

(Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky)

For this take on the traditional Georgian dip, beets and carrots are roasted until tender, then mixed with ground walnuts, garlic, spices, and a splash each of vinegar and oil.

By Ellie Krieger

Loaded Potato Chips With Steak, Eggs and Salsa Verde

Loaded Nachos

Sheet Pan Frittata

Fromage Fort

Recipe of the week

(Tom McCorkle/For The Washington Post; food styling by Gina Nistico)

Loaded Potato Chips With Steak, Eggs and Salsa Verde

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

Save or print the recipe

Make ahead: The steak needs to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking.

Storage: Refrigerate any leftover steak for up to 4 days.

Servings: 2 to 4

Active time: 35 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins, including bringing the steak to room temperature

Ingredients

One (16-ounce) boneless New York strip steak
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 large eggs
5 ounces kettle-style sea salt potato chips
1/2 cup jarred salsa verde, such as Herdez, plus more for serving
Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving (optional)

Steps

1. Bring the steak to room temperature, at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Thoroughly pat the meat dry with paper towels, then season lightly with salt and pepper.

2. In a medium (10-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until shimmering. Add the steak and cook on all sides (including the fat cap and edges), until the meat is deeply browned and the internal temperature on an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the steak reads about 5 degrees short of your desired serving temperature (about 6 minutes total to reach an internal temperature of 125 degrees for medium-rare). When flipping the steak, move it to the other side of the skillet for better browning, and adjust the heat as needed if the steak starts to get too dark. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes, then thinly slice against the grain.

3. To the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and set over medium heat. Add 2 of the eggs and cook until the whites are fully set and the yolk is still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate, then repeat with the remaining 2 eggs.

4. Arrange the chips on the bottom of a quarter- or half-sheet pan. Top with the steak slices and eggs, then drizzle with the salsa verde and, if desired, garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with more salsa verde on the side.

From food writer Justine Lee. Tested by Becky Krystal.

Nutrition information per serving (4 ounces steak, 1 egg and generous 1 ounce chips), based on 4: Calories: 478; Total Fat: 28 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Cholesterol: 231 mg; Sodium: 658 mg; Carbohydrates: 23 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Sugar: 1 g; Protein: 34 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

New York strip steak >> other boneless steaks, with an adjustment to the cooking time as needed.
Cilantro >> parsley.
To make this meatless >> skip the steak, and top the chips with cooked vegetables or beans, if desired.