Maybe it’s because my dad favored stocking frozen hash browns in the freezer that frozen tater tots are such a guilty pleasure for me now.

Even though I’ve probably never met a potato I didn’t like, tater tots remain a rare treat, mostly enjoyed at a restaurant.

But “Tater Tot Egg Bake” was the perfect excuse for me to pick up a bag of tots at the grocery store.

This fun dish combines the tots with plenty of beaten eggs to cook up in a cast-iron pan for a treat that’s like a Spanish tortilla crossed with a frittata crossed with a crustless quiche.

The recipe is from the aptly named “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking” (Union Square & Co.), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Carmel Valley’s Caroline Chambers, a former chef and caterer turned recipe developer and cookbook author.

With three sons under age 6, Chambers knows first-hand about how work and life can take over, and leave us with little energy and inclination to cook. That’s why her cookbook chapters are divided not by seasons or dishes, but by the amount of time they take to cook.

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