asparagus, arugula and feta quiche on a dill and sweet potato crust

“I’ll have dinner ready before I leave this evening,” I said, blithely. Forgetting for a moment that my kitchen is in full-on renovation mode and looks like this right now:

—That’s how excited I was about the prospect of heading out for a few hours. Never mind that the majority of that time would be spent at parent-teacher conferences.
Point: I promised to make dinner. And as I waved my people off to work and school, slung the baby on a hip, and poured more OJ for the toddler, I scanned my kitchen. This place is a mess. I’m using dressers as countertops because any furniture with a flat surface serves as counter space in a pinch.

So. On to dinner promises.
Ingredient list possibilities for my promise keeping endeavors included . . . Sweet potatoes, eggs, greens, asparagus. Feta. A dash of Parm? Why not. Parmesan makes everything better. Including kitchens. Throw it all together and presto: Asparagus, Arugula, and Feta Quiche on a Dill and Sweet Potato Crust. And as fancy as that sounds (or not, I don’t know, I live in kid land—it sounds fancy to me) it’s a cinch to make. Even if your kitchen is all torn up and you’re busy being someone’s parent.

Enjoy!

ASPARAGUS, ARUGULA AND FETA QUICHE ON A DILL AND SWEET POTATO CRUST 

CRUST
1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon onion flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup flour

In a skillet, heat olive oil and toss in grated sweet potato. Sprinkle on salt, dill, and onion flakes and still until combined. Heat and cook through until potato is soft and begins to crisp and brown along the edges.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add flour, stirring to combine until a sort of dough forms. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then press the crust into a greased pie plate. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.

QUICHE
5 eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon diced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 oz Feta cheese
3 handfuls of greens (I used baby spinach and arugula
1/2 a bunch of asparagus—about 12 stalks—trimmed
A dash of parmesan

In the same mixing bowl you used before (save yourself some dishwashing, right?!) crack eggs and whisk together with cream, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add cheese and greens and stir until everything is well coated with egg mixture. Pour into the prepared sweet-potato crust, and then arrange the trimmed asparagus stalks to your liking. Sprinkle a generous dash of parmesan cheese over the asparagus.

Bake at 350 degrees until the top of the quiche is firm, puffed, and lightly browned. About 35-40 minutes.

deviled eggs

I didn’t color Easter eggs with my kids this year. I am one third raging Mom guilt, one third relief (I didn’t have to clean up the chaotic mess!), and a final third healthier for not having to digest the dye which somehow manages to seep through the shells into my boiled eggs.
Emotions in thirds.
I love fractions.

So, when it comes to logical conclusions, it made sense to boil all the eggs I had left post Easter, and devil them. Is ‘devil’ a verb? To devil. Yes. Okay. The grammar girl in me is satisfied.

For your own satisfaction: Deviled Eggs, traditional style (and Whole 30 friendly!).

Enjoy!

DEVILED EGGS
 

6 eggs (or more if you’re serving a crowd)
Mayo (this is my favorite recipe!)
a dash of salt
a sprinkle of paprika

Boil eggs until hard. About 1.5 minute per egg, so for a batch of six eggs, 8-9 minutes. Adjust your time accordingly.

Once your eggs are boiled, drain off the hot water and cool them down ( I flood my pot and freshly boiled eggs with cold tap water) and then peel them.

Slice the cooled, peeled eggs in half, the long way, and scoop the yoke into a small mixing bowl. And then using a fork, (or if you prefer your deviled egg filling extra smooth—a hand mixer) mash the yokes until smooth. Add about 1 part mayo per three parts egg yokes. So if you end up with about 1 cup of mashed yoke, add 1/3 cup mayo. Blend well, add a dash of salt until the flavor is to your liking, and then with a small spoon (I use a baby spoon because I have a whole bunch of those on hand), scoop a dollop of yoke back into the empty egg. Do with with all of the eggs—you may have yoke filling left over (perfect for a slice of toast!). Top with a sprinkle of paprika and serve chilled.

 

easy egg-drop soup

Sometimes you need a bowl of soup. A quick one.
But soup is notorious (or is nefarious a better word?) for being best when cooked for all the hours over low heat.
Whatever.
I don’t have time for that when I’m hangry. (My auto-correct keeps trying to change that to “hungry” but I really do mean hangry).

So here you go. A soup that takes literally five minutes, one sauce pan, and an egg to whip up. “Easy” seems too descriptive a word. But “tasty?” Now that word doesn’t even come close.

Enjoy.

EASY EGG-DROP SOUP

 In a saucepan heat 2 cups of chicken stock to boiling. Add a dash of salt. Turn burner off.
In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg until frothy and then gently and slowly pour the egg into the hot (but no longer boiling) stock. stir gently with a soft spatula and then let sit for three minutes. Serve topped with diced scallions or other favorite herb blend.

sweet potato hash with a soft egg

Potatoes and eggs are usually the ubiquitous American breakfast food, but if eating clean has taught me anything, it’s that anything can sub-in when it comes to meal norms. And this ‘typical’ breakfast food works just as well for dinner. Especially if you throw in a grilled steak topped with arugula, or something similar.

But for today, this was breakfast. And it was beautiful.
You can mix up the sides endlessly because sweet potatoes play nice with so many flavors and textures. Salad . . . fresh fruit . . . crudités . . .pickled beets . . . a few slices of uncured salami . . . there really is no end to the options.
In my case, it was yellow tomatoes and a slightly overripe avocado.
Hey, whatever works!
Enjoy.

SWEET POTATO HASH WITH A SOFT EGG

1 peeled and shredded sweet potato
1 teaspoon onion flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and grate/shred one sweet potato and set aside.

In a skillet over med/high-high, heat olive oil until hot (but not smoking). toss in onion flakes and allow them to caramelize. Then toss in grated sweet potato and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Turn to coat with olive oil and allow the heat to brown the edges before scraping the pan, turning again, and allowing to brown once more. Scrape and brown the potato until it begins to crisp. Then, with a spoon, hollow out two “nests” in the bed of hash and crack one egg into each nest.

Slide the skillet into a 400-degree, preheated oven and bake the hash and eggs until the egg yokes are covered with a thin while film and the whites are firm.

Remove from oven and plate with fruit, veggies, or meat.

 

garlicky chicken and fresh tomato scramble

You know when you’re so hungry because you forgot to eat breakfast or plan for lunch and it’s 2pm and you’re ready to eat your arm?
Yah. Good times.
Well, this one’s for you.
Prep and cook time: 10 minutes flat. Boom.
You can eat and just tuck that Hangry back in a little.
The world is safe for another day.
I love how a good scramble can do that. *wink*
Enjoy!

GARLICKY CHICKEN AND FRESH TOMATO SCRAMBLE

 Note: This recipe is super versatile. Fresh out of chicken? Turkey works. Or pork. Or last night’s steak. Or even a can of tuna. Not a meat person? No biggie. Leave it out.

Meat of some kind, about 1/2 a cup, or not! (See note above).
1 fresh tomato
1 teaspoon diced garlic
1 teaspoon onion flakes
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon clarified butter

In a frying pan over medium heat, melt butter and toss in meat. Turn and coat and then toss in garlic, onion, and diced tomato. Simmer and mix until everything is heated through and smells AMAZING. Crack two eggs right into the pan, and using a spatula mix it around a little to combine all the ingredients. Then allow the whole thing to cook, covered, for about three minutes or until everything has set. You shouldn’t have any runny eggs.
Serve hot with your favorite fruit or veggie.

 

spinach quiche with sweet-potato crust

Don’t you just love when you can make a breakfast meal that doubles as dinner? Two birds, one stone. Best thing ever. And this quiche is exactly that. Save, no birds die. Speaking figuratively is hard.
This quiche boasts a tiny bit of spice, courtesy of the salsa, but it’s mellowed by the eggs and spinach, transforming it into a savory dish more than heated one. The ‘crust,’ such as it is, can be either crispy or soft —a similar consistency as the filling, depending on how long you bake it before adding the filling. It’s your choice. Breakfast? Dinner? Crispy? Soft? Whatevs. It’s all delicious. Enjoy!

SPINACH QUICHE WITH SWEET-POTATO CRUST

Crust:
2 sweet potatoes, baked
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt

Quiche Filling:
8 eggs
1/2 cup water
½ pint jar of salsa, strained and liquid drained away
2 cups organic greens like spinach/arugula/kale/spring greens
salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning

Crust:
Scrub 2 sweet potatoes and pierce skin with a sharp knife, allowing them to breathe while baking (so much better than exploding inside your oven). Place potatoes directly on the rack of a 400-degree preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. Make sure the burner is lined with foil as the potatoes will drip while baking.

Slice baked and cooled potatoes lengthwise down the middle. Scoop potato into a mixing bowl and discard the skin. Add one egg and salt. Mix using a hand-mixer and then spread into the bottom of a greased baking dish or pie plate.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until spongy. Add a few minutes if you prefer a more crispy crust. Set aside while you mix up the filling.

Quiche filling:
In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, water, strained salsa, salt, pepper, and seasoning. Mix with a hand mixer until well incorporated. Add in greens and mix again on low. Pour contents over baked sweet potato crust.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until egg is baked through and lightly browned on top.

Note: This recipe makes enough crust and quiche for two 9” pie plates. Freeze one if you like!

crispy brussels sprouts with a soft egg

I have this distinct memory of my first brussels sprout experience.
I could wax poetic about texture (there was a lot) and flavor (it was bad), color (definitely bland and kind of . . . wilted), but I’ll be brief and just say that my brussels sprout sensibilities have matured as I’ve aged. I’ve also learned how to cook them a bit differently than whoever cooked them for me that first time. So, in addition to culinary maturity, the actual vegetable dish itself has improved.
It’s all good. In fact, it’s quite good. Brussels sprouts are actually one of my all time favorite vegetables.

Hear that younger self? If time travel is a thing I hope you Google yourself, find this post, and read these words: YOU WILL LIKE BRUSSLES SPROUTS.

Awesome. Now if the time-space continuum breaks you’ll know it’s my fault.
That’s the power of a properly cooked vegetable. And it’s even more powerful when topped with a soft egg.
Enjoy!

CRISPY BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH A SOFT EGG

1 lb brussles sprouts
3 + tablespoons clarified butter
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs

Begin by washing the brussels sprouts in a colander under cold water. Then slice the edge of the bottom stem off, removing the first layer of leaves. Pull these away and then slice the sprout in half. Do this with each sprout. It’s a little tedious, but totally worth it.

Once all of your sprouts are cleaned, heat the butter in a large flat-bottom pan over med-high heat. If you are so inclined, feel free to add more butter. Because butter.
Toss the cleaned sprouts in the pan and turn with a spatula to coat evenly. Salt and pepper generously, cover, and let the heat do its magic. Leave them sit for 3 minutes or so, and then turn again. Leave for another three minutes and turn. The goal here is to allow the heat to soften the sprouts while gently crisping the outer edges. You are going for a browned-almost-brunt edge on the majority of the sprouts without overcooking or over-softening them. Mushy sprouts are gross. No amount of butter can fix them.

When the edges are browned, remove the sprouts from the pan, turn down the heat a bit and cook the eggs.  Crack the shells gently so as not to break the yokes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and allow the eggs to cook just a couple of minutes—until the yellow yoke is covered with a very think film of white.

Plate the brussels sprouts evenly between four plates, and using a soft spatula, gently top each pile of sprouts with a soft egg.

*makes four servings

poached salmon in curry sauce with a soft egg

Salmon is kind of a regular thing at my house. My husband and I laugh because it is THE dish my mom made the first time he (my then boyfriend) came over to eat with my family. He credits it as having monumental influence in our relationship.
But I’m afraid I’ve grown generally lazy with salmon over time. I mean, it’s pretty good on it’s own so why why mess, right? Lemon, salt, pepper, oven, done. Boom. Dinner. But that exact scenario played out a couple times a month starts to get a little tired over long periods.
So yesterday, there was this gorgeous salmon fillet waiting in the fridge, and I suddenly had a wave of 3:30pm motivation. I credit the extra shot of espresso and the late afternoon nap the baby spontaneously decided to take. Low and behold my coffee and I were flipping through my back-log of gorgeous food mags, and I stumbled upon curry-poached-chicken-thighs with red pepper sauce. Which, while lovely, contained a list of ingredients I didn’t have. But it got me thinking. What if I poached my salmon in something like that? So here we go!
This is my salmon version, far less spicy than a traditional curry, but still high with cumin, and a gorgeous saffron in color. Enjoy!

POACHED SALMON IN ‘CURRY’ SAUCE WITH A SOFT EGG

Salmon fillet or two (Enough to feed your people)
2 cups of whole fat coconut Milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (or more) Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon curry spices/paste/or an Indian-influence spice blend
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 diced onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a generous dash of dried basil leaves
Eggs —one to top each serving
Fresh basil (for garnish)

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter and simmer diced onions. Add curry spices/whatever blend of Indian-influence spices you choose. You can also mix your own! (I have a blend that contains tellicherry, black pepper, lemon peel, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and cayenne. I realize that these do not dictate a curry. Not by a long shot, but combined with the Sriracha, the cumin and turmeric blend to give the sauce a very Indian-like flavor.) Continue simmering and add coconut milk. Stir in salt, lemon juice, and Sriracha sauce. Be sure to taste as you add the Sriracha. A little goes a long way and you don’t want to overheat this sauce or your salmon will be overpowered.
Cook on low until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the salmon fillets, sprinkle with basil flakes, cover, and simmer until salmon is cooked through. Leave the pan covered and remove from heat.

In a separate skillet, add water (roughly a 1/4 inch covering the bottom of the pan), and heat until boiling. Lower heat to a slow simmer and poach eggs. Add them one at a time and cook at intervals if necessary so each egg does not blend with its neighbor while being poached.

Plate salmon filets, top with eggs, and garnish with fresh basil if desired.

 

Salmon and dill omelet

Okay. Favorite food combinations: Go.
Chocolate and peanut butter . . .
Carmel and apples . . .
Yogurt and strawberry jam . . .
Coffee and cream . . .
French fries and vinegar  . . .
salmon and dill . . .
Wine and everything . . .
Yes. Wine and EVERYTHING.
But we can pretend that one didn’t make quite such a strong appearance on the list and back up to the item before it.
Salmon and dill. I get kind of drooly just thinking about this.
And I made it for breakfast-lunch . . . brunch . . . today. So my love is REAL.

Omelet: Salmon, dill, wilted spinach, garlic, caramelized peppers. *dies*
Sundays were made for this kind of food, and if you have more than your own little tribe to feed, it’s one of those dishes that’s a quick route to wow. So, think company/visiting guests/in-laws if you need a go-to breakfast plan. I’ve made this before with cream cheese, and it was amazeballs. But it’s even better with homemade mayo!
WHAT?! 
Yes. I know.

SALMON AND DILL OMELET

1 sweet pepper (yellow, orange, or red)
1 can of salmon in water (or a fresh fillet baked/grilled/smoked/etc if you have it!)
1 small handful of spinach
1 teaspoon diced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of dill
3 eggs
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup of coconut milk
pepper and salt to taste
1 Tablespoon butter

In a small sauté pan, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter and sauté garlic and diced peppers until the peppers start to brown and caramelize around the edges. Add drained salmon, spinach, dill, and mayo. Lower heat, mix to combine, and cover.
In a large sauté pan, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Mix eggs, coconut milk, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl until frothy. Test the pan to make sure it’s hot and then pour egg mixture into the pan, lifting it off the burner and coating the sides of the pan with the mixture repeatedly. In this way the egg cooks up the sides and distributes evenly. As it cooks, continue lifting and coating the sides until there is no more runny egg and the edges begin to brown and lift away from the pan. The egg will still be shiny and wet in the bottom. Add the salmon mixture to the pan on only one side. Imagine drawing a line down the middle of the pan. Spread the salmon mixture evenly on only one side—like a half-moon—and then with a rubber spatula, turn over the empty half of the omelet until it covers the full half. Like the top and bottom of a sandwich. Gently slide onto a plate and serve with a side of fruit.

Makes 2 omelets