Brussels Sprouts Hash with Poached Eggs

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Katherine

I love poached eggs. I am constantly on the look out for a new bed for these lovelies to be served with. The latest one is brussels sprouts. I used to hate this veggie. Mostly, because it was served frozen, then boiled… and yuck! Fresh ones have much potential. They are like baby cabbages!

This recipe is fast for a weeknight dinner. It is also good for a Whole 30 or 21 Day Sugar Detox, if you use compliant bacon without added sugar.

Brussels Sprouts Hash with Poached Eggs – Makes two very large servings

1 lb of brussels sprouts
8 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally into thin strips
salt and pepper to taste
1T of apple cider vinegar
4 poached eggs

Gather your brussels sprouts

Put them through a food processor to slice thinly.

Chop your bacon and put into a pan. I used molasses and black pepper bacon. You could use whatever type you want. Add pepper if you are using plain bacon.

Cook the bacon until it is nearly cooked through and you have a nice bit of bacon fat to cook the greens in.

Add the brussels sprouts to the bacon and cook for 5-10 minutes until they are wilted. I err on the shorter side for cooking times because I like my veggies crunchy. Add in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper.

Top with a poached egg. Are there many savoury dishes that don’t taste better with the addition of a poached egg? Didn’t think so.

Egg, bacon and avocado salad

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Katherine

I probably saw this on Pinterest or something. But the idea popped into my head to make this. I love egg salad. But I am extremely picky about it and have to make it myself. Nothing is more repulsive than pre-made slimy egg salad sandwiches.

Even more importantly, nothing is more disappointing than when you send your husband to the fridge in the birthing unit’s patient kitchen to find you something to eat in the middle of the night because you are starving, exhausted, in pain, fiddling around in the dark attempting to breastfeed your one day old baby… and he comes back to report there is nothing there except a few lonely egg salad sandwiches. No thanks. I’ll starve. Thank goodness there was a grocery store nearby and for kind friends who delivered all my favourite foods to me from the other end of the city. Hospital food sucks. Especially sketchy egg salad on wonder bread. Anyhow…

The pic is kinda crappy, and no progress photos because posting this was an after thought, but make it anyway. Ok?

Avocado, egg and bacon salad – this made three servings, served on lettuce as pictured

5 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 small avocados, chopped
a few slices of bacon, chopped and cooked
1/4c of homemade mayo
Salt and pepper
a squirt of lime juice and chopped cilantro (optional)

Mix it all up and enjoy! If you want to save it or pack it in your lunch, put it in a sealed container and press plastic wrap right up against it. This will help reduce the browning from the avocado. Yummy.

Sweet potato, apple, sausage and egg hash

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Katherine

I started my first Whole30 on June 1! I’m excited. This is definitely something I want to do right now. It’s been a very stressful time in my life, and I want to devote some time and energy into making me feel my best physically so I can support those around me in difficult times. It’s only been a few days, and this is a meal I made on day one.

Also, I am relieved to report that black coffee is kinda growing on me. However, I can no longer disguise mediocre coffee with cream. Has to be good stuff. A Starbucks Americano (black) is currently my favourite.

I got the idea for this recipe from the Whole 30 Success Guide. There was a recipe for an apple and sweet potato hash in there that intrigued me (or maybe I’m lying to you. I can’t remember and I can’t be bothered to check). I made this for dinner, but you could make it for breakfast and omit the eggs if you are looking for some egg-free options. It would also reheat well, but if you are going to store and reheat it, cook your eggs separately.

Sweet potato, apple, sausage and egg hash - Serves two very hungry adults and one toddler going through a picky phase (“No yummy meat, mommy!”)

One shallot, thinly sliced
One apple, peeled and julienned
One large sweet potato, peeled and julienned (I used the food processor)
Three sausages – any type. I used garlic from a local grocery store with no fillers (read your labels!)
1 tsp of allspice
four eggs
1 T of coconut oil

Turn on your oven’s broiler. Over medium heat, Saute your shallots in coconut oil or ghee

After a few minutes add the sausage (casings removed and crumbled)

Once the sausage is browned (it’s okay if it is not fully cooked yet), add the sweet potato

Add the julienned apple (I would have used the food processor for the apple too, but my potato was shredded before I froze it!). Sprinkle on the allspice. Cook for another 5 minutes until the mixture is reduced.

Once the mixture is cooked, crack your eggs onto the skillet.

Pop it under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. These ones were a soft-medium poach consistency. Maybe a minute overcooked for a soft poach. Scoop it into a bowl and enjoy!

Poached eggs and smoked salmon salad

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Katherine

I hesitate to call this a recipe. What it is, however, is an example of how simple items in your fridge, pantry or freezer can become a delicious and creative meal with only a wee bit of effort and a pinch of inspiration.

Before I share with you my un-recipe, I’m going to tell you about my veggies. Fresh, local, vegetables! Yesterday, our first Community Supported Agriculture delivery arrived from Bryson Farms. It felt like Christmas when I opened up the cooler to see what was delivered! FUN! This is a two person basket, but I think we’re going to up it to a four person size.

I find this CSA farm to be a bit more expensive than others – okay, and a bit more commercial than others as well, but I like that it’s well-established, they deliver right to my door (weeknight evenings are busy for us!), I can pause it if we are away and not lose out on our weekly share, we can easily do add-ons, indicate if we don’t want something that week, they deliver year round, bla bla bla. I made my kiddo and Mr. Foodie watch this video of the crew working on the farm to make our food. Cool! There is also a bit of a story behind the owners and I kind of support their politics… and I’ll leave it at that. If you’re that interested use your mad Google-skillz.

Poached egg and smoked salmon topped microgreens salad

And now for the main event. This salad is easy. Stupid easy. I first got the idea to put a poached egg on salad from Simply Recipes. Amazing idea. You don’t need dressing because the delicious, gooey, oozing egg yolk coats the greens so beautifully. If you don’t like runny egg yolks, you’re weird. But I respect that. I guess. We got some beautiful microgreens as part of our delivery this week and I knew they would make the perfect base for a salad topped with poached eggs.

Here’s how you do it, and no progress pictures either because there isn’t much to it. It takes 10 minutes (time to boil your water and cook your eggs!), but the actual effort time is maybe 1.5 minutes.

Microgreens, or any type of finely shredded lettuce
Cold smoked salmon – I used maybe 4oz between the two of us
finely sliced red onion
one or two soft poached eggs, I use this method
fresh ground pepper

Put a lovely pile of greens on your plate, top with slices of smoked salmon and onion, top with hot poached eggs and cracked pepper. I put an english muffin under Mr. Foodie’s serving. Enjoy immediately. Well, take the 7 seconds to get a fork and knife, I guess…

Kale, mushroom, pancetta and white cheddar frittata

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Katherine

The incredible, edible egg. I love eggs! They are a fast, cheap and easy way to get protein and good fats into you. I could eat them at every meal and I love them prepared almost any way. One of my favourite quick meals is an omelette or a frittata. I threw together this frittata with the random ingredients I found in my fridge and freezer. It was absolutely delicious! I often make them in individual silicone muffin liners and pack them in my breakfast/lunch to take to work.

Pancetta, kale, mushroom and white cheddar frittata

Makes one pretty big pan. You could half this recipe and be good. Or make it all because it is tasty.

2 cups of chopped kale – fresh or frozen. (I used frozen because it’s what I had on hand, and to be honest I probably only used about one cup. I just dumped the rest of the bag in)
200g (1/2 a pound-ish) pancetta (You could use bacon, but my Costco sells this lovely pancetta that is pre-chopped. I am a big fan of the easy)
16 eggs (Yep. this is a big recipe!)
1 pound of chopped mushrooms (I used pre-sliced baby portobellos, but any type would work)
1 cup (or more!) of a robust cheddar cheese cut into large chunks
Fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Put pancetta in a pan to brown over low heat. (Yes, you’ll notice remnants of kale in there because I started to cook the veg before I had the brilliant idea to add BACON. You can’t go wrong with BACON.

Once the bacon is almost cooked, add kale and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are reduced. Add fresh ground pepper. No salt – the salt from the pancetta and cheese makes this a very salty dish already.

Spread your cooked mixture into a non-stick or well-greased pan. You’ll notice that I used one larger pan and one smaller pan. The reason for this is that I want to test out how this recipe freezes. Grad school classes begin again for me in a week so I’m busy stocking my freezer.

Chop your cheese and lay on top. Use a very robust flavoured cheese. I used Cabot white cheddar that I picked up on my recent Vermont foodcation. Parmesan would work lovely here. So would goat cheese! If you’re not into dairy, you could omit the cheese.

Mix your eggs (add some cream if you’d like – I didn’t) and pour on top of the pan(s). This recipe would likely fill two 8×8 pans. Normally I would use a silicone 9×9 pan for my fritattas but I couldn’t find it.

Place pans on middle oven rack and bake for 30-45 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your pans. My small pan was done in about 30 minutes and the bigger one was closer to 45. Let rest for 5 minutes or so, and cut in! This was equally delicious fresh from the oven as it was cold the next day for breakfast