Poached Eggs with Rosemary Tomato Sauce

This is a great brunch recipe and very versatile. Other herbs and seasonings can be substituted for rosemary. Instead of tomato sauce, you can put poached eggs over toast, a salad, beans, pasta, rice, etc. Once you get the hang of poaching eggs, you’ll want to do it again and again! It’s a simple process and the result is beautiful. If you want to poach more than 2 eggs at once, use a bigger pan to avoid crowding or have 2 pots/pans going on at once.

Total Time: 30 minutes

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Rosemary Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil

4 large tomatoes, chopped

½ onion, diced

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

Poached Eggs

8 eggs (2 for each person)

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp salt

1. Heat up a large sauté pan to medium heat.

2. Add the olive oil and heat. Add the onions and stir occasionally until they become translucent, 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes have cooked down, add the rosemary. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer.

4. Make the poached eggs: Bring about an inch of water to a boil in a small deep skillet or a pot. Add the salt and vinegar, and lower the heat to the point where it barely bubbles. One at a time, break the eggs into a shallow bowl or cup and slip them into the water.

5. Cook for 3-5 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow the water to drain off for a couple seconds.

6. Season the rosemary tomato sauce with salt and pepper. When it’s the way you like it, spoon ¼ of it on a plate. Add 2 poached eggs on top. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with crusty bread.

Happy Eating!

Love,

Yang

Eggs, Greens, and Tomatoes

This recipe is less of a recipe than it is a concept. That is, once you know the basics, you can go to town, or as I’ll mention below, places around the world!

The concept is this, and it is easier than you might expect:

Eggs + veggies + additional toppings/spices = a fast, delicious, and healthy meal with endless combinations!

You can internationalize this, too! Add some garam masala to Indianize this culinary concept.

OR, try adding some soy sauce, Shao Hsing rice wine, Asian sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and chopped cilantro to Sinicize the concept! Whisk yourself away to Greece by adding oregano and feta for some Greek flavor, or for an Italian twist, toss in some fresh basil leaves, thyme, oregano, crushed red pepper, and mozzarella. Mamma Mia, indeed!

Other ingredients that I would highly recommend: red curry paste (or any other curry paste), caramelized onions, roasted garlic, chili oil (or any other flavored oil), Chinese 5 spice (jerk seasoning, taco seasoning, or any other seasoning blends), sriracha, harissa, different kinds of cheeses, etc.

This concept is also a great way to use up your leftovers from last night.

Try to use canola, peanut, vegetable, sunflower or other oils that do not burn at medium to high heat. Most imported olive oil has high acidity, and because of this, burns at high temperatures. Depending on the type of olive oil you use, it can burn and not only impart a bitter taste to your food but also become carcinogenic.

 

Serves 1

Time: 15 minutes

2-3 eggs

Handful or more of chard or any other dark leafy green (spinach, kale, collard greens, beet greens, sweet potato leaves, etc.)

1 ripe tomato

2 tbsp of canola oil

1 small block of pepper jack cheese (or any other cheese. Feta is also a favorite of mine)

Seasonings (any kind you want, I like Mrs. Dash’s salt-free Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend)

Salt and pepper (to taste)

 

 1. To save time, heat up your skillet at medium-high heat.

2. In the meantime, dice your tomato, chop up your chard and separate the stems from the leaves, and cut your small block of cheese into small cubes.

3. Add around 1 tbsp of canola oil to the skillet. Throw in your tomato and chard stems and let them soften for a minute or two.

4. Throw in your chard leaves and let them wilt, which should take less than a minute.

5. Set aside your chard and tomato mixture in a separate bowl or on a plate.

6. In the same skillet (no need to wash), heat 2 tbsp of canola oil at medium heat.

7. Crack 3 eggs into the skillet and let them sit for about a minute. Once the whites are no longer translucent, break the yolk and swirl them around. Now move your egg mixture around constantly until they become scrambled eggs.

8. At this point, dump in your tomato and chard mixture and stir.

9. Once all of the ingredients are well integrated, add the small bits of cheese and other seasonings and stir to combine once again.

10. After about a minute, the cheese should have melted and the seasonings should have permeated your food nicely. At this point, you can add any fresh herbs or spices, add salt and pepper to taste, do a quick toss, and serve.

Happy eating!

Love,

Yang

My Perfect Bowl of Oatmeal

You can make this oatmeal ahead of time in a big batch and refrigerate the rest; simply microwave it for a minute or two to reheat it. You can make a large batch or a small one, just make sure the oats to water ratio is about 1:4. A batch of cooked steel cut oatmeal will last for about a week in the fridge. You can use rolled oats (which take less time to cook), but steel cut oats are preferred due to their nutty flavor, chewy texture, and higher nutritional content. Dates are easier to chop when they’ve been refrigerated. To pit a date, slice a date in half lengthwise and the pit will come out easily. If you’re watching your sugar intake, omit the maple syrup, as the banana and dates provide enough natural sweetness. Oatmeal is incredibly versatile: you can top a bowl with fresh or dried fruit, nuts, spices, cocoa powder, Nutella, nut butters, ground flax seed, etc. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Time: 45 minutes, largely unattended

• 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal (cheapest in the bulk section at Whole Foods. You can also get a bag from Bob’s Red Mill or a tin of McCann’s)
• 4 cups of water
• 1 ripe banana, sliced
• Chopped pecans (as many as you like)
• 3-4 Fresh dates, pitted and chopped (international produce section at Safeway)
• Cinnamon (to taste)
• Vanilla extract (to taste)
• Maple Syrup or honey (optional)
• Greek yogurt (optional)

1. Boil the water in a medium sized pot.

2.  Pour the steel cut oats into the water, reduce heat to low.

3.  Cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot.

4. While the oatmeal is cooking, slice the banana, remove the pits from the dates and roughly chop them.

5. In the last several minutes of cooking, add in a small amount of vanilla extract and cinnamon and stir. The oatmeal will be done when it is not too watery and has a thick nutty texture.

6. Pour the oatmeal into a bowl, top it with the sliced banana, chopped pecans, chopped dates, a dollop of Greek yogurt, and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey.

Happy eating!

Love,

Yang