When the summer veggies are plentiful, every meal can be a treat. Recently, I’ve been making myself some really fantastic breakfasts, using a formula simple enough to manage before the coffee’s ready.
- Set a small skillet over low to medium heat. Chop up whatever veggies look good, and throw them in with a little salt and some good butter or olive oil. Herbs are nice too, or a bit of a flavorful liquid.
- Cook until it’s almost done. Scoot everything to the outside and crack an egg in the middle.
- When the white is mostly set, clamp on a lid and let it cook another minute or so. The steam from the veggies will cook the top off the egg.
- Remove lid, admire, and eat it with a nice crunchy piece of toast.
I’ve mostly been doing this with zucchinis (½ smallish green zucchini, grated or sliced – use lots of pepper!), mushrooms (a few nice crimini mushrooms sliced thin, cooked in butter, and finished off with some sherry vinegar or red wine), and tomatoes (6 small wedges of any kind of tomato, cooked with olive oil, basil, and balsamic vinegar) — but I think it’d work for just about anything, as long as the veggies are top-notch.
This morning I made the best one yet:
Sunny-side-up egg with wine-poached heirloom tomato
- ¼ large heirloom tomato (like brandywine or purple Cherokee), cut into wedges
- 1 tablespoon butter
- generous splash – maybe ¼ cup? – white wine, something bright and snappy
- salt, lots of salt
- 1 perfect little egg
- Place the tomato, butter, and white wine in a small skillet set over low heat. Salt liberally.
- After a minute or two, flip the tomato wedges. They should be barely cooked on the first side.
- Let cook briefly, then move tomato wedges to outside of pan. Crack an egg in the center. When white is mostly set, lid it up and let it steam for a minute.
- To serve, spoon out the tomato and then the egg. Pour the juicy goodness down on the egg. Yum!
