Rocket Pizza with Poached Eggs

I loved this pizza for two reasons. One: it was super fast to throw together (like, 20 minutes) and was so delicious. Two: it made me feel really French. The first time I ever saw an egg on a pizza was at this super touristy restaurant called Pizza Pino on the Champs Elysees. I must have been, like, 13 and I had never seen such a bizarre sight in my life as an egg on a pizza. I'm glad I learned to accept it, though, because it is so good. A poached egg definitely turns a pizza into a knife-and-fork meal, but it's worth it due to all of that runny-yolk goodness.

P.S. What's with the "rocket"? Yes, I know it's just a fancy word for arugula. Deal with it, it makes me feel European. (As if the poached egg pizza wasn't enough...)

Rocket Pizza with Poached Eggs

From Cooking Light

• 1 package refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used focaccia flatbread dough from Trader Joe's)
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 oz.) shaved fresh parmesan or romano cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 4 large eggs
• 5-oz. package baby arugula
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F. Unroll pizza dough on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray; place in preheating oven. Bake as oven heats for 7 minutes.

Combine the ricotta and 1/4 cup parmesan/romano. Remove pan from oven. Quickly spread cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Return pan to oven and bake for 5 minutes.

While pizza bakes, add water to a large skillet, filling two-thirds full. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer. Add vinegar. One by one, break each egg into a small bowl and pour gently into the pan. Cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Carefully remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon.

Combine arugula, remaining 1/4 cup parmesan/romano cheese, and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well. Top pizza with arugula mixture and eggs; sprinkle with extra pepper if desired. Cut into 4 pieces.

Skillet-Poached Eggs with Braised Peppers and Onions

If you ask anybody what the worst standard interview question is, I'm pretty sure most people would say it's, "What's your greatest weakness?" Ugh, that question sucks. Most people try to come up with an answer that's really a strength (see: "I'm a perfectionist") and it just never works out well. But if you were to ask me, "What's your greatest weakness as a cook?", I have an honest answer for that one. It's impatience.

Let's be real, by the time 7 or 8 o'clock rolls around and I've been working all day and it's time to cook dinner, I am a hungry hungry hippo. I've been known to shave a few minutes off of recipes here and there in the interest of getting food into my stomach faster. Once in a while, though, this approach works out better than expected. Take this skillet-poached egg recipe (which is delicious, by the way): I was feeling super impatient so I took the eggs out of the skillet even though I was sure they weren't done enough. Lo and behold, they ended up being done perfectly -- runny but not too runny, just right for dipping hunks of bread into. Yum.

Skillet-Poached Eggs with Braised Peppers and Onions
From Real Simple

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 red bell peppers, sliced
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon paprika (or smoked paprika if you're feeling crazy)
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Country bread or baguette, for serving

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and onions and cook, stirring often, until beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 6 to 8 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes (with their juices), paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper to the skillet. Cover and simmer until the liquid has thickened slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and season again as necessary.

Using a spoon, make 8 shallow wells in the vegetables and crack an egg into each. Season each egg with a pinch of salt and a twist of the pepper grinder. Cover and cook over medium heat until the egg whites are set, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with the bread.

Corn Tortilla & Egg Scramble

I'm filing this one under "breakfast," but this meal is seriously something that could be eaten at any time of day. Everybody loves a little breakfast for dinner every once in a while, am I right? But we had this one for breakfast on a lazy, sunny Saturday morning. What a great way to start the day. 

Corn Tortilla & Egg Scramble

From Everyday Food

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 corn tortillas, torn into small pieces
• 1/2 white onion, diced small
• 1 large poblano chile, seeded and diced small
• 1 medium tomato, diced small
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Salsa and/or hot sauce, for serving (optional)

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add tortillas and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and crisp, about 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Discard all but 2 teaspoons oil from skillet. Add onion and chile and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomato and cook until it begins to break down, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add eggs, tortillas, and cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are set, about 3 minutes. Serve with salsa and/or hot sauce if desired.

Serves 4

New Potato and Chive Frittata

Shalom, everybody! I hope that Passover is treating you well so far, and that your leavened bread cravings are few and far between. I'm not Jewish, but the boyfriend is, so in our apartment we are chametz-free until next Tuesday evening. Let me tell you, it is difficult to be a vegetarian during Passover. Not only is bread forbidden, other no-no's include all grains, legumes, and corn. That doesn't leave much to work with when meat isn't an option. But we've been doing all right and managed to host a lovely seder on Monday evening anyway.

Walter was excited about the seder

Today's recipe was a casual mid-Passover meal we had last night. Made simply from potatoes, eggs, chives, salt, and pepper, this frittata still manages to be delicious. (I meant to include some asparagus in it, and I'm still putting that as an option in the recipe, but my asparagus went bad in the fridge so I had to leave it out last night, as you can see in the picture.)

This frittata is a total snap to prepare (once you've got your potatoes sliced up). And it goes great with matzo!

New Potato and Chive Frittata

• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, washed and sliced thinly
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
• 8 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Place the potatoes in a steamer basket and steam for 3 minutes. Add the asparagus, if using, and steam an additional minute. (Just steam the potatoes for 4 minutes straight if not including asparagus.) Remove from heat.

Preheat your broiler. Meanwhile, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high. Add the potatoes (and asparagus) to the skillet and cook a few minutes or until the potatoes are just starting to turn golden brown. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the chives onto the potatoes. Add the eggs to the skillet, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are mostly set. Uncover the skillet and place it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the top is just beginning to brown. Cut into 4 wedges and serve.

Quinoa and Squash Gratin

How bummed out are you about this whole New York Times paywall thing? Personally, I read a lot more than 20 articles on the Times website a month, especially in their Dining & Wine section. Every recipe I've tried from them has been pretty stellar. Fortunately, it seems that if you click on a link to an article from social media or a search engine, it doesn't count toward your 20-articles-per-month allotment -- so all you really have to do is follow @nytimesdining on Twitter, since they post the link to every article and recipe. But that takes all the fun out of browsing! Browsing is what first led me to this awesome quinoa and squash gratin recipe from last fall. It's fairly simple to put together, is a real crowd pleaser, and holds up very well as lunch leftovers the next day. Grabbing the recipe was definitely worth using up one of my 20 articles.

Quinoa and Squash Gratin
From the New York Times

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
• 1 1/2 pounds summer squash, diced (I used 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese (2 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a two-quart baking dish or gratin. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add the summer squash, thyme and rosemary. Cook, stirring often, until the squash is tender but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and stir in the squash mixture, the cooked quinoa and the cheese. Mix well and season, then scrape into the baking dish. Place in the oven, and bake 35 minutes or until it’s set and the top is lightly browned. Serve hot, warm or room temperature.

Fingerling-Leek Hash with Swiss Chard and Eggs

It's no secret that my favorite meal of the week is brunch. Breakfast food is pretty much the best, and brunch is a legitimate excuse to eat it after you've slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning. But sometimes you've got a busy Sunday planned, and there's just no time for a leisurely brunch. Yesterday was one of those days. I was having a productivity day: morning errands (farmers market, Trader Joe's, buying a printer), followed by a thorough apartment-cleaning, laundry, some afternoon friend time, and lots of basketball watching (even though my brackets are totally busted at this point).

So I missed brunch, but there was a consolation prize in sight: this breakfast-inspired dinner. A lovely springtime potato-leek hash with my favorite seasoning (smoked paprika, yay!) and fried eggs. Perfect with toast, and perfectly acceptable to be eaten in your pajamas at 8pm.

Fingerling-Leek Hash with Swiss Chard and Eggs
From Cooking Light

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups sliced leeks (about 2 large)
• 12 ounces fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise (about 4 cups)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 4 cups thinly sliced trimmed Swiss chard (about 1 bunch)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Gruyere cheese
• Toast, for serving (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan. Add leek; cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add potatoes and garlic; cook 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chard; cook 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a spoon, push potato mixture aside to make 4 egg-size spaces. Crack 1 egg into each space; sprinkle remaining paprika, salt, and pepper over eggs. Cover and cook 3 minutes; sprinkle cheese over potato mixture. Cover again and cook 2 more minutes or until egg yolks are lightly set. Serve with toast.

Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs

There's a definite division of cooking labor in our apartment. While I handle most food preparation tasks, Joe is the go-to guy for anything involving eggs: scrambling, frying, hard-boiling, even pickling. That's not to say that I can't cook an egg, or that Joe isn't great at cooking all sorts of other things (he is); it's just that he has a comparative advantage in the egg preparation category.

So last night I did most of the legwork for this very yummy meal: manning the rice cooker, prepping veggies, mixing up a sweet-spicy Thai chili sauce. But I saved the very last task for when Joe got home from work -- frying four eggs, which he did to the perfect degree of doneness. And then our meal felt like a collaborative joint effort, which added to the deliciousness in an intangible, but definitely real, way.

Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs and Chili Sauce
From Real Simple

• 1 cup short-grain brown rice
• 1/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 3-4 teaspoons Sriracha or Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 bunch broccoli, florets broken apart and stalks sliced thinly
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin sticks
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable/canola oil
• 4 eggs

Cook the rice according to package instructions. In a small bowl, combine the sweet chili sauce, Sriracha, sesame oil, and vinegar; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 F. After the rice has been cooking for about 20 minutes, place the broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet; toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook, covered, 2 to 3 minutes for slightly runny yolks. Serve the vegetables and eggs over the rice and drizzle with the sauce.

Two Potato and Beet Hash with Poached Eggs and Greens

During the week, dinner tends to be a slightly rushed affair. I'm just so tired when I get home from work, not to mention starving and slightly low-blood-sugar-cranky.

But on Sunday evenings, with errands out of the way and the obligatory dog park trip behind me, I like to spend a while cooking up something special. Something that takes a little more effort than I would put in on a weeknight. Something especially delicious.

Tonight, with football on TV in the background, I made this seriously awesome fall dinner. It made the entire apartment smell like fried onions and sage. The hash is autumn root vegetable goodness personified; the poached eggs' broken yolks create a rich, practically sinful sauce; and the fresh greens brighten up the plate and keep everything light and in balance. Yeah, this meal took a little more time, and a little more effort, but it was so worth it.

 Two Potato and Beet Hash with Poached Eggs and Greens

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 3/4 pound)
• 2 cups cubed peeled sweet potato (about 3/4 pound)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, divided
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup cubed peeled cooked beets (about 1/2 pound)
• Salt and pepper
• 5 teaspoons red wine vinegar, divided
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 6 cups spring greens, frisee, curly endive, or other greens

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; saute for 5 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Add potatoes, 2 teaspoons sage, and garlic; cook for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in beets and salt and pepper to taste; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add water to a large skillet, filling two-thirds full. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer gently. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar. Break each egg into a custard cup or small ramekin, and pour gently into pan of water. Cook for 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon sage and a bit of salt and pepper evenly over the eggs.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 2 teaspoons vinegar, pinch of salt and pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and mustard in a large bowl, stirring with a whick. Add greens, toss to coat. Serve with hash and eggs.