Eggs with rustic pesto and green beans
Serves 1
Pesto
4 oz. fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
¼-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
splash of lemon
salt and pepper
Eggs
Olive oil or butter
2 eggs
2 cups haricots verts (French green beans), stems removed
Preheat the oven to 400 ºF.
Chop the basil and garlic very fine, and place in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.
Line a rimmed baking pan with foil, and place the green beans on the foil. Sprinkle with a little salt, and add a splash of water; fold the foil up to form a little parcel in which the beans can steam. Place in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes, until tender.
Heat the olive oil or butter in a pan. Crack the eggs in, being careful not to break the yolks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook to desired doneness.
Place the eggs on a place, alongside the green beans. Spoon the pesto over the top and serve.
Eggs with feta and arugula
Serves 1
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
2 oz. good quality feta
1 large handful of arugula
Salt and pepper
Crusty bread
Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Break the eggs in, being careful not to break the yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the whites are barely set, then crumble on the feta. Continue to cook until feta is warmed and melted but yolks are still runny.
Transfer to a plate and immediately throw on the arugula. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the egg yolks.
You all know the question. Chicken or egg?
Egg.
Eggs have seven grams of protein each, all bundled up in neat little ovals and packaged in adorable little rows of six, like schoolchildren waiting to be taught. Yet the egg: in its round, smooth perfection, has unfortunately been delegated to the gruesome culinary category of “staple.” Metaphorically, literally, however you look at it, the egg has lost its individual luster.
Staple: This is where food goes to die.
When something is labeled a staple, it is deprived of its uniqueness, ignored unless used as a base to slather with toppings, an accompaniment or one of a minimum of five ingredients. Other items in this category include bread (when was the last time you really enjoyed a piece of bread, sans peanut butter?), pasta, celery, lettuce and vanilla ice cream. More on those later: our time is now best spent nurturing the egg.
Admit it, the only time you’ve ever purchased eggs was to make chocolate chip cookies. And if you could find a way out of using eggs: perhaps you found a chalky, unimpressive vegan recipe: you would. Because you knew that if you bought 12 eggs, you would only use the two in the recipe. The rest would spoil and fester in the dorm fridge, unless used by someone else (without asking) to make more chocolate chip cookies.
Eggs have saved me on many occasions. I think the first time I grew to appreciate their delicate, sweet flavor and texture was a sweltering July 14, 2003. Bastille Day. I was in Cellettes, France, a miniscule town amidst the chateaux of the Loire Valley. In such places, tradition is observed seriously, which means that on Bastille Day, all places of eating and groceries are fermé–closed. Which means that, if one slips into ignorant Americanism and forgets this, one is left to the resources of her refrigerator for the entire day.
This is when stapledom becomes stardom; we, of course, had a few eggs on hand.
All we did was scramble them; but with a little French butter and leftover bread, plus herbs from the garden of our cottage, and (several) glasses of flowery white wine, the egg stood up to the challenge of main course. The egg became so much more than a yellow pillow that shows up with bacon. As Americans, this seemed unusual; but as my time in France went on, I realized that the French treasure every staple as a star: an essential culinary idea Americans have yet to adopt.
And as a poor college student, you’ll discover how refreshing it is to skip the preparation and extra money necessary to have chicken. Which is why you should always put the egg first –– be it morning, noon or night.
