Two quick meals - green beans & potatoes.

Here are two of the dinners we ate this week.  They were very simple and required a minimal amount of effort, but both were delicious and featured some star items from this week's box.

First up, on Wednesday night (box night!), we had green beans and tofu with teriyaki sauce.  I used the Island Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe's.  Yes, I am fully aware that I am capable of making that sauce myself.  But sometimes it's nice to use a convenience food (one that has ingredients you can pronounce and contains nothing too alarming) to speed up dinner prep. 

The green beans were fabulous!  They were fresh and crisp and just divine.  I snapped off the stem ends (no need to trim the opposite end) and parboiled in salted water for about 4 minutes.  Then, to stop the cooking, I drained and rinsed the beans in cold water.

For the tofu, I pan-friend a pound of tofu cut into bite-sized slabs, about 1 inch by 1 1/2 inch and half an inch thick.  I don't usually bother with draining and pressing tofu to remove the excess water.  Instead, I buy extra firm water-packed tofu and cut it into 8 slabs crosswise.  Then I dab each slice with paper towels, on each side, pressing to extract as much water as possible.  This works great!  For this dish, I used my paper-towel pressing technique, cut the tofu into the aforementioned pieces, and pan fried for 10 minutes, flipping once.  Then I added about half a cup of the teriyaki sauce and the parboiled green beans, flipped the heat up to medium-high, and let the dish simmer for about 2 minutes until the sauce was reduced and everything was nice and hot. 

We served this over couscous (the lazy lady's grain), which was seasoned with garlic and ginger powder.  Yum!

Then, on Friday, we had roasted potatoes and open-faced radish and cream cheese sandwiches.  The oven roasted potato recipe is below.  While the potatoes roasted, I prepared the radish sandwiches.  I used an English muffin and my husband had two pieces of multigrain bread.  I toasted all the bread, then slathered each side with light cream cheese.  I sliced the radishes thinly, length-wise, and then layered them atop the cream cheese.  With a little salt and pepper thrown on top, these were tasty!  If you haven't tried French breakfast radishes, I highly recommend them.  They are a bit spicy, in a peppery sort of way, and refreshing at the same time.  Lovely!  They pair well with fats like butter and, in my opinion, cream cheese.

Enjoy the potatoes!  These came out crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, like a perfect potato should. 

Oven-Roasted Potatoes
Adapted from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"

Note: You can use other spices here as well.  One of my favorites is two teaspoons of prepared Mexican chili powder (the kind with oregano), mixed with a bit of minced garlic and about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Mix into the potatoes during the last 5 minutes of roasting, and sprinkle with lime juice and cilantro once you remove the potatoes from the oven.

1 1/2 pounds waxy new potatoes, red or yellow skinned
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.   Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Wash and scrub your potatoes, then dry them well.  Slice into 1-inch(ish) cubes, aiming for relatively uniform sizing so that everything cooks through in the same amount of time.   Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and add the olive oil plus salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well to combine.  Make sure your potatoes are in one layer on the sheet.

Place the tray in the oven and let the potatoes roast, undisturbed, for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, stir.  Roast for another 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time, then check for doneness.  They might need a few more minutes if your pieces are larger.  Remove the potatoes from the oven and add additional salt and pepper to taste, plus the smoked paprika, and stir. 

Veggie BBQ: tofu & potato salad.

Most things taste better on the grill.  What doesn't benefit from a little char, a little smoke?  And while some may debate the merits of charcoal vs. gas, a gas grill can really make grilling a reality any night of the week.  With a quick turn of a knob and flip of a switch, you can have dinner on the grill in 10 minutes, and on your plate in another 5.  We love to grill veggies, tofu, bread, and fruit, especially pineapple, which caramelizes beautifully.

We had some friends over this weekend for a little good-bye party to fete my former co-worker.  She is on her way to a bigger and brighter future at a new firm (bye, Katie!!!!).  What better way to celebrate than to drink wine, eat food, and play some bocce ball and Wii bowling?  We discovered that our furbaby Cosmo, whom we have had for 5 years now, has suddenly developed the funny habit of chasing after the bocce pea and then picking it up in his little mouth and running it back to us.  You know, like fetch?  He has never ever played fetch.  We were shocked.  He's missing that last little piece of the game, where you drop the ball at your master's feet, but it was still a bit shocking.  And a little disruptive during the game!  I also discovered that my best chance of winning is to spin around three times and then chuck the ball behind me over my shoulder, eyes closed.  Who knew?

 The menu was fun and tasty.  We had grilled tofu with ginger-sesame vinaigrette, summer vegetable potato salad with balsamic vinaigrette, grilled bread, and watermelon.  For dessert, we scarfed down peach cupcakes.  Everything was great!!  I experimented with nigari tofu instead of my usual water-packed variety.  It's is a bit more dense and I thought that might work well on the grill.  It was good, but it didn't soak up the marinade the same way that the water-packed tofu does.  Still, it was smokey and delicious, especially with a squeeze of grilled lime.

 But the star of the night was the vegetable potato salad.  It was a recipe given to me by another co-worker from Better Homes & Gardens magazine, and it was really a hit.  I used the red new potatoes and fresh basil from our box, along with corn and the first cherry tomatoes of the season (sungolds from the Food Co-op).  The flavors were great and would stand up well to other grilled items.  We will definitely be making this again!

Here are the recipes for the tofu and potato salad; I will write about the peach cupcakes in a subsequent post.  They were simply stellar.

Summer Vegetable Potato Salad
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Magazine

1 pound red new potatoes, scrubbed
3 ears of fresh corn (cook them if they aren't super fresh - I did because mine were a bit old, from the grocery store)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn, plus a few extra leaves for garnish
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon shallot, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place the potatoes, whole, in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Add about 2 teaspoons of salt to the water, then bring it to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and partially cover; simmer actively for 5 to 10 minutes, until your potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife (try one at 5 minutes to see how it is - if your potatoes are small like mine, they are likely done).  Drain and cool the potatoes.  (If you want to cook your corn, remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and then use the water again to boil the corn for about 5 minutes.)

To prepare the dressing, place the oil, balsamic vinegar, shallot, mustard, and sugar, plus salt and pepper to taste, in a medium bowl and whisk until emulsified.

Slice the corn off the cob and place it in a large, shallow serving platter.  Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise if they are small, or into quarters if they are larger, and add them to the serving platter, along with the tomatoes and torn basil.  Pour the prepared dressing over the veggies and stir to combine.  Sprinkle the top with feta and the remaining basil leaves.

Can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, for 4 hours.  Allow salad to come to room temperature before serving.

Grilled Ginger-Sesame Tofu
Adapted from Cooking Light

Note: Make the vinaigrette first, then move on to the assembly stage of the recipe.  I've included a double-batch version of the tofu recipe, as we were feeding four and I find that one pound of tofu is never enough for that many people.

Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup filtered water
1/4 cup white miso
3 green onions, white and light green parts, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peeled, minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil (do not use light sesame oil)

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, water, and miso, whisking until smooth.  Add in the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Vinaigrette can be made ahead and refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to five days.  This recipe makes about 1 1/3 cups vinaigrette.

Grilled Tofu  
2 pounds of extra firm water-packed tofu, drained (it's okay if your packages are smaller - mine were 14 oz each)
1 batch of Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette (above)
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons soy sauce
8 lime slices

Pat the tofu dry with paper towels, and slice each block crosswise into 8 slices, for a total of 16.  Pat the exposed side dry with paper towels, then flip the tofu over and dry the second side.  Press to get out as much water as possible.  Place the tofu in a 13x9 baking dish (use an extra dish if it doesn't all comfortably fit).

Add the cilantro and soy sauce to the prepared vinaigrette and stir to combine.  Remove 1/3 cup of the vinaigrette mixture and reserve for later.  Pour the rest over the tofu and flip each piece to coat it in the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, flipping occasionally.  When you are about ready to grill, add the lime slices to the marinade. 

Heat the grill to medium-high and coat the grate with cooking spray.  Place the tofu slices and the limes on the grill rack and grill, cover down, for about 3 minutes (reserve the marinade).  Before flipping, baste with the remaining marinade. When the tofu has nice grill marks and is heated, flip and baste again with marinade.  Grill for another 3 minutes or so, until both sides of the tofu are nicely grilled.  Remove from the grill.

Serve with the grilled lime wedges and the remaining 1/3 cup of vinaigrette.

What's in the box? Plus an easy tofu curry.

It's Wednesday - that means box day!  We pick up our Full Belly Farm CSA box at an undisclosed location in East Sacramento (it involves a back alley - sshhh!) and plan our meals for the next week.  Here's what we'll be eating:

Sugar snap peas
Strawberries
Arugula
Chard
Parsley
Lettuce
Spring onions
New potatoes

Now for some close-ups.

Arugula:

I really love the spicy leaves.  They play nicely with cheese (ricotta and saltier cheeses) and also make a mean alternative pesto.  And who doesn't love a great arugula salad?

New potatoes:

Last week, our potatoes were purple.  These are little white waxy potatoes.  Do we have a potato salad in our future?

Ruby chard:

This evening I spent some time looking for new chard recipes, and now I have some creative new ideas.

Crisp, fresh parsley:

And we got two heads of lettuce, including an iceberg:

Tonight, we used the sugar snap peas (you can see them on the right-hand side in the group picture at the top).  I made a coconut curry that uses an Indian-style dried curry powder instead of a Thai curry paste.  The original recipe comes from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks, but I made a number of tweaks.

Here's what I did: Sliced and patted dry a block of tofu and pan fried over medium heat for a total of 11 minutes, flipping about half-way through.  Removed the tofu from the pan and kept the heat at medium.  Added 1/2 a cup of coconut milk (I use light) and about 2 tablespoons of curry powder (I like a slightly spicy, Madras-style curry that I get from the Sacramento Food Co-op in the bulk section) and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and whisked to incorporate.  Added 1 small chopped red onion (from the box!) and 1 garlic clove and simmered for about 2 minutes.  Stirred in another 1/2 cup coconut milk, plus 1/3 cup water, and the reserved tofu.  Simmered until the sauce thickened a bit, probably about 5 minutes.  Added sugar snap peas, about 3/4 pound, and covered the pan.  Cooked for about 7 minutes (my peas took a while to cook - next time I would steam them first).  Served over rice, garnished with roasted cashews on top.  A tasty quick dinner for a weeknight!

It's going to be a great week!

Sugar snap peas: a quick stir fry.

Last night, I ended my second running hiatus.  I did a tentative two miles and suffered no extreme consequences.  I popped ibuprofen, ran happily on the treadmill, did my physical therapy exercises (which looked ridiculously easy compared to the ninja-ball moves being performed by the intense lady next to me at the gym, but I swear my moves involve a lot of tough quad-clenching that is not immediately obvious to the naked eye), and came home to elevate and ice the knee.  After all this, a girl's gotta eat! 

I had planned on a simple - very simple - meal revolving around the sugar snap peas from our box.  I even broke one of my cardinal rules and purchased a pre-made bottle of teriyaki sauce.  Yes, I did it.  No, I'm not too terribly ashamed, partly because I could pronounce all the ingredients and it was healthier than a frozen pizza.  Some nights I am not cut out for galloping gourmet status! 

So I iced, blogged, and showered, then whipped up a tasty tofu stir-fry with sugar snap peas and couscous (my guilty grain pleasure, due solely to speed of preparation).

 First, I pan-fried tofu cubes over medium heat in about a tablespoon of oil for a total of about 11 minutes, flipping once.  While these cooked, I made the couscous (using a knob of butter, veggie broth, and dried garlic & ginger), removed the strings from the sugar snap peas, and steamed the peas for about three minutes.  Then I added the peas to the tofu, plus a generous pour of teriyaki sauce, and flicked the heat to high.  I let the whole mess simmer for a couple of minutes until the sauce reduced somewhat, then served the delicious, savory feast over couscous.  The sugar snaps were delectably sweet, and the sauce was also pretty tasty.  I gobbled it all up and literally licked my plate.

Dessert?  The faux-light Cooking Light brownies, three times the chocolate (twice the melted chocolate, and a generous pour of chocolate chips into the batter).  The recipe is meant to make SIXTEEN servings.  I will be lucky if I get 10. 

And the knee verdict?  Today, the day after my little two-mile run, my knee is sore.  But it's a tolerable, somewhat dull ache, and it's better than it has been after running.  So I am going to consider this progress, and I plan to stay off the knee for at least a few days.  PT and cross-training are my friends; I just need to convince myself of this.  Who would have ever thought that I would be addicted to running, rejecting the cardio machines in favor of a spin around the neighborhood?  Not me.  My next semi-short-term goal is to get a bike.  If I can do a spin class, then I am pretty sure I can bike.  I'll just have to learn all the rules of the road, and how exactly to use all those gears!  We live one mile from the wonderful American River Parkway bike path, which runs from Sacramento to Folsom.  How can I not take advantage of that?

How'd we do?

Erm.  Well.  How did we do?

Food-wise, this week was fabulous.  Blog-wise, not so much.  I fell behind on posting about our lovely meals, and I frantically tried to play catch-up to showcase some of the best of our meals this week.  Unfortunately, you never got to see this:

It melds two amazing broccoli treatments into one dish.  The pesto is broccoli- and almond-based, and I tossed roasted brocc on top for some savory measure.  Fabulous.  Check out the base recipe here, but know that I added a few things; I roasted the broccoli, and I added vegetable lovelies like French breakfast radishes and carrots to beef (ahem) the dish up.  (To anti-beef?)  I also omitted the avocado because I am one of those rare vegetarians who can't stand the thing.  (What is it anyway?  Alien fodder?)

You also missed out on this:

It's a green coconut curry with golden pan-fried tofu, roasted broccoli on the side (yes, I am obsessed).  We ate this last night over brown basmati rice, and it hit the spot.  It was mild and comforting.  The leftovers made a creamy and delicious lunch.  I used a recipe from my new Deborah Madison cookbook, "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone."  It relied on (gasp) bottled curry paste!  And you know what?  That bottled green curry paste is pretty awesome (I used Thai Kitchen brand, available pretty much everywhere).  The ingredients list is short and easy to pronounce.  The paste is sweet and tangy and a bit spicy.  And I had dinner on the (coffee) table in 45 minutes flat, in time to tune in to the (painfully long) Biggest Loser finale!  (Go Michael!!!)

So without further ado, here's the narrative about how I used up all the goodies from our box:

• Strawberries - Sliced and eaten like candy.  Oh, and a star ingredient in our fruit smoothies.
• Chard - Chickpea and chard stew with Moroccan flavors.  Part of our North African feast!
• Carrots- Carrot and Feta Salad with Spice Vinaigrette.  Another component of the North African feast.
• Spring Onions - I used these in the chickpea and chard stew.
• Spinach - The old standby: grilled cheese and sauteed spinach.
• Broccoli & French breakfast radishes - Double broccoli quinoa.  Base recipe here, see tweaks above.
• Lettuce - Big salad!  I also tossed in some carrots and French breakfast radishes.

Bok Choy & Spinach Stir Fry with my FAVORITE Tofu

We had a lovely kitchen sink dinner on Monday night that just happened.  I was looking for ways to use up the remaining items in our box on Monday and Tuesday night.  We still had bok choy, spinach, and sugar snap peas.  I contemplated an orange vinaigrette-sugar snap pea salad, spinach quesadillas, bok choy stir fry.  Then I came upon a recipe through the Cooking Light recipe network, which also includes recipes from Sunset, Southern Living, Health, Real Simple, and occasionally Food & Wine (it's called MyRecipes).  All are great magazines, and it's fabulous to have a resource that pools the recipes in one place. 

Monday was also my first non-running workout during my self-imposed running hiatus.  I have been having an issue with my knee, and I'm pretty sure it's just inflammation (runner's knee), which happens when the inside leg muscles are less strong than the outside leg muscles.  Women are more prone to runner's knee due to their hip structure.  Luckily, it's completely treatable.  So far I've simply self-diagnosed, but if my running hiatus doesn't work, I might have to visit a sports medicine doctor to get a real diagnosis.  In addition to the hiatus, I am planning to do targeted strength moves and stretches (I've done them twice now), as well as ice when sore and use ibuprofen before and after serious workouts.  I am also going to pick up a knee sleeve to see how that works.  I am thankful that I get to manage an issue like this now and get it under control before I undertake a training plan for another race.  I think I was over-running and not doing enough other forms of exercise - I am recommitting to yoga!

So after my first non-running workout this Monday (elliptical ... sigh ... and some strength/stretching), I got home and whipped up this lovely stir-fry, packed with greens and topped with my favorite tofu recipe.  I got the inspiration from a Food & Wine recipe via MyRecipes, but I swapped in some different ingredients because I didn't have ginger and I wanted to add in some other veggies.  I went with an orange-sesame vinaigrette, and it paired perfectly with the tofu and some quick couscous.  Confession: I know that couscous is nutritionally anemic compared to other grains, especially whole grains, but it takes a total of seven minutes to make (boil 1 1/4 cup liquid - water or broth, add fat - butter or olive oil, add salt and seasonings or don't, and toss in 1 cup couscous, cover, remove from heat, let sit for five minutes, fluff with a fork and serve).

This took a little bit longer than a normal post-workout dinner, due to all the veggie prepping and making a new recipe for the first time, but it was TOTALLY worth it.  On the table in less than an hour, and it was delicious and satisfying.  Plus PACKED full of good-for-you greens.

Bok Choy, Spinach, and Carrot Stir-Fry with Savory Tofu
Stir-Fry adapted from Food & Wine, Tofu adapted from Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen

For the stir-fry:
1/4 cup orange juice
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
salt and pepper
1/2 yellow onion, sliced (I used 2 green onions from my box)
2 large carrots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head bok choy (I used four smaller ones)
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
1 big bunch of spinach (I used a big bag) - remove prominent stems and rinse well
1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, lemon juice, dark sesame oil, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and salt and pepper to taste. To prepare the bok choy

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the bok choy stems and sugar snap peas and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add the bok choy, spinach, a big pinch of salt, and the soy sauce.  Stir constantly until the greens collapse.  Add the orange vinaigrette sauce and cook for about 1 more minute.  Serve immediately.

For the tofu:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
dash of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 16-oz block of extra firm tofu, pressed for a few minutes and blotted dry with paper towels, cut into 8 1/2 inch slices, each slice then cut in half

In a small bowl, combine the veggie broth, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt.

Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Add the tofu and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent excessive browning (you want it to get golden brown).  Flip the tofu and cook on the second side for 5 minutes.  Add the sauce and simmer (it will bubble, this is good), flipping tofu once, until the sauce has reduced down into a thick syrup, about 2 minutes.  Serve atop the stir fry and a grain, with any extra glaze scraped on top.

How'd we do?

Here's how we used all the wonderful goodies from our box this week:

Asparagus, Fava Beans, & Green Garlic - Spring minestrone. Simply fantastic - the essence of spring!

Mixed Chard - Rice with Chard, Tofu, and Poached Egg. I conquered poaching eggs!

Karanata Kale & Tokyo Turnips - Kale, Turnips, & Potatoes.

Salad Mix - Salad, alongside Chickpea Sandwiches (aka Too-No-Fish).

Spinach - Orange Tofu and Spinach with Couscous. I didn't share the recipe, but please see the photo below! I used my sauteed spinach technique featured here, and pan-fried the tofu and added a sauce of orange juice and veggie broth (1/3 cup each), plus smoked paprika (1/8 teaspoon), cumin & cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon each), salt and pepper. Add the sauce to the cooked tofu and simmer for a couple of minutes until thick and syrupy. Yum!




It was another great week!

The Poacher: Eggs & Rice

Last night I made what I consider to be a significant culinary achievement.

I poached three eggs. Successfully.

There was a fourth egg, the only casualty. But let me back up a little.

Normally, I am egg-wary. I love eggs. They are my vegetarian gray area (well, eggs, dairy, and honey! Oh, and gelatin - I can't give up Junior Mints, therefore I am not vegan). Side note - I find it ... odd ... when non-vegetarians will question or criticize my choice to eat eggs. Sometimes it's simply a matter of not immediately comprehending where and how I draw the line, which is totally fair. The eggs I eat are not fertilized and therefore were never going to be baby chickens. And, quite honestly, if I chose not to eat eggs, then my world of options for dining out would narrow exponentially, and my time spent in the kitchen (already significant!) would increase dramatically. No cake, no baked goods, no breakfast items. Plus, I'm becoming a believer that every little bit counts. It's not all or nothing. Every amount of animal and animal products that you can reduce from your diet will make an impact on the environment, factory farms and the industrialized food system, and the sustainability of our food sources. I don't begrudge anyone's food decisions. Food is deeply personal and I respect freedom of choice. I am also a champion for educating oneself about those food choices. But back to egg-wariness ...

There is a certain ick factor for me with eggs. They are on my line. Right on it. But they are also a great source of protein and they are tasty when cooked to my picky specifications. I like my eggs to be very, very dead. Cooked all the way through, no gooey bits. My husband has been known to request his fried egg ... a little less fried. For me, the fried egg needs to be OBVIOUSLY fried - browned and crisp. But for some reason I permit a certain amount of latitude to professional food establishments. I will eat huevos rancheros and eggs Benedict (poached eggs) and freshly whipped mayo (raw egg). I eschew classic Cesar salad, but only because of the anchovy, not the egg yolk. But I would never do these things at home! I can't even make mousse - too much potential for undercooked eggs (for mousse, you cook the mixture over a pot of simmering water, double-boiler style).

But last night I made great strides. I figured that I could have control over the done-ness of my eggs, and if I am able to eat them in their oozing form at a restaurant for brunch, why can't I do the same at home?

Guess what? I can.

The poaching process is fraught with anxiety. I read up on it before I attempted anything. I learned that there are multiple schools of thought on how to poach an egg: vortex method - create a spiraling vortex inside your pot and plop the egg into the chaos; vinegar method - add vinegar to the boiling water to discourage "flyaways"; silicone cup method - cook in a special silicone nest designed especially for eggs. I chose to go with the method featured in my recipe, "Poached Eggs Over Rice" by Heidi Swanson, which involved a ramekin, a strainer, and a slotted spoon. It worked decently well, though after the first egg I thought "Oh no, this isn't right, look how much egg I am losing." The dreaded FLYAWAYS. These are wisps of white that fly off the egg during the cooking, so many that the entire egg seems disintegrated. But when I pulled that first egg out of the water - ooo boy! It actually looked good. Diminutive, but good.

Here's what I did to poach the eggs - via Heidi Swanson, who got the original technique from Michael Ruhlman. I served the eggs atop a rice, chard, and tofu mix that came from the same recipe as Heidi Swanson's poached egg recommendations.

Poached Eggs
You repeat this method for each egg, so cook up as many as you like! Just make sure to do them one at a time.

Heat a wide pot of water until boiling, then reduce the heat to simmer. You definitely want to see activity in the pot, but no roiling bubbles.

Crack one egg gently into a small ramekin. Tip the egg into a fine mesh strainer to let some of the white seep away (most of it will remain intact). Slip the egg back into the ramekin.

Gently slip the egg from the ramekin into the simmering water. Sit back and watch the white turn opaque! Don't worry if you start to see clouds and stringy white bits - you will be fine. Unless your yolk starts to look naked and exposed, in which case you aren't doing as well as you might have hoped. I'm not expert enough yet to assess the hows and whys of the flyaways!



When your white is opaque, and maybe a little longer after you would think your egg is done (4 minutes?), scoop it out of pot with a slotted spoon and set aside until you have finished the remaining eggs.

Rice with Chard, Tofu, and Poached Eggs
Adapted from Heidi Swanson

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
crushed red pepper flakes
8 oz (1/2 a block) of extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 bunch of greens (I used Swiss chard)
2 to 3 cups pre-cooked whole grain rice (I used a wild/brown rice mix)
Flavorings: balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup
Poached Eggs (see above)

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add the tofu and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally and pressing to encourage browning. Stir in the garlic, then add the greens and a dash of salt, mixing thoroughly. Cook until the greens wilt and soften a little. Stir in the pre-cooked rice and heat through, about 2 minutes. Add dashes of any flavoring you prefer - I did about a tablespoon each of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and maple syrup. This gave a nice, savory tang to the dish. (Not essential, but good.)

Divide the rice mixture between bowls and top with a poached egg or two.

Enjoy!