Breakfast

The words big breakfast lead one to conjure up all types of vivid images. Maybe it’s omelets with bacon and toast, waffles with country ham or biscuits and sausage gravy. Or, if you are anywhere near the vicinity of the southern US it might mean all of the above.

As much as I enjoy all of our traditional breakfast favorites, I also love redefining the big breakfast. Considering that I can barely go a day without eating kale in one form or another it’s no surprise that I’m now having it in the morning. Greens with eggs and grains have recently climbed the ranks as a favorite breakfast which can also easily pass as lunch and dinner.

I went to a farm to table breakfast a couple weeks ago and was greeted with sautéed kale over grits topped with a fried egg. Morning meal contentment right there.

I decided to recreate it at home and since I already had some cooked quinoa on hand from the Cranberry Orange Quinoa Stuffing, I thought I’d use that instead of grits.

I learned a little tip at that breakfast from the chef who was preparing our meal – add a splash of apple cider vinegar to your greens to perk up the flavor. I’d never done that before, but it gives the greens a nice tang. It doesn’t take much. Just a splash in the pan a few minutes before they are done cooking is perfect.

I’ve just come around to undercooked eggs, i.e. a runny yolk. It’s taken me a while, but I now find when I use farm fresh, local eggs and they are served over something like greens or grits that I love them. No worries if they aren’t your thing, just take the egg to your desired doneness.

Then, if you are like me, you’ll want to drizzle whole thing with your favorite hot sauce. My hot sauce of the hour is Sriracha which is amazing with sautéed greens.

Fried Egg over Kale and Quinoa

1 tbsp olive oil
1 to 1 ½ lbs kale, stem removed and chopped
½ large onion, thinly sliced
10 – 15 white button mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup chicken or vegetable stock
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sunflower seeds (optional)
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
4 farm fresh eggs
1 cup cooked quinoa, seasoned to taste

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the kale and turn to coat in the oil. Add the onions and mushrooms. Cook 3 to 5 minutes. As the kale begins to wilt, add in the chicken stock and simmer until it evaporates gently turning the kale to cook it down further. Add the apple cider vinegar.

Stir in the sunflower seeds if using. Cook 1-2 minute more. Season with the salt, pepper and red pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a non-stick skillet, fry all 4 eggs to your desired doneness. Top will a little ground black pepper on each side.

On each plate, place ¼ cup quinoa, ¼ of the kale and one egg. Top with hot sauce and serve warm.

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