This easy recipe for baked eggs with winter vegetables is perfect on cold mornings. With a little planning, it can be ready with less than 5 mins of prep.
One thing that’s been surprising to me about how I’ve approached the Minimalist Foodie Challenge is my take on breakfast. I’m not a terribly big breakfast food fan, and other than my pregnancies and the handful of times I’ve done a Whole 30, I’ve pretty much just passed on the whole ordeal. I’ll have a smoothie some days and coffee every day (because duh) but the rest of it just always seemed like a hassle. I’d rather eat lunch at 11 am than go through the bother of preparing breakfast. But in my quest to embrace diversity, I’ve found a surprising amount of joy in my first meal of the day, especially when it’s a hot meal. I’ll admit that I still skip it from time-to-time, but if I keep whipping up things like these baked eggs with winter vegetables, it just might become a permanent habit.
I’ve been finding gorgeous winter vegetables at the market lately. I don’t know if it’s the mild winter we’ve been enjoying or the increased used of winter greenhouse farming. Whatever the reason, I’m loving it. The brussels sprouts, in particular, have been seriously out of this world delicious and they are exquisite with baked eggs.
Baked Eggs with Winter Vegetables Recipe Notes
This dish takes a little bit of prep, but the good news is that hearty vegetables like brussels sprouts and leeks hold up super well in the fridge. The spinach cooks in a jiffy (did I actually just say jiffy?) so with a little forethought, this can quickly become a weekday meal that takes less than 5 minutes of prep.
To prepare this dish in advance, cook the vegetables, excluding the spinach. Divide into single or double portions (or whatever size makes sense for you). Then, dice up your spinach, divide into portions, and roll each portion in a paper towel; place the towel-wrapped spinach into a zip lock bag and then stick everything in the fridge. The cooked vegetables will keep well for about four days, the spinach a week or more.
The day you’d like to have this dish, preheat the oven to 425 and heat up a skillet over medium-high heat; add just a tiny bit of butter (maybe a teaspoon) until it foams; add the brussels and leeks and sautee 1 minute; add the spinach and sautee until wilted. Sprinkle it all with salt, pepper, and parmesan, crack an egg or two (or 4) over the top, and stick it in the oven for 8-12 minutes. Then go have a shower. Or scroll through Facebook. Or make the kids’ lunches. Or whatever. You get the point.
I really love using cast iron for baked egss. Nothing goes from stovetop to oven better. I used mini pans for this dish because they are SO CUTE. But you can use a large one and dole out individual portions. A note on fats – it’s important to use butter in this recipe instead of oil because it will prevent the whites from sticking to the pan. Butter is also delicious.
I’d love to try making this with chard or kale in place of spinach. If you’re not a bread fan, skip it. If you’re not a parm fan, skip it. Or sub cheddar or feta, maybe even goat cheese? If you’re not a brussels sprouts fan, get off of my blog you bloody heathen. Okay, I kid. But in all seriousness, if you’re not a brussels fan, you may just get converted after eating them with baked eggs because yolk.
Baked Eggs with Winter Vegetables
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- Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter or ghee
- 2 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 lb brussels sprouts, halved or quartered
- 5 oz spinach, about 1 large bunch, coarsely chopped
- sea salt, to taste
- cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, optional
- 4-8 eggs
- crusty bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and cook until it foams. Add the leeks and sautee, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly browned along the edges, 3-4 minutes.
- Push the leeks aside and add the brussels sprouts.Sautee, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts are caramelized, 7-8 minutes.
- Add the spinach to the pan and sautee, stirring continuously, until the spinach is barely wilted, about 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from heat. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste and the parmesan cheese if using. Crack the eggs over the vegetables, taking care to keep the yolks intact. I find it useful to make a little depression in the vegetables with a spoon to dump the whites into, followed by the yolk.
- Transfer the pan to the oven and cook until the whites are set, but the yolks are still runny, 8-12 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
[…] Leeks, leeks, leeks. Guys, I seriously love leeks. The milder, more subtle cousin to onions and garlic, most of us home chefs are accustomed to adding leeks into the base of soups and stews, permitting them to impart their delicate flavor without taking over the show. Perhaps we’ll layer them into a gratin or a bread pudding if we’re really feeling salty. And typically that’s as far as we’ll liaise with leeks. But y’all, you’re seriously missing out if you’re not willing to take your relationship with leeks beyond the Netflix n’chill stage. It’s time to rip off the band-aid and elevate your leek game. The truth is that leeks needn’t be wallflowers and can take center stage quite well, thankyouverymuch. This deceptively delicious recipe for braised leeks with poached eggs is going to make you a convert. Pinky promise. […]