Tag Archives: main dish

Tomato Kale Skillet with Poached Eggs and Chickpeas

Sometimes, I need to get my veggies on–and in chewable form, not just that green glass of juice I’ve been throwing back for breakfast. And one blog I can count on to deliver veggie-licious recipes is Joanne’s. I also love one-skillet meals because they’re so perfect for weeknights, so when I saw this recipe I made it within about 5 days of first setting eyes on it.

I LOVE it–and I don’t break out the caps for just any recipe. It is so satisfying, so healthy, so full of good stuff, I could eat it every day. Forever.

I modified the recipe, using kale instead of swiss chard. I really love kale. I liken it to spinach with a little more vim. It doesn’t wilt quite as much but retains its shape better, and has a little crunch to it if you know what I mean, instead of feeling slightly soggy in your mouth like spinach can do if overcooked.

Adapted from Joanne’s post (who in turn adapted it from Bon Appetit December 2011), you guys should seriously consider making this for about 10 minutes–and then you should make it.

My husband dubbed it “Popeye’s Disappointment” for reasons unclear to me. Perhaps because it looks like spinach–but isn’t? Who knows. But I don’t care what he calls it as long as we can put it on the menu time and again.

Ingredients

 (Serves 4)

1 TBS olive oil
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
2 jalapeños
2 bunches kale
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1-28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 large eggs
1 TBS chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Chop up the onion, de-seed and mince the chilies, and mince the garlic.

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large (12’’) oven-proof skillet (such as cast iron) and sauté the onion, garlic, and chilies until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I like to toss in a little salt and pepper as they fry. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but seasoning the ingredients in stages, as they go into the dish, seems to build the flavor.

Wash and chop the kale leaves, discarding the tough stems.

Rinse the chickpeas too–the liquid in the can is slimy and gross.

Add the kale to the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes, allowing it to wilt.

I added it in two batches, and don’t worry–it cooks waaaay down, much like spinach.

Add the chickpeas, cumin, and paprika to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the skillet, stir them in and break them apart with a wooden spatula.

You can also crush them with your bare hands beforehand, but I chose not to.

Bring the sauce to a boil; turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, letting the sauce thicken.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. I added a goodly amount of both.

At this point, I felt moved to crack the eggs into individual little containers. I don’t know why, but the urge was irresistible.

They look so . . . cute.

Sprinkle the feta cheese evenly over the sauce and crack the eggs on top, evenly spaced.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny.

Since my husband is entirely averse to runny yolks, I let mine go for more like 15 minutes, and cranked the heat up a little higher. The poor guy doesn’t know what he’s missing, but what can you do with a drunken sailor, what can you do with a drunken sailor, what can you do with a drunken sailooooor eeeearly in the mooorniiiiing?

That musical question was purely rhetorical, since my husband is neither a sailor nor drunk.

And I have to concede that even with hard yolks, it was still 1000% delicious.

Garnish with parsley and serve over rice!

Guys, it’s so good I can’t even believe it. The smoky paprika lends it a flavor that brought back so many good childhood feelings for me, since it’s a spice Spaniards use frequently (pimentón).

Plus, it’s such a beautiful dish with the white eggs and cheese, red sauce, and green kale and parsley.

I could look at it for hours. And eat it for hours. And commune with the happiness it produces in my stomach for hours.

Until the urge for a big, juicy rib-eye with a pile of thick, greasy fries hits me . . . and then beware.

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Dairy-Free Bacon and Kale Crustless Quiche

No cheese? No cream or milk? Believe it, because it works: welcome to the dairy-free (and gluten-free) quiche.

This is the perfect quiche to bring to a group event where there may be people with special dietary needs. My friend Sarah (a fabulous cook, by the way) brought this to our women’s ministry brunch a number of months ago, and it’s really delicious. While there’s no cheese, the bacon adds the richness that could have been lost when the cheese got the boot. Plus, as my husband said after eating two generous slices of this, it doesn’t give you the feeling of “I never want to eat again” that a really rich quiche can produce after one hefty serving. Know that feeling? Not the best sensation. In fact, after 3 slices of this quiche for dinner, I was feeling great, light on my feet, and my stomach was a happy place.

The flavor of the coconut milk is definitely present, and while I loved it, my husband was a little wigged out by it. So if you’re one to be wigged out by coconut milk, this may not be the dish for you. But if you’re lactose intolerant, this is such a great alternative to traditional quiche–and I’ll be making it again even though I’m all about the lactose and the gluten. Because it’s tasty, man.

Adapted from this recipe, let’s make it this morning, eh? Eh.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

5 eggs
1-15 oz can coconut milk
5 pieces of bacon
1 onion, diced
1/2 bunch of kale or spinach
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 

Warm the eggs and coconut milk until they reach room temperature (you can sit them in a warm water bath for 15 minutes to accomplish this).

Dice the bacon and fry it in a large skillet over medium high heat.

While the bacon fries, dice the onion . . .

. . . and chop up the kale or spinach.

Today, it’s kale all the way.

When the bacon is close to being crispy, drain most of the bacon fat out of the skillet . . .

. . . and add the onion.

Fry for 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is starting to brown.

Add the kale or spinach . . .

. . . and sauté for about 2 minutes, or until wilted.

Add the wine, and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates (another 3-4 minutes).

Sooooo good.

Let the bacon and veggies cool down for about 15 minutes (you can spread them out on a plate to speed up this step).

I may have taken a few bites of this and promised myself that I would soon make a bacon/onion/kale sauté that I could simply eat piled over white rice. I recommend that you do the same.

Beat the eggs and coconut milk in a large bowl . . .

(bowl pictured not large enough = transfer to a different bowl)

. . . adding salt and pepper (about ¼ tsp of salt).

Whisk the bacon and veggies into the eggs until they are well suspended in the egg mixture. Grease an 8×8 glass dish or a pie pan with coconut oil or cooking spray, and pour in the egg mixture.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the center has solidified.

Remove the quiche from the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the eggs set.

Dig in!

Oh my word. How I love this quiche. How I love the kale within . . .

. . . and the bacon within.

 It’s a winner!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Dairy-Free Bacon and Kale Crustless Quiche