Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

[jumpuphigh]

This is a throw-together recipe that I made today with the what's-in-my-kitchen method of cooking. It was easy, fast and required just a bit of manual dexterity.

Super-easy Veggie Egg Sandwich

Carton of egg whites
Fresh baby spinach
sea salt
english muffin (although No-Knead Bread will work too, I bet)**
butter/margarine (your choice)

Pull out a small, non-stick saucepan. Put in about a teaspoon of butter/margarine and a handful of spinach. Cover and let wilt. While it is wilting, open up the english muffin and put it in toaster/toaster oven to brown. Take lid off spinach, stir briefly to redistribute cooked/not-so-cooked leaves. Pour in enough egg whites to cover bottoms of leaves. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cover again. Realize you need a spatula and get it. Realize you need a plate and get it. Twiddle fingers. Pull out toasted muffin. Check eggs. Realize they aren't done yet. Twiddle fingers some more (or load the dishwasher/wipe counters/your choice). Check eggs. If they are mostly cooked through, flip*. Sprinkle with a tiny bit more salt. Let cook until they are solid. Dish out onto english muffins and cut in half so that you have 2 open-faced sandwiches. Enjoy!

*For getting eggs out of a pan when the entire bottom of the pan is covered, I use a spoon to pull up an edge of the eggs then slide my spatula underneath. 
ETA:**Ooooh, I bet a toasted raisin bagel would be good, too.

For dinner, white wine is a nice accompaniment.

Comments

[somewhatbent]

This is very similar to what I do -- using micro instead.

Carton whole egg or egg whites
Pre-grated cheese, about a tablespoon
salt, pepper (I use white pepper)
butter or marg
bagel of choice

Butter/marg a straight sided micro safe bowl (with approximately bagel sized bottom), leaving a bit extra in the bottom. Pour in eggs, add cheese, salt and pepper. Add chopped chive or peppers or other veg of choice if desired. Cover with parchment or paper and micro for ~2 2.5 minutes (for 2 eggs worth) While cooking slice and lightly butter bagel. The center of the eggs may be slightly soft when removing from micro, but standing on counter for a minute or so will firm up. Place bagel over bowl and flip egg directly onto bagel. Top with other bagel half and enjoy.

[jumpuphigh]

Thanks for offering a variation. It's great to have different options.

[mathsnerd]

I am doing only microwave cooking these days, due to a number of limitations, and this makes me really happy because I love eggs. A few questions, if you don't mind:

- carton eggs? what are they, and how can I substitute normal eggs for them if at all possible?
- do you have to mix the cheese and veg in to the eggs?
- what kind of cheese works for this?

Thanks!

[jumpuphigh]

In the US, you can buy already shelled eggs in a carton which has a spout to pour from. You can get both scrambled whole eggs and egg whites. I would say that my recipe is about 3 egg whites.

[mathsnerd]

Ah, so if I take normal eggs and scramble them up a bit first, before continuing with the recipe(s) as stated above, it should work just fine? I do not believe we have carton eggs here in Germany, and even if we did, I would feel more comfortable with regular eggs.

[jumpuphigh]

Yep. Just scramble them and they'll work just fine.

[somewhatbent]

One of the advantages of 'carton eggs' is that they're pasteurized, so stay fresh longer. (and can be used to make sauces and dressing where the eggs are raw/undercooked without the same health concerns) You can also portion as needed -- I use the equivalent of two 'jumbo/XLarge' eggs. (~1/2 C /~100-125gm)

If you have access to good farm fresh eggs just wisk them with a fork and a little bit of cold water (maybe a teaspoon). Adding water to the egg helps blend the protein and the albumin more smoothly -- it also helps steam the scramble - making for lighter scrambled egg for any use.

[mathsnerd]

As we do not refrigerate our eggs in our supermarkets here, the eggs tend to only come from farms within the region and they tend to rather fresh (day or two old max) as well. Customers then refrigerate them as needed until they are used up. It's interesting when compared to the US, but then we also have the cultural expectation that people can and will grocery shop every day or every other day for the perishable items (meat, dairy, eggs, veg, bread) to keep them as fresh as possible.

Thanks for the note about the water. :D

[vilakins]

I'm so glad someone asked about the carton eggs. :-) Because to me a carton OF eggs is 6 or 12 of the things. I'd probably only use one or maybe two for myself.

[somewhatbent]

I use whatever cheese comes to hand -- we have a preference for hard aged cheeses, mostly, but anything that grates or crumbles will work. When just adding cheese I don't bother to mix it at all -- the specific gravity between cheese and egg means it usually won't go all the way to the bottom and stick to the bowl. Likewise with 'lightweight' veggies like mushrooms and chives.

If I'm adding leftover meat/fish (which I forgot to mention -- not enough mental spoons, clearly) I dice or tear finely and *do* give it a stir through.

Covering the bowl helps it partly steam, making lighter eggs but will leave the bowl hotter. Something to mind on the limited dexterity days.

[mathsnerd]

Gotcha. Good to know. And yeah, all my days are limited dexterity days, so I will make a note. Thanks.