With just the right amount of spice and tang, this tomato sauce anoints your eggs with greatness and takes advantage of eggs’ ability to bolster your absorption of the carotenoids present in tomatoes and spinach. Plus, the dish is just breezy enough to be a candidate for dinner on any harried weeknight. Consider serving over brown rice.
Full steam ahead
Boil eggs, and you risk rubbery whites, chalky green-tinged yolks, and clingy shells. Your hack for perfect hard-boiled eggs every time is to give the orbs a steam bath—yolks will remain creamy and sunnier than a Caribbean vacation while the shells will effortlessly slide off.
In medium saucepan, bring 1 in (2.5 cm) water to a boil. Add steamer basket to pan and place eggs in basket in a single layer. Steam for 15 minutes and then immediately transfer eggs to bowl filled with ice water. Once cool enough to handle, gently break shells in a few places and then start peeling from the bottom end where there is an air pocket.
Egg Tomato Curry
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) grapeseed oil or sunflower oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped ginger
- 1 tsp (5 mL) garam masala
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cayenne
- 1 lb (450 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups (1 L) spinach, tough ends trimmed
- 4 hard-boiled organic large eggs, halved
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) sliced almonds
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) chopped cilantro
Nutrition
Per serving:
- calories256
- protein11g
- fat19g
- saturated fat3g
- trans fat0g
- carbohydrates14g
- sugars4g
- fibre6g
- sodium412mg
Directions
01
In large skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add onion and salt to pan; heat until onion has softened and is beginning to darken, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger to pan and heat for 2 minutes.
02
Add garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne; heat for 30 seconds. Gently stir in tomatoes and heat for 6 minutes, until tomatoes begin to wilt and release their juices. Stir in lemon juice and then add spinach and heat until wilted.
03
Gently lower eggs into the tomato sauce and spoon some of the mixture over eggs. Serve garnished with avocado, almonds, and cilantro.
Matthew Kadey, MSc, RD
Matthew Kadey is a dietitian, nutrition writer, and recipe developer. He is also the author of Rocket Fuel (VeloPress, 2016) and Muffin Tin Chef (Ulysses Press, 2012).
READ THIS NEXT
SEE MORE »
Eggplant-Crusted Mushroom Quiche with Arame
Lime juice and ginger add a tropical whiff to this French-Japanese mashup, where seaweed tendrils and Dijon mustard bring out the umami flavours in mushrooms and eggplant. The ingredients might seem to be strange bedfellows, but they work. The result is somewhere between a quiche and a soufflé, with a gluten-free eggplant crust featuring punchy mustard and citrus. This makes for a hearty vegetarian main for brunch, lunch, or dinner with a side salad, or a filling side dish. Fresh or dried If you don’t have fresh thyme and parsley, use 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme (divided) and 1 Tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley. The flavours won’t be as pungent, but a little flavour is better than none.
Dlts: Dulse, Lettuce, Tomato, and Avocado Crostini
These are the perfect two-bite appetizers. Though the first bite likely won’t “wow” you, the more you chew, the more the salt from the dulse soaks into the avocado and tomato. Wait for it. You can also turn these into breakfast à la avocado toast by substituting a piece of your favourite bread for a slice of baguette. What’s in a name? Theoretically, this should be called a “DLTA” because of the avocado (dulse, lettuce, tomato, and avocado). And if you left out the lettuce, you’d have a “DTA.” A DTA would arguably be a better overall eating experience, since lettuce slightly waters down the rich and creamy result and makes it harder to keep the tomatoes from sliding off the top of the crostini. But the juicy lettuce is actually helpful, since it spreads the salt from the dulse throughout the entire bite, making the “wow” moment come sooner. Besides, neither DLTA nor DTA is as fun an acronym as DLT.
Linguine Alle Vongole with Seaweed Pesto
This triple-threat recipe is made with (up to) three types of seaweed. Wakame is essential for the pesto, but kombu boosts the umami punch of sautéed garlic and cherry tomatoes, while kelp noodles are a low-carb substitute for flour-based noodles. Because kelp noodles can be hard to find (you’ll likely need to order them online), feel free to use your favourite boxed linguine, zucchini noodles, shirataki konjac, tofu, or yam noodles instead. You can also leave out the vongole (clams) to keep the recipe plant-based, or use mussels, which are usually more affordable than clams. Both clams and mussels are generally sustainable, as, like seaweed, they’re farmed without feed or antibiotics, unlike many farmed fish operations. Double-duty pesto Make a double batch of seaweed pesto, and enjoy it with eggs, scrambled tofu, or toast.
Popcorn with Togarashi-Seaweed Spice Blend
Spicy popcorn? You bet. This Japanese seven-spice blend combines salty and spicy notes for a healthy snack. If you don’t make your own togarashi, check the container before adding it to your popcorn to make sure it doesn’t contain salt. For an even simpler recipe, skip the togarashi and just grind a few pieces of nori and a pinch of salt in a blender or spice grinder to sprinkle on your popcorn instead. If you’re fresh out of nori, you can always grind wakame, arame, or dulse instead, leaving out the pinch of salt for dulse or any seaweed you taste and find already salty. Shichimi togarashi This customizable spice blend generally features sansho pepper, a.k.a. Japanese prickly ash, a green peppercorn with a citrusy taste, along with seaweed flakes, chili pepper, and dried citrus peel—often yuzu or mandarin orange. If you can’t find sansho, look for Sichuan peppercorn, which has a slightly stronger mouth-tingling effect. You can buy dried orange, mandarin, or tangerine peel. Or you can dehydrate your own, in which case you might as well dehydrate a 1/8 in (3 mm) thick piece of fresh ginger along with the peel. If you can’t handle a lot of chili pepper heat, reduce the pepper to your taste.