Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Poached Eggs with Spinach

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

This recipe is so simple that I feel silly posting it as a recipe, but it is indeed one of my favourite breakfasts (right now it’s tied with Apple Cranberry Oatmeal for my favourite!) so I thought I’d share it with you.

It’s a perfect way to get in a whole bunch of nutrition first thing in the morning: eggs plus greens equals healthy!  I now can’t enjoy poached eggs without spinach, the combination is so perfect to me!

If you need a little egg-poaching-lesson, feel free to click here to read my post on How to Poach an Egg.

And if you wanted a weekend treat, you could top this with Hollandaise for an Eggs Florentine or you could take some inspiration from Cook Eat Live Vegetarian (aka. Food Blog and the Dog) and top them Tex Mex-style with chili cheese sauce.  Yum, I can’t wait to try those out!

Poached Eggs with Spinach
Serves 2

• 4 eggs
• 2 whole wheat English muffins, split in half
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 4 big handfuls of baby spinach
• 2 tsp. butter (optional)

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the spinach.  Saute for 4-5 minutes, until the spinach has wilted considerably but is still vividly green.  Keep aside.

Poach the eggs whichever way is most convenient for you: using silicone egg poachers, an egg-poaching pot, or by cracking an egg into a tea cup and tipping it into almost-boiling water that you’ve stirred into a mini whirlpool, and cooking for 3-4 minutes (full instructions here).

While the eggs are poaching, toast the English muffins, then butter them.  Top each English muffin half with a quarter of the spinach.

Once the eggs are poached remove them to a paper towel to remove the extra water, then top each spinachy English muffin with a poached egg.  Enjoy!