Toasted breadcrumbs, duh! (Slaps head...) Why do I always forget about them? So easy, so incredibly delicious, and quite light to boot, since one piece of bread and a couple of teaspoons of olive oil make enough garnish for three servings of eggs or vegetables or pasta or fish or potatoes. In fact, there are few dishes that wouldn't be elevated by a spoonful of humble toasted breadcrumbs. The toasty flavor, the crunch, the punch of garlic and salt (I add garlic and salt). Sublime.
Like in the simple dish pictured up top, which I just consumed for lunch. I know, I know, you're thinking, how many versions of eggs and greens can this woman consume? What can I say? Fast and easy. Cheap and nutritious. Light yet filling. And most important, so gorgeously delicious, eggs and greens just belong together.
I should back up and say that I don't always eat eggs with greens. I usually hard-cook a few eggs each week, to have on hand for a quick snack or meal, most often happily eaten straight up (well, with a sprinkle of salt and pepper). But sometimes, as you might imagine, that's a bit boring. Plus, this image of sauteed hard-cooked eggs nestled into a bed of greens kept popping into my head... Did I dream it up myself? Unlikely. Did I see them in a magazine, a cookbook, online? Couldn't recall.
After a bit of poking around on Google, I figured out I'd seen it the cookbook sitting right next to me, Lynne Rosetto Kasper's How to Eat Supper. In it she reproduces a Jacques Pepin recipe for Pan-Crisped Deviled Eggs on French Lettuces. A clever recipe, quite simple, so pretty (very Jacques Pepin). Following the recipe is a suggested variation, Sardinian Hard-Cooked Eggs, where unstuffed halved eggs are sauteed in olive oil and vinegar and finished with toasted breadcrumbs - even simpler and equally delicious sounding. As I may have mentioned before (ahem), I'm always looking for ways to eat my greens, so I innovated and served the egg on a bed of quickly sauteed spinach. Topped with toasted breadcrumbs, yes.
Completely humble and tasty.
Recipe for Pan-Crisped Deviled Eggs here. Recipe for Sardinian Hard-Cooked Eggs with Spinach here.
