Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Fried Egg

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Fried Egg

Another week, another whole wheat pasta recipe with a spring delicacy. I first fell in love with green garlic two years ago when I started food blogging. It has such a great flavor and cooking with it is easy and it doesn't burn as quickly as garlic cloves. I pretty much only use the white and light green parts, but in the LA Times version of this recipe, it looks like they use the whole thing. It's a great, quick cooking dish and the egg yolk helps create a lovely creamy sauce. It's been a little chilly here this week so this was a nice dish to curl up on the couch and watch some of my favorite trashy tv shows.






Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Fried Egg
(Slightly Adapted from the Los Angeles Times)



Makes 2 servings

4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
4-5 stalks green garlic, halved lengthwise, washed, dried and sliced thinly
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 eggs, at room temperature
Coarsely grated black pepper
Sea salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until just al dente, about 9-11 minutes, or according to the instructions on the package.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until tender and beginning to caramelize, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so as not to burn. Remove the garlic from the pan and put it into a large bowl. When the pasta is cooked, add it, with a bit of the pasta water, to the bowl with the garlic and toss to combine.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and turn the heat to high. One at a time, break the eggs into a small bowl and gently pour into the hot skillet, trying to keep them from touching. Cook until the edges are crispy and golden brown, the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.

Divide the warm pasta among plates. Gently slide an egg onto the top of each. Grind plenty of black pepper over each plate and add a generous pinch of sea salt. Serve immediately.

Egg Drop Breakfast Heaven

New categories for me. I’m filing this under ‘kids‘ and ‘breakfast‘. Not because it’s a specific food for children, but because my baby loves to eat this (will I ever stop calling him my baby? I somehow doubt it). This is by far his favorite breakfast -not to mention he loves to ‘help‘ me cook it – which makes it a fun thing for the both of us. If he likes it, chances are more toddlers out there like it and well, us moms gotta give each other a hand whenever we can, right! :)
It’s just a little break from the traditional way of cooking eggs and it’s actually a pretty decent start of the day, nutritionally speaking. Since it’s not a very quick breakfast we usually make this on Sunday morning. Yes, of course in our pajamas!
It’s not just fun to make but they’re also great to serve because they’re oh-so simple, but look oh-so good, and not just for kids!

Ingredients:
drop of olive oil
1/2 small onion
grated cheese
1 tomato
2oz ham
2 eggs
pepper
salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 (175c)
This was a breakfast for two, so if you need more just double (or triple) the amounts. Start by finely chopping your onion. You can also use shallots for this, I mainly grab whatever I find in my pantry. Do the same with the ham.

I’ve used fresh and vibrant organic/biological tomatoes for this and I must say, there’s definitely a noticeable difference in flavor. I was always skeptical about it, but it’s just really a deeper and more pure flavor. Hard to describe. Anyway, give them a rough chop. Remove as many of the seeds as you can but don’t sweat it, most of the seeds will fall off when you transfer them to the skillet later on.

Using a little drop of olive oil, sautee your onions over medium heat until translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for one more minute before adding the ham. Let everything heat through for an additional minute now.

I’ve used ramekins for this, but any small, individual baking dish will do, just lightly grease it. My ramekins don’t look great with all the gray on white (especially not in photos), but they do have a huge advantage to them – a non stick interior, so I’ll gladly trade in pretty pictures for comfort. Spoon the vegetable mix in whatever you’re gonna use to bake it in and top with a little grated cheese.

The egg saga. Need I say more? Just crack an egg over each baking dish.

Now there’s a slight chance one (or all) of your eggs survived the crash, so we’ll just have to burst their bubbles ourselves. If you leave the yolk intact it’s gonna end up all dried out, small, sad and shriveled up. It’s not a pretty sight and quite frankly, it scares me. What can I say? I’m a woman, I tend to panic when I think about things ending up sad and shriveled up. Anything. So use something sharp to break the yolk and let it run its course. Don’t mix things.

Pop them in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes and keep an eye on them. If after 15 minutes the egg white doesn’t look completely firm give it a few more minutes. You want the egg to be fully cooked but the yolk underneath still a bit soft and runny.
In the mean time I make toast that I cut up in small strips. The kiddo loves dipping them in the runny yolks and I love my kiddo, so I’ll gladly make them. You can lightly butter them if you like.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on top, a little parsley if you want to get real fancy and you’re done.

Chopped Egg And Avocado Sandwich

Chopped Egg And Avocado Sandwich

My "Cooking for One" challenge is still on and i woke up really early today...spoke to my sister n' she wanted my Punjabi Paneer Makhani recipe n' i had to sent to her on email....so once that was done i still had time to get ready for work n' decided to make something that feels really fresh...I have 6 posts in my draft that i made which i haven't posted yet...just no time!!!! Month ends are a busy time at work. But this was so good...i just couldn't wait to post it....

Also, i really need to dedicate a post to two of my good friends, Veerendra Mishra and Preetha P (non-bloggers)who found it really hard to believe that i can cook... actually quote unquote..."cook, style n' take decent pics"....lol...sometimes even i'm still surprised...;)...so i'm dedicating this post to them ;)...also i have made an Avocado Milkshake along with this post...i remember when i was working with them in ABN AMRO Bank- Bangalore, i used to order this so often...i can't seem to remember the name of the chain of fruit juice shops we used to order it from..:(...anyways i'm told it's full of good cholesterol....

I'm a big fan of Avocado or Butter Fruit (as we fondly call it back home), when my friend introduced me to Guacamole for the first time....i got addicted to it for life....so when i came across this recipe i was 'Oh so keen' about trying it...so here you go...(pls note i'm going to give the measurements enough to make just one sandwich...please adjust accordingly if you want to make more....)

Ingredients:

1. Egg: 1 large (hard-boiled, peeled and chopped)
2. Onion: 2-3 tsps (chopped)
3. Parsley Leaves: 1 tbsp (chopped)
4. Dry Oregano: 1/4 tsp
5. Dijon Mustard: 1/4 tsp
6. Chili Mayonnaise *: 1-2tsp (yeah i went a little overboard with it...;) )
7. Ripe Avocado: half piece (the avocado needs to be halved, seeded, meat scooped out and diced)
8. Salt: to taste (just keep in mind that the Mayonnaise & Dijon Mustard will already have salt in it)
9. Black pepper: to taste (freshly ground)
10.Brown Bread: 2 slices (i have used a brown bun here but you can use any bread of your choice, lightly toasted)
11. Cheese of your choice: 1no (optional) (i didn't use it)

* i used chili mayo coz i love the flavour, you can use plain. but if you do want to use it and you only have plain mayo with you, all you need to do for a quick fix is just add chili flakes to your mayo n' mix well.

Method:

Step 1: In a bowl, mix the chopped Egg, Onion, Parsley, Dijon Mustard and Mayonnaise together.

Step 2: Toss in the chopped avocado, sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper and gently mix well.

Step 3: Lightly toast the bread slices. Scoop a generous amount of the chopped egg and avocado on a slice of bread, add a slice of cheese (if using) and top with another slice of bread.

Here's a snap of my Avocado Milk Shake, i had the other half of Avocado which i didn't use in the sandwich right? i made the milk shake with it...as you can see it's served in a Big Beer Glass...i was missing RJ n' decided to have the milk shake in his Beer Glass (a gift from me)...and as you can see it was a lot...so i could have only this for breakfast and i got the sandwiches with me for lunch...;)

Protein Smoothie Banana and Pineapple

Ingredients:
2 bananas
some strawberries
pineapple
4 raw fertile eggs
blend everything in a blender and drink.
Very nutritious, enjoy.

I'm not sure if this is good, but it may float your boat. When I was younger, my older siblings loved banana smoothies. We called them shakes because it had a large amount of milk in them. I remember that my sister Johanna would prefer her smoothie to at least have one egg because it made the shake/smoothie have a better consistency. I personally don't remember the difference, but I remember loving every shake that my siblings made for me. It's more of a nostalgic item of food with me because of that.  I was the youngest of 3 older brother and sisters, so I pretty much followed them to anything and I owe my love to smoothies to them!

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie Recipe

This is a great breakfast, or a brilliant way to get some essential nutrition into your kids.

Ingredients:

{ This is so delicious!!!!}

1 cup milk
1 cup of oatmeal
1 banana
1 cup orange juice
Cut banana into chunks.
Place all ingredients in blender container.
Blend until smooth.
2 servings

Superfood Smoothie Banana and Blueberries

Ingredients:
½ cup fresh spinach, washed and dried
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
½ large banana (1 small)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup soymilk
1/3 cup crushed ice

Put all the ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl until smooth. Drink up!

Mango Orange Smoothie
 

Serves 1-2
 

Ingredients:
1/2 banana
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Optional: *1/2 cup uncooked oats (not instant) Directions: Place all the ingredients in your blender container and blend on high speed until everything is smooth. Blender times will vary depending on the type of blender you have. Enjoy!