Baked Eggs for Dinner

(aren't these eggs pretty?? yes, they really are green, blue and brown!!)

Mister went out with the boys tonight so I was left to fend for myself. I usually love cooking big meals but tonight I just didnt feel like it. I decided I would do something simple, easy and delicious - which usually means I make some sort of egg dish. I love eggs. They are rich, easy and quick! A perfect main for busy nights. The eggs I used tonight come from my parents free range hens. They are so delicious and wonderful...yummm. Back to dinner - I ended up make a simple baked egg dish with toast sticks and a green salad. It sounds so sophisticated and French...until you have me try to say it in French "Oeufs Cocotte". The backwoods girl in me just cant get it right ;). My dinner inspiration came from She Wears Many Hats Basic Baked Eggs recipe.Baked Eggs (for one)
-2 free range eggs (recipe calls for one per person but that just doesn't cut it for me)-butter
-about 1 tbsp of heavy whipping cream
-pinch of salt
-pinch of pepper
-pinch of herbs de provence
-pinch of cayenne pepper
-2 slices sourdough bread cut into sticks
Preheat oven to 350F. Boil water. Grease small ramekin with butter, add two eggs cream and spices. Place ramekin in a baking dish and pour boiling water into the dish until it comes about halfway up the ramekin (make a water bath). Put in the oven and set timer for 15 min (my eggs came out slightly underdone which is how I like them for this dish). Toast bread. TA DA! That's it! Green Salad w/Dijon Mustard dressing
-1 small bunch green lettuce
-Olive oil, salt, pepper, organic dijon mustard, homemade apple cider vinegar (I do not have measurements for these because I totally eyeballed the dressing)

Clean lettuce and slice into 1 inch thick strips. Put about 2 tsp. vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, good squirt of mustard, dash of salt and pepper into a bowl or cup and whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Udon Soup

Last week I had a serious craving for some warm comforting Udon noodle soup, especially since it was supposed to rain all weekend. I decided I would give it a try using some veggies from our CSA. I got all my inspiration from recipes found on TasteSpotting (Nourish Network and Not So Humble Pie specifically).

I really wanted to make my own Dashi (traditional Japanese soup base made with Kombu and Bonito Flakes - seaweed and dried smoked Bonito fish) but my local co-op doesnt carry any fish based products so I got a vegetarian Dashi base. You can find a simple recipe for Dashi here.

CSA Udon Soup
6 oz Cremini mushrooms sliced (Shitake would be delicious)
1 small bunch baby kale, collards and spinach sliced
2 carrots sliced in rounds
1 Diakon radish sliced in rounds
1 package organic fresh garlic udon noodles (Ohana brand)
3/4 cup vegetarian Dashi concentrate
3 3/4 cups water
1 tsp mellow white Miso (optional - but make sure to buy the high quality refrigerated kind - it tastes better and is better for you)
Dash of rice vinegar
Dash of soy sauce
1 green onion sliced

I started by sauteing the mushrooms in sesame oil until browned, then added the kale, collards and spinach, cooking for another 6 minutes. Once cooked, I removed the greens and mushrooms and placed them in a bowl. I put the Dashi concentrate, water, soy sauce and rice vinegar in a pot and waited for everything to come to a boil. Once everything was boiling, I added Diakon, carrots and the noodles (cooking according to package directions about 6 min). After the timer went off, I added the mushrooms and greens, then turned off the heat. I removed about 1/4 cup of the liquid and mixed this with the Miso, then added everything back into the pot mixing thoroughly. Ladled into bowls, added the green onion and done! Super simple, delicious and pretty darn healthy. Its a really good way to get veggies into a meal. I ate leftovers on Saturday and it tasted even better.

Cravings = eating dinner at 9pm

I got home at 6:20pm and really didnt want what I had planned for dinner tonight (warm shrimp and eggplant salad over brown rice) - what I really wanted was spinach/kale lasagna (Note: I didnt have all the ingredients). Not listening to reason, I prepped everything that I could (white sauce, sauteed spinach and kale, cooked lasgna noodles) and then waited for Mister to get home with the rest of the ingredients. I just put the lasagna in the oven about 10 minutes ago...sigh

If I had made the sensible choice I would have already finished eating, instead I will be eating at 9 (but I will love every bite of that lasagna damnit!).