Black Bean Bowl with Poached Egg

Give me a potato, sweet or of the russet variety, and I'm a happy lady. Maybe it's because I'm Irish. Maybe it's because I love brunch food. Or maybe it's both. Regardless of the origin of my lusting, whenever I see a brunch recipe on the internet that manages to incorporate a potato, it's game over for me. If I see it on a weekday, whose morning are filled with oatmeal & drip coffee, I make sure to stash the recipe away for a few days. Sometimes on Pinterest, but usually by refusing to close its browser tab.

But this bad boy black bean bowl? I considered it made the first time I saw it. If you often find yourself short on time in the morning, the bulk of this recipe can me made the night before. Substitute canned beans for dried, even if it does raise the price point a bit. If you're like me and can't make your own poached egg with a perfect dribble, throw on a sunny-side-up egg instead. Don't like runny yolks? I don't judge - I was the same until a few years back. Try a scrambled version and no one will think less of you. In fact, your friends will probably be begging to brunch at your place again and again.

Another praise I can sing for this dish is about its leftover potential. Cook everything down  a little to thicken it up and throw it in a tortilla to call it "burrito lunch." "A" and I used ours the next morning for brunch to make blintzes. To stretch things out a bit more, add some stock and call it soup. It's a flexible dish that will bend to your needs without complaint. All it wants is to make you happy, as do I.

BLACK BEAN BOWL

Adapted from Spouted Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. dried black beans (rinsed and soaked overnight)
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp. chile powder
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced in 1'' cubes
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 4-8 eggs (use 1-2 eggs per person)
• cilantro and hot sauce to finish
• Cheese of your choosing 

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the beans from soaking. Place them in a large pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the beans are cooked through and just tender (one to one and a half hours depending on freshness of beans), avoid overcooking. They should still have a tooth to them. Remove from heat, add a pinch of salt. Let the beans cool for about ten minutes before draining. Add the cumin, cinnamon, garlic, chile powder, hearty pinch of salt and broth. Bring the mixture to a low simmer.
2. Add the sweet potato to the warm beans, give it a stir and cover the pot. Cook for about 8-10 minutes until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Stir in the tomato paste and olive oil and taste for salt, you'll likely need another pinch or two, and spices. You could add heat with a pinch of red pepper flakes or chipotle. Cover and keep warm until ready.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water with a splash of vinegar to a low boil. Poach the eggs to desired doneness (deliver the eggs to the water in a ramekin, seems to help them stay together well).  For a medium poach, simmer them 2-3 minutes. If you like the yolk more firm, take them 4-5 minutes. Serve each portion with a hearty scoop of the beans and poached egg on top. Finish with hot sauce, cilantro and cheese if using. 

Asparagus Frittata

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful Mom, Ann, and my always glamorous Grandma, Betty!!  All our plans for going out for brunch fell through, so we ended up having brunch at my parents house, but I am so glad we did!  It was honestly one of the best Mother's Day I have witnessed - I got four new recipes for my blog, it was a casual morning sitting around and chatting, the food was pipping hot and we never felt rushed to eat!  And right at the center of the dining room table were flowers my dad and I bought my mom - sunflowers, her favorite.

First up in the list of Mother's Day foods is an asparagus frittata.  I should let you know I despise quiche, but I love this frittata!  I have never made a frittata before, nor had I eaten one, but I had seen them in restaurants in Europe and all over TasteSpotting.  And what's even cooler is that they really aren't that hard to make but so amazing!  The texture is dense while having a nice bite to it and the crunchy cheese crust on top makes it even more delectable!  For your next lazy Sunday or breakfast in bed, I recommend you whip up one of these, it's sure to impress!

Asparagus Frittata

Adapted from The Traveling Table 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, peeled and blanched for 2 minutes,
• cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 eggs, slightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of hot sauce to taste
• 4 ounces fresh Dubliner cheese, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon chopped Chinese chives (harvested them fresh from my Mom's new chive plant!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the broiler. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick 10-inch skillet. 
2. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onion is starting to brown. 
3. In a medium bowl break the eggs and whisk. Season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce and pour into the pan. 
4. Scatter the asparagus into the pan. Lift the edges to allow the liquid egg to run into the bottom. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the eggs are setting and the bottom is starting to brown. 
5. Drop the cheese over the top in small mounds and place under the broiler until the top is set and crusty brown. Sprinkle the chives over the top (at this point, because I was still making hash browns, the frittata was warming in an oven set at 170 degrees). 
6. Let cool for a couple minutes, slide out of the pan, and cut into 6-8 wedges.

Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

Happy Halloween!  It would be more appropriate to post a recipe that had pumpkin as an ingredient or was somehow shaped to look like a ghost.  But this spanakopita recipe is good enough to make up for the lack of a holiday theme.  When I first started using this recipe (about 3 years ago), I compiled a few aspects of different spanakopita recipes for this one.

Spanakopita

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 (4 ounce) packages feta cheese, crumbled
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 (16 ounce) packages phyllo dough
• Olive Oil
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill and flour. Cook approximately 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper.
2. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with 10 more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. 
3. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.