I recently saw a recipe for potato and zucchini hash and loved the idea!  (But wasn’t all that crazy about cooking up two russett potatoes.)  So I tried mixing it up by adding some sweet potatoes (way healthier, plus I love the sweet/salty combo!), a little bit of onion, and zucchini and yellow squash (yay, color!)….and voila!  This is definitely one of my new favorite breakfasts!

The ingredient combo ended up being completely delicious!  And totally simple – the “hardest” part was just cutting up the veggies.  Which, I should point out that I somehow defaulted to habit and only halved instead of quartered the veggies — oops!  So my “hash” looked more like half-medallions.  :)  But of course, they tasted the same.  And even just being seasoned with salt, pepper, and cooked in some olive oil — this was completely yummy and flavorful!  All the better when paired with an egg, cooked however you’d like.

So cheers to getting your veggies for breakfast!

Sweet Potato & Zucchini Hash Recipe
(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

Method:

Rinse potatoes well under cold running water, then drain and thoroughly pat dry. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until potatoes are almost cooked through and golden, about 15 minutes.

Add zucchini, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until zucchini is soft and potatoes are cooked through, 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; divide among four plates. To serve, top with eggs.

Ali’s Tip:

To fry an egg sunny-side-up, melt 1 Tbsp. of butter in a skillet over medium-heat.  Once the oil is heated (if you add a drop of water in the oil, it will sizzle), crack open your egg and gently pour it into the pan.  Reduce heat to low.  Cook slowly until the whites are completely set and the yolks begin to thicken, but are not hard.

Ok, this was one recipe I had to try…  :)

Recently came across it in an issue of Martha Stewart Everyday, and was definitely intrigued.  Seemed like my kind of a twist on eggs and toast — so cute!  Since I’ve been stocking up on bell peppers this summer (both in my garden and at the farmers’ market – yum!), decided to give it a go!

But I have to admit…my first attempt wasn’t so “cute”.  My first inclination was to go with the biggest, roundest bell pepper in my fridge.  But as soon as I cracked the eggs, I quickly discovered that they would hardly fill the “hole”…much less rise to the top!  So I ended up giving it another try with some skinnier bell peppers, and also sliced them a little thinner than the full 1/2-inch that the recipe required.  (Mine were maybe a centimeter or so high.)  Sure enough, voila — four charming, perfectly-cooked and perfectly-filled “bell pepper egg-in-a-hole” creations, courtesy of Martha.  Cute, cute, cute…and delicious!  :)

I ended up following the rest of her recipe to a tee, resisting the urge to throw in some extra herbs, and we agreed they were quite nice!  Definitely liked the extra Parmesan on top.  And the whole meal (which could easily serve four for breakfast, brunch, or lunch!) took less than 10 minutes to make.  Love it.  And definitely recommend it!

Bell Pepper Egg-In-A-Hole Recipe
(From Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

Method:

In a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat.  Add bell pepper, then crack 1 egg into the middle of each pepper ring.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until egg whites are mostly set but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip and cook 1 minute more for over easy.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and use a spatula to place each egg on a slice of toast. Toss salad greens with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper; serve alongside eggs.

Ali’s Tip:

To give this more of a Southwestern flare, you could add some finely chopped jalapeno (and maybe some finely chopped mushrooms!) inside the bell peppers when you first add them to the skillet.  Then just crack the egg on top of them, and immediately sprinkle with a pinch of cumin and chili powder on the egg.  Then garnish with some chopped fresh cilantro!

If you were to have asked me at age 6 to name my favorite food, the answer would have been simple — egg drop soup.  If asked the same question at age 16 — egg drop soup.  And still today at 26, after having experienced a whole (gasp!) quarter-century’s worth of food, the answer would still be the same.  :D

I love egg drop soup!!!!!!!!!

Really, there’s no monumental reason why.  I think it’s delicious and fairly healthy, but mainly it’s just my total idea of comfort food.  Ever since I was young, I used to order it every Saturday when my family had lunch at a fantastic little local Chinese restaurant in Wichita. And then I’m pretty sure I’ve literally tried it at every single other Chinese restaurant I’ve visited.  (Which — my theory holds true that if a restaurant knows how to make good egg drop soup, chances are their other food rocks!!)

Anyway, now that you all think I’m uber-weird and obsessed, I present to you the third recipe in Cheap Eats Week — egg drop soup.  If you’ve never made it at home, it’s high time.  Cheap, simple, flavorful, and egg-tastic.  :)  Definitely a favorite!!

Egg Drop Soup Recipe
(Original recipe)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups good chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 3-4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 3 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup corn or creamed corn (optional)
• salt and white pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp. each)

Method:

Pour the chicken stock into a room-temperature pot, and whisk in the cornstarch until it is well-blended.  Add in the garlic, ginger and soy sauce.  Turn on the stove and heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs in a small measuring cup or bowl.  (I find the measuring cup easier for pouring.)

Once the soup is boiling, turn off the heat.  Then while using one hand to continually stir the soup in one direction with a fork, slowly pour the whisked eggs into the soup.  (This will create the nice egg ribbons!)  Then gently stir in the sesame oil, green onions and corn (optional).  Season with white pepper (be careful) and salt (depending on your chicken broth, be generous).

Serve immediately.

Ali’s Tip:

To achieve the nice yellow-ish color and add slightly more flavor, I called for whole eggs in the recipe above.  But I often make this with just egg whites to go slightly easier on the cholesterol.  :)  Still tastes fantastic.

Apparently I have Germany on the mind this month.  I’m listening to a book on tape during my commute (trying to break my cell-phone-while-driving habit!) about German history.  And reading a fictional book with German characters.  And of course…listening to Heidi Klum bid her famous “Auf Wiedersehen” to an unlucky contestant every Wednesday night on Project Runway.

So it makes perfect sense, as I now realize, that this would be the month to finally try this recipe for adorable mini German pancakes that I had bookmarked!  I’ve always wanted to try the normal-sized German pancakes.  But for some odd reason (ironic because I can consume plates and plates of other carbs), it’s rare that I ever make it through an entire pancake before feeling full.  So when I saw a recipe for these little guys, it seemed like a perfect compromise!

Happy to say that they are as delightful as they look.  The entire “making” and “baking” process, in fact, was fun from start to finish!  L-O-V-E-D mixing up the batter in the blender (so easy and speedy!), and had a little too much fun peeking in the oven every few minutes to see the muffins puff up near the end.  And then…deflate into the pancakes we all know and still love.  :)

All in all, a fun, delicious breakfast that I will definitely be revisiting soon.   Sehr gut.

Pop-Up Muffins (German Pancakes)
From Good Life {eats} and Make & Takes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• dash salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange zest (optional)
• assorted condiments for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Blend first seven ingredients (milk thru orange zest) in a blender.  Be careful to see that any flour clumps get well-blended. Grease muffin tins well and distribute batter evenly between 24 tins.  (My tins were slightly less than half-full.) Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top.

Served with your favorite toppings.  (Mine included sliced strawberries, maple syrup, and a light dusting of powdered sugar.)

Ali’s Tip:

If you’re going to make these without paper or foil muffin liners, be sure to grease the muffin tins very well!  Otherwise these little guys will s-t-i-c-k. :)

Also, just wanted to note that the photo above was taken 30 seconds after these emerged from the oven.  In the time it took me to run and grab my camera, the muffins went from being completely puffed-up and round to sunken in and flat (as pictured).  This would be a fun little transition to watch with kiddos!