waste not, want not: beet greens & fried potatoes topped with a poached egg

It's a real shame that people don't eat beet greens. When I was talking to my dad last weekend and I prepared him Swiss Chard for the first time (which he loved), I told him that the chard was very similar in taste to beet greens. "Beet greens?", He said, "I just throw those out at the supermarket!" What a waste. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret....beet greens are delicious. Really.

I made this meal after a trip to the green grocer. I bought two bunches of fresh local beets and I used the beets to make a tangy salad. I wasn't sure what I'd do with the greens, but when dinner reared it's head a couple days later, I pulled the greens out of the crisper along with a couple of potatoes and decided to fry the two together. The idea for the poached eggs came moments later when the beet greens shrunk considerably while sauteing, leaving the meal less hearty than I had hoped for. The eggs were a good call, making the meal an ideal rustic home-style dinner that would work equally well for a brunch.

I used proscuitto in this recipe, but you could easily leave it out for a vegetarian dish or sub in some salty feta instead for a nice bite. I've made beet greens before and I'll make them again. Hopefully you will too.

beet greens & fried potatoes topped with poached eggs
2 large potatoes
1-2 T olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices of proscuitto, diced
1 large bunch of beet greens, rinsed thoroughly & roughly chopped
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T fresh rosemary
2 T fresh parsley
salt & pepper
4 poached eggs

Boil potatoes until tender. Slice into rounds and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions, and proscuitto add in sliced potatoes and fry until golden on both sides.

Boil water in a medium sized pot and start poaching your eggs. Meanwhile, move potatoes to one side of the pan and add in beet greens, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. When beet greens get wilty, about 2 minutes or so, toss with fresh rosemary and parsley and stir around the potatoes into the mix. Divide mixture onto 2 plates and top with poached eggs.