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.

how to make the perfect poached egg

Poached eggs are pretty much my most favorite way to eat an egg. I've poached eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never seem to get tired of them. I used to have trouble making the perfect poach and I tried all kinds of method from vigorously swirling the water to create a funnel to boiling the eggs in the shell for just a few seconds before cracking them. Nothing worked and I'd end up with raggedy looking disasters on toast. But after a ton of online searching last year, I came up with my tried and true method for the perfect poached egg. Listen up!

1. Start with a super fresh egg. I always use free range eggs and using free range organic is even better. If you start with a quality product, you'll end up with one too.

2. In a large saucepan or a pot, bring a small amount of water to a boil. You don't need to over do it on the water...about 3 inches deep works wonderfully.


3. Gently crack your egg into a small tea cup. I always use my 1970's vintage owl motif mugs for this task because I think they eggs get happier and tastier inside of a pretty cup.

4. While the water is boiling, add in salt and a teaspoon of vinegar. I use apple cider vinegar because I think it gives the egg an extra nice (but very subtle) flavour. The vinegar doesn't just add a bit of tang, it also helps to bind all of that swirly egg whites to the egg, so don't skip this part!


5. Now, gently slide your teacup into the water. Let the boiling water enter the teacup for a few seconds before sliding the egg out of the mug. This lets the egg set a bit before setting it free into your pot. Depending on the size of your pot, you can add a few eggs at once, but make sure you follow the teacup method for each egg. Cover and turn the heat down to a simmer.

6. When the egg is set to your liking, remove each egg with a slotted spoon holding it over the pot for a little bit so that all the water drains from the egg. Set eggs on some buttered rye toast, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dig in. I like my egg yolks hard so I let them simmer away for about 4 minutes or so. If you like a runnier egg, you can remove the eggs after about 2-3 minutes