Do as I Say, Not as I Do

I’ve been so inspired lately. Not only from the Foodbuzz Festival, but from things happening in my own life. I’ve been inspired to cook more, write better, take better pictures, be more creative, and most of all make more videos!

Part of the reason for all this inspiration is because I’ve been given the opportunity to go to cooking school for six months. This is something I’ve wanted to do for so so long now, and I can’t believe it’s actually happening. I will be taking the class from January to June next year, and its a culinary basics course. Once I started thinking about the class, and where the blog was going, I just got overwhelmed with all these ideas and thoughts running through my head. Recipes started flooding my brain, and the wheels started turning.

Even when I’m at work trying different wines, foods start popping in my head and dishes are being created. When you try certain wines, you just know what kind of food would go well with it so you start conjuring up a recipe to pair with it.

But I’m getting off on a tangent. This recipe below was inspired by my newest craving….eggs. Eggs are such a wonderful, savory, comforting food that are full of protein. Whenever I’m craving something really satisfying I always seem to turn to eggs. Over Easy, hard boiled, deviled, there are so many ways to have them, and I love them all.

So here is a recipe that will satisfy all your Soul Food cravings.

Wilted Swiss Chard Topped with Egg and Croutons
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 5-6 Large leaves of Green and Red Swiss Chard
• 1 egg
• 1 piece whole wheat bread
• 1 Tbs Garlic Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 C Feta crumbles-Optional
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*.
Coat your piece of whole wheat bread with the plain olive oil then cut into small squares. I used Nature’s Pride bread that was sent to me as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.

Once your croutons are cut, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, and put them in the oven for 5 minutes. Then flip them, and put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes or until crunchy.

While the croutons are baking, cut the red stalks off for the Swiss Chard, wash, and dry well. Then cut the chard into small pieces.

Coat a pot with a little of the garlic oil, add in the swiss chard and drizzle the rest of the oil on top. I like to use garlic oil because it gives a lovely flavor to the chard, and is less work than chopping up the garlic, browning it, and then adding it to the swiss chard. This just cuts down on time.

Cover the pot and wilt the chard on low heat for about 10-15 minutes. I don’t like it completely wilted, but I don’t like it crunchy either. So somewhere in between is perfect.

While the chard is wilting away, fry an egg in a separate pan. You want the egg to be over easy so when you cut into it the yoke spills out onto the Swiss Chard. Unfortunately I was so busy doing a million things in the kitchen when I made this recipe that I over cooked the egg. Do as I say, not as I did!

Once the Swiss Chard is wilted, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste then transfer onto a plate. Add the egg carefully on top, and then place your croutons around.

The taste of the earthy garlicky greens, with the buttery egg, and crunchy croutons is magnificent. Even if you don’t think you like Swiss Chard, just try this recipe. You will be surprised.

And then if you really want to spice things up…as I always do…add some crumbled feta on top. This small touch will add flavor, texture, and a little tang, which goes really well with the egg and greens.

This is the perfect meal to have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on a cold fall day. Trust me!

Tagged as: feta, fried egg, garlic oil, home-made croutons, Nature's Pride, Swiss Chard