The Purtiest Meatless Monday Lunch

Can we all just agree that my mama’s eggs are the most beautifullest?

Ok, good.

She brought some over to the house as a Father’s Day gift for my husband (how f’n sweet is that?!) and the minute I opened the carton, I got so very excited.  It’s actually the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes this morning!

Just so darn pretty.

And while my son ate his oatmeal, and the sun was starting to spread its light over the house, I stepped outside and snapped that photo.

Then I couldn’t wait for what I was gonna do with those babies!  A simple and healthy but satisfying salad was the first thing that popped in my head, and that’s just what I did.

If you don’t remember my post about the perfect soft-boiled egg, you can go back and read about it here on this post.  And then read some other recipes that are great for the eggs here on this post!

This salad is a mix of the things I had on hand, and it came out extremely well.  The flavors, the textures… perfection.  As with most of my recipes, you can substitute what you have on hand and just use this as a guide!

You’ve got roasted zucchini chips for cripy-ness, avocado and the egg for richness, a bright and sharp lemony-dijon dressing coating arugula and baby chard for zip, cucumbers for freshness, red pepper flakes for spice, and one of my favorite secret ingredients ever… nutritional yeast flakes.

aka fairy dust.

That stuff is just magic, ya’ll.  If you don’t know it, get on it.  And no, you don’t have to be a hippy vegan to enjoy it.  I’m part hippy and not at all vegan, and I love the stuff.  It has a nutty and almost cheese-like flavor and it’s excellent sprinkled on salads, in addition to mashed potatoes (sweet ones especially!), scrambled eggs, roasted veggies (broccoli especially!), and popcorn!!  Plus, it’s got protein, fiber, iron, and B vitamins to boot.

So go on and make your own version of this beautiful salad the next time you wanna treat yourself to something pretty and clean, k?

k.

BABY GREEN SALAD

WITH SOFT BOILED EGG

AND ROASTED ZUCCHINI CHIPS

First, we roast the zucchini…

1. In a large mixing bowl, warm up a little spoonful of coconut oil to a liquid state (you really don’t need more than a teaspoon-ish and I just popped the bowl with the coconut oil in the microwave for about 20 seconds or so)
2. Thinly slice 1 standard sized zucchini (about the thickness of a cracker) and add the slices to the bowl of coconut oil.
3. Toss well to coat all the slices in the oil evenly.
4. Lightly grease a large baking sheet (I used some natural olive oil spray).
5. Spread your zucchini slices in one layer on the baking sheet.
6. Roast at 425 and check after 15 minutes, flipping once they’re golden brown and crispy on the top side.  Keep checking them every couple of minutes, as they go fast at this point.
7. Season liberally with kosher salt and the zest of half a lemon (reserve that lemon for the dressing).
8. Allow to cool, remaining in an even layer to stay crisp.

While they’re going, let’s boil the eggs…

1. I don’t feel like typing it all out again, so let’s go back to the original post, yeah?  Eggs boil 6 1/2 minutes and it takes you less than 1 to read your special instructions!  CLICK HERE FOR THE PERFECT SOFT BOILED EGG
2. Set aside.  (Or make ahead, store in fridge, and gently reheat by immersing in warm water prior to salad making)

In the same bowl you tossed the raw zucchini in, make your dressing for the salad!

1. Squeeze the juice from 1 juicy lemon.
2. Add a spoonful of dijon mustard (maybe 2 tsp or so) and whisk to combine.
3. Season liberally with kosher salt.
4. While whisking, drizzle in some good extra virgin olive oil until… it looks like a dressing!  (I do not follow the 1:3 / vinegar:oil ratio for my dressings, it’s way too much unnecessary oil in my opinion, so I just drizzle lightly until it begins to thicken, and I taste.)
5. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
6. Add in a couple handfuls of baby salad greens (I’d recommend most anything, as long as there’s arugula present… this was a mix of baby chard and arugula)
7. Toss with your hands to be sure you don’t over-dress.  Just have the dressing kiss the greens, but don’t you dare soak them.
8. Mound the tossed greens on a plate.

Salad staging time!

1. Find a sweet spot for your egg(s), slice in half, and nestle ’em in.
2. Slice half a medium sized California avocado into threes and fan ’em out somewhere perfect.
3. Mound your roasted zucchini chips somewhere nice.
4. Take a few cucumber strips (or your cucumber shape of choice… clearly slices are more common, but the circle shape was already taken my the zucchini 😉 ) and strategically haphazardly place them.
5. Season the avocado and egg with your favorite finishing salt (mine is Pink Himalayan)
6. Season the egg with crushed red pepper flakes.
7. And season everything with a good sprinkling of nutritional yeast flakes.

(prettier food tastes better, ya’ll)

Now sit your tired tush down and enjoy something your body really wants today.

(Don’t do what I do and inhale it before realizing you’re late to pick up your kids from camp and you haven’t even put pants on)

…

love ya’ll. thanks for reading. x