Open-faced Fried Egg Torta

I told myself I was in a breakfast rut. I thought long and hard about how I had two standard breakfasts. One being oatmeal and berries which I usually eat all work week, the other being my weekend egg sandwiches and roasted potatoes. Occasionally, when I get really bored, I’ll have a piece of multi-grain bread toasted with natural peanut butter and if I need a sweet pick me up, some honey and sea salt.

I’ve had some extra time on my hands which I am still trying to adjust to, I try to think of it like a temporary schedule upset. More time at home all the sudden meant more time to think about, and prepare breakfast. The more I thought about my breakfast rut the more I realized over the past weeks I’ve eaten all kinds of things outside my standard oatmeal and eggs. Did I lie to myself? I don’t think,  maybe I just kick started myself into making new breakfasts and my love has been growing. Recently I posted a green smoothie recipe and I’ve been drinking quite of few of them since. Friends of mine that are already green smoothie advocates gave me some great tips such as using avocado, suggesting different fruit and vegetable combinations and using protein powders.  I made a perfect English muffin bread which shook up my carb taste buds and also tried to redeem my bad eating ways with salad for breakfast. Unknown to you all, I also tried to making gluten-free vegan pancakes with coconut flour. Unfortunately they were a huge fail as they just would not hold together. I’m going to do some more research and revisit gluten-free and/or vegan pancakes later. For now I want to give you a breakfast recipe to start your Cinco de Mayo off right also known humorously as Sink-full-of-Mayo. If you want to continue your day with Mexican inspired food, check out my post from last year for more suggestions.

Back to this torta. It’s not complicated, actually it’s barely a recipe. What I’m hoping it will do is inspire you to eat something new for breakfast this weekend. It’s like an incredibly lazy huevos rancheros, literally coming together in 5 minutes or less. Torta is Spanish for sandwich so I made it sound fancy, opened-faced egg sandwich just didn’t have the same ring.

Open-faced Fried Egg Torta

• tortillas
• free-range eggs
• cheddar or montery jack cheese
• avocado
• prepared or homemade salsa
• green onion for garnish

Asparagus Polenta Pizza

A few posts back I promised Spring recipes, I promised something from an lemony asparagus dream, possibly an eggy dream but I am here to make good on two-thirds of those promises. The eggy dream will stop by later.

This recipe has everything to satisfy each taste. The sweet buttery crunch of the polenta, the saltiness of the olives, the crisp freshness of the green onion, the depth of the roasted asparagus and the tart zip of the lemon. All of that in one bite makes me a happy lady.

This pizza is gluten free and could easily be veganized by using Daiya or nutritional yeast or both. This pizza would make a good brunch with a salad or served with eggs and fresh fruit. Mimosas are a must! Serves 3-4 as an appetizer or side.

Asparagus Polenta Pizza

polenta

• 2 cups of water
• 3/4 cup coarse ground organic polenta
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter

pizza

• 1 bunch of thin asparagus, washed and trimmed to be of equal length
• 1/4 cup rennet-free Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• 1 green onion thinly sliced
• 5 black olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method

Pre heat to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium sized saucepan bring water and salt to a boil. Whisk in Italian seasoning and cornmeal until fully incorporated. Turn the heat down to medium and cook about 5-8 minutes, the polenta should be thickened and bubbling. Whisk in olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time and then the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until it is smooth and mixed through. With a heat proof spatula spread evenly onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. You are looking to geta  rectangular shape around 1/4″ in thickness. Let the polenta sit at room temperature while you wash, trim and even out your asparagus.

Carefully lay asparagus onto polenta, alternating the spear tops to bottoms and bottoms to tops until the whole thing is covered. I find it best to use super fresh small stalked asparagus for presentation and taste, it becomes tender while still being able to have roasty bits.

Place cookie sheet one the middle rack and cook for 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425 F and cook another 5-10 minutes. This is to brown the bottom of the polenta crust. When the pizza is brown and the edges start to pull up from the parchment, remove from the oven and top with the Parmesan (Daiya or nutritional yeast) and broil for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted.

Squeeze a lemon wedge over entire pizza and let cool on the pan for a few minutes.    Top with black olives and fresh spring onions and serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side.