Fried Egg, Tomato, Mushrooms, and English Muffin

Yesterday I had to leave Richmond for most of the day, and since Aaron and I usually spend Saturdays together, this made me feel a little sad. I figured since I was leaving in the morning, I should make a big breakfast for us both, on account of how Aaron is notoriously bad at cooking. In a big skillet, I fried a couple of eggs, some fresh tomato slices, and some mushrooms in a little bit of light margarine and olive oil. I also toasted some whole-grain English muffins. We had a bowl of organic red grapes and glasses of orange juice as well (not shown).

Big Giant Breakfast for the Boy who Can't Cook So Great.

The yolk oozed its yellow goodness onto the plate, where it mingled with the hot tomato juices and was sopped up with the crunchy English muffin. Aaron’s favorite part of the breakfast was the mushrooms, which soaked up a lot of flavor while sauteeing in the pan with the other good things.

My favorite part, of course, was the egg. Aaron admitted that he cannot cook an egg sunny side up. He says that when he attempts it, the top does not get cooked at all, but the bottom burns. I admitted that I have real trouble cooking an egg over-easy, because I always manage to break the yolk. Sunny side up is no problem, though, as you can see!

Readers, over the next couple of days I will be extremely busy. Tomorrow I start a new job AND I have my first day of online classes for my Master of Library Science. If you do not see another post from me until Wednesday or Thursday, or if my heart explodes from the stress of it all before I get to post again, please enjoy these breakfast photos. I will be having more eggs tomorrow morning to give me the energy to face The New Job and The New Classes all in one day.

Pasta with Fried Egg

Last night, I made one of my favorite quick-and-easy dinners – spaghetti with a fried egg on top.

Spaghetti with Garlic, Parmesan, Parsley, and a Fried Egg

Look at the egg, melting the cheese, the yolk ready to burst and coat the pasta with its gooey yellow goodness!

Fried Egg, Up Close

This is a ridiculously easy meal to prepare. I hope you’ll give it a try the next time you want to have eggs and pasta (two of the best foods ever) at the same time. This also makes a delicious breakfast.

Recipe (serves 2):

What you need:

• 4-5 ounces of whole wheat thin spaghetti
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• Light, trans-fat free margarine
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (I like a lot of garlic!)
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 large eggs
• Salt and pepper, to taste

How to do it:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, toast the garlic with the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over low heat. Don’t let the garlic turn brown – cook until just fragrant. Right before draining the pasta, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and toss with the garlic. Add 1 Tbsp. of margarine to the cooked pasta and toss to coat. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Cover to keep warm.
2. Heat another 1 Tbsp. of margarine in the nonstick skillet and fry the eggs, sunny-side up. The yolk should still be runny, but the whites should be cooked through. Season the cooked  egg with salt and pepper.
3. Plate the pasta and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and parmesan cheese. Place the fried egg on top of the pasta.
4. Dig in!

This meal is crazy cheap. I used about 50 cents’ worth of pasta, 50 cents’ worth of eggs (cage-free, omega-3, vegetarian-fed), and about $1.00 worth of cheese, oil, margarine, garlic, and parsley. That means that this meal cost about $1 per plate! Hooray for cheap pasta and eggs!

If you are wondering about the health benefits of eggs… well, remember “The Egg Song“? If not, watch the video, and I can guarantee you’ll be singing about eggs for a week. If you’re looking for something a bit more scientific, wikipedia says of eggs, “They supply all essential amino acids for humans, and provide several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, riboflavin,folic acid, [[vitamin B₆]], vitamin B12, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. They are also an inexpensive single-food source of protein. … The egg is one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.” These are just a few reasons why – I love egg!

I Love Egg! - Image from http://www.iloveegg.com

So good.