The persistence of eggs-on-things, plus amazing roasted broccoli

It used to be that when I had a night at home by myself I would choose to eat something ridiculously easy and bad for me – like fast food indian fare, or barbeque, or an entire Chipotle burrito (which, by the way, turns out is significantly worse for you than a KFC Double-Down). But ever since this lady turned me on to eggs-on-things, I just can’t seem to stay away and it has become my mainstay solo home dining activity.  I’m pretty sure I posted sometime this winter or spring about at least one time we had eggs on cabbage, or brussels sprouts, or kale, or something like that, but there’s no way I have accurately portrayed just how much we’ve eaten a take on eggs-on-things over the past 6 months.

And the few times during those 6 months that I’ve had a solo evening at home, I’ve actually had to work to convince myself to make anything else. Poached egg over garlic roasted brussel sprouts … fried egg over garlic sauteed chard … fried egg over garlic mushrooms and kale … there’s a pretty distinct pattern here, and let me just say: IT. IS. PERFECTION. Easy, generally vegetarian (though we’ve had some particularly delicious forays into adding prosciutto), and a great way to use up veggies and greens in the fridge. Usually we add some crusty baguette or wheat boule from Le Pain, but when it’s just me I generally don’t want to buy a whole loaf of bread, so I just add some crackers and maybe some sliced tomato.

And now it’s gotten even better, because something MIRACULOUS has happened (tangent warning, as if you couldn’t already tell).  Even better than that time I made the best ice cream known to man, or the fact that raw fish is a natural occurance appearing to be designed specifically to go into my mouth, or the invention of the wireless camera memory card (I hope you will all note the presence of photos on this site, as of late) …  A CHEESE STORE HAS OPENED IN CLAREMONT. And this isn’t like one of those times when we’re really excited some certain kind of business is opening and then it turns out that instead of a nice place that has things we want to buy it has sucky things that aggravate me. This is a fantastic little deli/store that sells not only a medium-sized selection of all kinds of delicious cheeses (including curds, I swear to GOD curds are the next big thing if only we didn’t have literally 20 pounds of them in the freezer), but also olives and charcuterie and yogurts and crackers and chocolates and caramels and jars and bags and boxes and packets of things with pretty labels and GOOD LORD even that moroccan ketchup from Portland that I love so much and and and and …. I’m actually not really sure why I’m not there right now and instead sitting here on my porch.

But in any case – I’ve now added cheese into the standard eggs-on-things menu, and last night while Brett attended a manly soiree of a bachelor party for our good friend Jordan I put together the following:

That’s roasted broccoli, fried egg, crackers and a French semi-firm sheep’s milk cheese, and sliced tomatoes with balsamic and basil. Which I ate with a few (ahem) glasses of cheap cab and watched Revolutionary Road … which I mention specifically because when I turned off the movie the channel the TV was set to was playing Titanic, which I thought was kind of funny.

But way more importantly, broccoli. I cannot underestimate how wonderful this broccoli is – and so simple! I can’t believe I never thought about roasting broccoli before, and can’t help but think about whether I would have eaten broccoli when I was a kid if it was prepared this way.

Ridiculously Good Roasted Broccoli
Adapted from Amateur Gourmet’s The Best Broccoli of Your Life

• Broccoli (I used two large-ish heads)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Optional additions: parmesan, lemon juice/zest, crushed red pepper, etc.

– Preheat oven to 450F

– Cut broccoli into bite size-ish pieces and toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper

– Spread broccoli onto a cooking sheet – I line mine with a silpat to reduce sticking and make cleanup easier, but it’s totally not necessary.

– Roast for 20-25 minutes (last night I did 30 but that’s only because I took the risk of going to the cheese store with the broccoli in the oven and it is IMPOSSIBLE to be in this store for less than 10 minutes), or until you start to see the edges browning and getting crispy (this is the best part, so make sure that happens) and the stems seem done when pierced with a fork.

– Top with any of your optional additions – personally, I love a few squeezes of lemon, some fresh grated parmesan, and a sprinkling of crushed red pepper … but I could see a lot of interesting combinations of spices/herbs.