A very simple warm salad of broccoli and poached egg

Broccoli. Quite possibly the first vegetable I pushed away on my dinner plate. No matter how many times my dear brother tried to convince me that 'little trees' were so good, I was not having any of it. Besides, he would eat anything, compared to me: the picky four year old sister.

My brother was right after all. I eventually fell for the green-stuff and even grew up to cook and eat broccoli, and all of its green cousins, regularly. Not to mention the irony that I grew up to be a chef and cook and eat everything regularly. The truth is, we mostly like what we are exposed to, with some exception. While I happily ate little foil packages of blue cheese with my dad, and requested mom's steak and kidney pie for dinner, I had reservations about the 'green-stuff', mayonnaise, ketchup on my burger... All of which I enjoy now. But everyday is a chance to discover something new. Even for us so-called grownups.

And often, something new is just a matter of uniting what you love. Take for instance a poached egg and broccoli. While poached eggs are falling into soups and onto dinner menus everywhere, broccoli has found many reincarnations outside of playing the role of the simple side-dish. So, why not just the two of them? With some help from a few fingerling potatoes, you can have a lovely warm salad of broccoli and poached egg with a lemon vinaigrette, for lunch or dinner. I was so hungry today, that that's exactly what happened. In fact, with each photograph my stomach growled so much so, I hardly cared about the pictures at all... I apologize, and promise not to be so hungry next time.

Anyway, it was delicious.

And a very happy new year to all of you. XO

Warm Salad of Broccoli and Poached Egg with Fingerling Potatoes Vinaigrette

this head of broccoli was just $2.00 at the farmers market...

separate the leaves from the head and quarter the head

I like to pull the quarters apart by hand for a more natural look...

cook your broccoli florets first... then cook your broccoli leaves next...

making sure the water is a salty sea of boiling water

put aside, stove top

don't waste your salty sea of hot water...

add your washed and sliced fingerlings, a clove of garlic, and cook until just done

step stool view

crack your egg into a small bowl and...

squeeze the half of a lemon into your pan of simmering water

slide the egg quickly into the simmering pan of water, 

the water should bubble up like a glass of champagne

release the egg with a spoon if it nests too long on the bottom,

remove with a slotted spoon when the whites have set and the yolk is still very soft,

drain on a cloth...

whisk your remaining lemon half and olive oil and salt and black pepper 

and dill, if you have some

on a warm plate, dress your broccoli and potatoes with the lemon vinaigrette and top with a steamy egg

done