Of course I’ve made it everyday since then. That’s just how I roll. I don’t like having to think about things in the morning. Consistency is my friend. Rolled oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, fresh grated ginger, a couple drops of stevia, and a sprinkling of cacao nibs. It tastes delicious, but of course I’m hungry two hours later. I hate that about rolled oats. So good, but so not filling for my seemingly bottomless appetite.

I threw a new meatloaf recipe at my appetite recently. I was really craving meatloaf, and more specifically, gravy. I prefer to have them together. It’s like my peas and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly. This was the most ingredient intensive meatloaf I’ve ever made. Two unusually ingredients popped out at me, so I knew I needed to make it — bacon and prunes. Color me intrigued. I ended up using in raisins because that’s what I had [LAZY], but they’re virtually the same thing. It definitely added a little extra moisture, and a hint of sweetness. You don’t really notice it.

This was super good. I like all the vegetables. I love the mixture of meats. I really just need to remember to grind my rolled oats into something a little more fine. It doesn’t taste funny or affect the texture, but it just doesn’t look as nice.

Leftovers for lunch the next day? You bet.

Inspiration: Epicurious

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 medium onion, chopped into quarters
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 medium celery rib, chopped in 4-5 pieces
• 1 medium carrot, chopped in to 4-5 pieces
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 pound of bacon, chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted prunes (chopped) or raisins
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350° and have a 9″x13″ pan handy. Pour the milk into a large bowl with the rolled oats. In the bowl of a food processor, add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Pulse until finely chopped and combined. Heat the butter on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion mixture. Cook, and occasionally stir, for five minutes before covering. Lower the heat and let it cook for another five minutes until the carrot is soft. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, nutmeg, two teaspoons of salt and pepper.

Add the raisins and bacon to the food processor. Pulse until mixed and finely chopped. In the large bowl with the rolled oats, combine the bacon mixture and the carrot mixture. Add the beef, pork, eggs, and parsley. Use your hands to combine everything evenly. Form a loaf in with the meat mixture in the 9×13″ pan. Bake the loaf for about 75 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf comes to 155°. Let it stand 10 minutes before slicing serving.

We’re looking into backpacks and all that. We went carry-on only in Italy for three weeks, so I’m not worried about the packing aspect, but it was still a roller bag. I want to be much more mobile in Thailand. If you have any suggestions, please throw them my way!

I swear this is the last of the butter-laden treats for a bit. I realize I was eating a lot there for awhile, but the BBQ and heat have slowed me down. I’m much more into ice cream [Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss] and sorbet/gelato [Talenti] these days.

These are very straight forward brownies, which is really the only way to go. Others are good, but the good ol’ standby is good and old for a reason. It’s seasoned. It’s lasted when others haven’t. There is something so satisfying by a fudgy bite, especially when you know there is no nonsense involved. Simple ingredients yield the best stuff sometimes. Quality over quantity.

Inspiration: Bon Appètit

Ingredients

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder [the higher the quality, the better]
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325º and line an 8×8″ baking pan with foil if you’ve got it. I conveniently ran out RIGHT as I made these, so I sprayed the pan with olive oil and hoped for the best. It worked out okay. I’m okay with imperfect brownies.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once it’s melted, remove it from the heat, and let it cool while you pull out your other ingredients. In a mediums size bowl, whisk the cocoa, sugar, and salt. Pour in the butter, whisking until it’s blended and smooth. Whisk in the vanilla, and add the eggs one at a time, beating until blended each time. Add the flour and give it a gentle mixing. It should be smooth, but not over-mixed.

Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan. Use a knife [or finger, ahem], to smooth everything out. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean , and only a small bit crumby. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack. I stored mine in the fridge for awhile until it cooled completely. Fudgy brownies ftw.

I spent way too much time agonizing deciding on what to buy sometimes. It gets pretty bad.

I switched mostly because I didn’t want to buy more cheese. A small brick of mozzarella was plenty. While I’m a cheeseaholic, I don’t like my pizzas too cheesy. Sacrilegious, I know.

Have you ever asked yourself, “how could I possibly make pizza that much more of a comfort food?” I do that all the time. This was a result of that. I even ditched any greenery for just a handful of sliced hot cherry peppers. They kind of overwhelmed the pizza with the tomato sauce. Hot coppa just disappeared into it.  I was more into the cheese and bread anyway, let’s be honest.

Ingredients

• 1 small loaf of french bread [double the rest of you get the large one]
• olive oil
• 4oz shredded mozzarella
• 10-12 slices coppa salami
• 1 hot cherry pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt to taste
• basil

Preparation

Preheat the broiler and have a baking sheet handy. Slice the french bread in half lengthwise. Brush the bread with olive oil. Stick it under the broiler for a few minutes until it’s golden brown and toasted.

While it toasts, heat up the tomato paste with Italian seasoning and balsamic vinegar. Add salt to taste. Brush the paste onto the bread. Top with half of the cheese. Place the coppa on in a single layer on each piece of bread. Sprinkle with the peppers and the remainder of the cheese.

Stick the bread back under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven, slice into more manageable pieces, serve.

Kansas City was really fun. We ate BBQ for four meals out of nine [five out of ten if you include the chicken and rib I ate at the tailgate before the game]. Portions being gigantic, I couldn’t eat three square meals a day like normal. My stomach just wouldn’t allow it. Between all of the coffee and BBQ, my guts were absolutely baffled for most of the trip. It was amusing.

Let’s detail, shall we?

We got in pretty late Thursday night. Delays are pretty much expected these days. I literally dropped my bag at the hotel and headed to Gates BBQ because it was the only BBQ open after 10pm. Pork on bun + fries? Don’t mind if I do. It was my least favorite BBQ I had the entire trip, and it wasn’t bad at all. It rivaled what we have in PDX at any rate. They have an armed security guard outside. He offered to get us a cab. Wild.

The next morning we hit up Happy Gillis to break our fast. Ham biscuit with cheddar, grain mustard, and apple rosemary jelly for me, please. It’s a super cute corner diner with a creative spin to what you’d expect on a diner menu. It’s no BBQ, but it was still super good. You absolutely must go to Quay Coffee if you’re in KC. It’s a beautiful shop with some of the best coffee in the city. There is all kinds of beautiful brick in this city. Seriously, it’s everywhere. It’s huge, there’s a ton of sprawl, and it has an abundance of history and charm. We drove around a ton, getting the lay of the land.

The Liberty Memorial is a must just for the view of the city. You can pay the admission to check it out along with the WWI museum, but I didn’t. I like museums, but I prefer to spend my limited time out and about in the city. You can park and walk up to take in the view without having to pay admission. You may even get to see a sweet rollerblader making laps. Thomas Hart Benton’s house anyone? This was just a drive by again, but it’s in a super cool neighborhood. Did I mention walking in this city sucks?

Oklahoma Joe’s for lunch. If you only have time for one thing when visiting KC, this is it. It’s in a gas station. Weird, right? That only adds the charm. Unless you get there when it opens on a weekday, there will probably be a pretty large line. It moves pretty quick in the scheme of things. I think we spent 30ish minutes in line in order to get a Z-Man [brisket topped with smoked provolone and onion rings], a Carolina Pork Sandwich [pulled pork topped with slaw and sauce], and an order of french fries. All of it was perfect. You spend so much damn time staring at the menu that you’ll change your mind a million times.

Independence, MO: home of the Truman Family Home [sadly closed until Memorial Day], the 1827 Log Courthouse, and the Truman Library & Museum. For being the fourth largest city in Missouri, it feels small. Even on a Friday afternoon, you just didn’t see anyone really out and about. It was really kind of eerie.

We went to Boozefish Wine Bar in hopes of something spectacular in fermented grape form, but was sorely disappointed. Don’t bother. It feels like in Irish pub with a novice wine list and overpriced appetizers. $15 hummus plates are not the jam. All disappointments were banished with Town Topic Hamburgers. It’s a tiny, dirty diner that serves food 24 hours a day. They win no awards for cleanliness, but holy hell is the food totally ridiculous. Double cheeseburgers and chili cheese tator tots were had. I seriously wanted to cram in a piece of pie when I was done, but it wasn’t happening. We finished the night at Johnny’s Tavern in the Power & Light District for a “Welcome to KC” meet up with their soccer team’s supporter group, The Cauldron. I would have never gone otherwise. It’s a cheesy sports bar full of people I would never want to hang out with, especially on a Friday night. I drank beer and my stomach hated me for it.

Breakfast didn’t happen on Saturday. Surprise! So. Much. Food. I had a cappuccino from The Roasterie Cafe instead. It’s in a more affluent part of town, was absolutely packed full of families, and had really good coffee. I still think Quay is better, but this wasn’t a bummer.  LC’s BarBQ for lunch. This pushed me over the edge. It’s intense BBQ. Good, but intense. Their spin was more smoked, felt a little drier, and had a lot more char. How we mowed through an order of short ribs, a burnt ends sandwich, baked beans, and most of a pile of fried okra, I’ll never know. It was a gut busting pile of food. It’s also worth visiting just for the change of pace compared to the other BBQ places in the area. It’s much more down to earth and gritty. The guys hooking you up with food are pretty funny, too. You will not be hungry for the rest of the day. It was like that.

The City Market [farmers market] invoked a ton of jealousy. Their produce is unbelievably cheap. There are little stores and restaurants surrounding the market. If I hadn’t been so full there was a cannoli with my name on it, along with a pineapple, bell peppers, and big bunches of asparagus. Seriously beautiful produce.

Confession: we totally tried to go to the KC humane society to get a dog fix because we were missing Roma. I say try because they basically take appointments only, so we drove out for no reason.

Want to be creeped out? Go to Sauer Castle.

Timbers game! Pre-game tailgate with a piece of BBQ chicken, a rib, and some beer! Watch Timbers win their first away game this year! Lose your voice! Don’t get back to the hotel until after you’ve found celebratory frozen yogurt [that I shouldn't have eaten, but I did anyway]!

Lawrence, KS: a college town that has way more going on on a Sunday compared to the city; WheatField’s Bakery for a sandwich with butternut squash, apples, and pesto on it because you need a vegetable; a macchiato at The Bourgeois Pig in the sunshine; a sweet v-neck sunburn from walking the main little strip of shops and camping out in South Park for a bit.

Check out the sculpture park at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art because everyone needs to see the largest shuttlecock in the world; eat a vegetable salad and meat on a pizza at Spin! Neapolitan Pizza; collapse in bed for a few hours and watch TV because you just can’t be bothered to go anywhere [Anthony Bourdain's new show, Part's Unknown, is awesome. I love it.]; venture out of the hotel just to get a Chipotle chicken bowl because your stomach wants something normal.

Packing; more coffee at Quay; one last sandwich from Oklahoma Joe’s; a delayed flight home.

It was a great time. I highly suggest checking out KC if you have a reason to go. The change of pace and scenery from PDX was great. So much styrofoam and manners.

[Photos by Andrew]

I actually had to research what the hell makes a yellow cake different than a white cake; Egg yolk, apparently. So when you’re making the vegan version, you ditch the eggs and toss in some turmeric. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You don’t taste it, it adds a splash of color, and all you have to do is make sure you whisk it well enough that it doesn’t leave weird clumps.

Cake flour. I have never purchased any. I’ve never used any. I did a little more research [the things I do for cake], and you can make your own with some sifted all-purpose and cornstarch. It’s probably not exactly the same, especially when you whisk it for a long time vs sifting [who owns a sifter], but definitely made a difference. The original recipe by Oh, Ladycakes utilizes two 6″ springform pans, which I wish I had, but definitely never will. Layer cakes are sooooo unnecessary in my house and my severely limited kitchen cupboard space. I went the 9″ single layer cake route.

The frosting, oh the frosting. I couldn’t bring myself to buy the non-hydrogenated shortening, so I just used more butter. See? Mostly vegan. It was so good. I ate a ton while making it. I ate a ton that didn’t make it onto the cake after it was frosted. I saved it and nibbled over the next few days. Who am I?

Inspiration: Oh, Ladycakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup minus one tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup plus five tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons cocoa powder

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a 9″ cake pan. In a liquid measuring cup, pour in the coconut milk and stir in the apple cider vinegar. Set aside while you prepare everything else.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour and cornstarch. Feel free to sift into a separate bowl if you have one of those fancy sifters. I didn’t. Add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and turmeric. Continue to whisk until it is fully combined. Pour this into another bowl and set aside. In the stand mixer’s bowl, mix together the the oil, sugar, vanilla, and almond. Alternate mixing the coconut milk and flour into the sugar mixture. Start with the half of the flour, then half of the coconut milk, and then the rest of the flour. Continue to mix until there are no clumps left. Whisk in the rest of the coconut milk.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Let the cake cool in the pan for a minimum of 15 minutes. Because I didn’t use a springform pan, I needed to run a knife around the edge to finally get it to insert onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cream together the butter, coconut milk, vanilla, powdered sugar, and cocoa to make the frosting. Frost only when the cake is completely cool so it doesn’t melt.

I’d like to think it’s preparing me for the BBQ binge that’s happening in a few days [it's not].

In an effort to bring some balance, I bring pizza! With greenery on it! That totally counts as a vegetable even if it’s so roasted that it’s not green anymore.

I went the lazy route and picked up dough at the fridge for $3 instead of waiting for my own to be made. The flour in my pantry is much better suited for cake and brownies instead of pizza dough. I went the pancetta route mostly because I can’t stand the bacon in the meat department, and I didn’t want a whole package. It is much, much saltier than bacon, remember. I liked it, but if you don’t like super salty, I’d go with a few less pieces. Brussels! All the brussels. I actually could have gone for more than the 1/2lb I grabbed. Shredding them up means they actually break apart when you take a big bite. There isn’t anything more annoying than taking a bite of pizza and half your toppings sliding off.

I went lighter on the cheese because I wanted to taste every salty morsel of pancetta. I nixed any sort of pizza sauce because it’d overwhelm the pizza.

It’s a seriously delicious combination. I hear it pairs well with brownies.

Inspiration: How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough
• 6 slices pancetta, diced
• 1/2lb brussels sprouts, shredded
• 4oz fontina cheese, shredded
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 gloves of garlic, minced
• olive oil for brushing
• Dried Italian herbs [basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage]

Preparation

Preheat an oven to 375° and spray a pizza pan with olive oil or other nonstick spray. If the dough was being kept cool, let it come to room temperature while you prepare the toppings.

In a skillet on medium high heat, cook the pancetta until the edges are crispy. Remove to a paper towel with a slotted spoon and leave the grease. Turn the heat down to medium low and add the shallot, cooking for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add the brussels and garlic, stirring to coat in the pancetta grease. Cook for another 5-6 minutes until they’re soft and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside. Mix the pancetta in with the brussels.

Stretch or roll out the pizza dough to fit on your pizza pan. Brush the dough with olive oil, sprinkling liberally with your Italian herb mixture. Sprinkle the brussels mixture evenly over the dough. Try not to lick your fingers. Cover with the cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese melted and the crust starts to turn golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting with a pizza cutter and devouring.

The rest of the weekend was pretty dang incredible. It’s culminated into one lazy Sunday, a batch of brownies cooling from the oven, and a bottle of wine about to be opened. I’d like to see the Timbers win on the road, too. That’d make it all a little sweeter. I’m eating brownies either way.

As expected I didn’t make a single meal at home this weekend, except for putting some cheese and charcuterie on the board. Sometimes that’s just not in the cards, and that’s totally okay. Pork cheeks, chèvre and strawberry-rhubarb jam ice cream, breakfast burritos, and a deli cobb salad with huge chunks of pastrami aren’t the type of things I make. I’ll gladly outsource.

I did make this for breakfast one weekend, though. It’s so, so easy. I’m convinced it takes just as long as it does to toast some bread, which I absolutely wasn’t feeling with my eggs. Living across from the fridge has serious perks. I can get local eggs, fresh asparagus, and a block of polenta in about the time it takes for my broiler to heat up. This really doesn’t take a whole lot of cooking; it’s more like assembly [except for the eggs]. If I hadn’t been so lazy, I’d have poached, but I just fried the egg so I got the oozy yolk any-damn-way.

Inspiration: Happyolks

Ingredients

• 4-6 eggs [I had two, Andrew had three]
• 1 bunch of asparagus, thick stalky ends trimmed off
• 1lb tube of premade polenta [told you I was lazy]
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• pecorino romano
• parsley, chopped fine

Preparation

Turn the broiler on high. Toss the asparagus on a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make sure every piece is coated. I like to use my hands hear just to get it over with. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the ends start to char. Set aside.

Cut the polenta into slices or cubes and toss it in a saucepan with 1/4 cup of broth and a healthy pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper. Heat it on medium high heat and stir to incorporate. As it heats, it’ll breakdown and absorb the water, smoothing it’s consistency. I ended up adding almost another 1/4 cup to get it to a thick paste. Add more water or broth if you’d like it thinner. Shave a bit of pecorino in there to melt as it cooks down.

Fry or poach your eggs to your degree of doneness. Arrange on a plate with the polenta first, topped by 1/3 of the asparagus, followed by 1-2 eggs. Top with the parsley and more shredded pecorino.

Fake foods or substitutions are weird. Those fake veggie chick’n nugget things? Weird. Let’s just eat chicken or lets just eat veggies, not some weird mash-up. The “cheez” sauce that really has no cheese in it but some sort of nutritional yeast? Yeah, that’s not cheese, not even close. Wrapping lettuce around a burger? Bizarre. Turning cauliflower into rice? I still had to try it.

It’s basically sautéed cauliflower in a really small shape. How quaint! I actually liked this. It’s still nothing like rice other than the size. It would be a decent base for a curry, a stuffed pepper, or maybe even some red beans and rice. I’m not going to sub it for a risotto anytime soon. Mostly I liked having cauliflower in a uniform size. It’s so much easier to eat.

I cooked up a huge pile of it, sprinkled a ton of seasoning on it, and laid a salmon filet on top. I hadn’t had salmon in forever. It was just what I needed. If you do make up the cauliflower, make sure you use it in a day or two. The leftovers in my fridge smelled so, so bad.

Ingredients

• 6oz salmon filet
• 1 hear of cauliflower
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of ground coriander
• salt
• pepper
• cajun seasoning
• cilantro

Preparation

Heat the olive oil a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the diced onion, stirring occasionally, while they soften and brown. This should take 5-7 minutes.

Cut the cauliflower up into smaller pieces. Put the pieces into a food processor and pulse until it breaks down into a small uniform rice-like size. You may have to push things around inside to get all of the pieces. Add the cauliflower to the onions and stir to coat in the oil, mixing in the onion. After 2-3 minutes, season with the coriander, salt, and pepper. It should take another 5 minutes depending on how much cauliflower you have. It’ll soften and brown just like the onion.

While the cauliflower finishes up, heat a cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Let it get really hot before adding a little bit of oil. Season the salmon with salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning. Place it skin-side up in the pan. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes until the flesh is browned. Flip the fish skin-side down. Cook it for another 3-4 minutes until the skin is crispy. Serve the fish over half of the cauliflower mixture. Sprinkle with cilantro.

In the end I wussed out got lazy. I had the bag of frozen rhubarb from my grandma’s garden plus a jar of blackberries. It practically made itself. The hardest part was waiting long enough to let everything thaw and drain. No one wants a soggy crisp [oxymoron much?]. Besides, what better way to test for thawed rhubarb than by eating it piece by piece? These pieces were super green and tart, which was perfect for the overly ripe and sweet blackberries.

Taking a photo of crisp sucks by the way. You know it tastes good. That’s all that matters.

Inspiration: Flourgirl

Ingredients

• 4 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
• 2 cups blackberries [drained if using canned]
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup butter

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix together the rhubarb, blackberries, sugar, flour, and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Let it sit while you preheat the oven to 350° and make the topping. In the bowl of a food processor, add the brown sugar, rolled oats, butter, and remaining teaspoon of the cinnamon. Pulse until it’s well mixed and the butter is now broken into small, pea-sized chunks.

In an 8×8″ glass baking pan, pour the blackberry mixture. Drain it first if your berries created a lot of juice while macerating in the sugar/flour. Top the berries with the oat mixture. Bake the crisp for 25-30 minutes until the top is crisp and the filling hot and bubbly. Allow the crisp to sit under the broiler for a few minutes for an extra crisp topping.

Serve warm. It’s way better that way.

Spring is here which means one thing: I’ll start talking about going to the farmers market and go maybe twice. You know it’s going to happen. I’d like to hope I’ll go more than that, but I’m going to be realistic and not set the bar too high. Then I’ll impress myself. My Saturdays are sacred, y’know? They’ll start a Wednesday market by my office here soon, but that’ll cut into my gym-time. Priorities.

I did already go once a over Easter weekend to pick up the lamb, some eggs, some small potatoes, the most beautiful radishes I’ve ever eaten, and some leeks. I had been waiting for this moment ever since I’ve had my hands on The Sprouted Kitchen. This has to be one of the first recipes I fell in love with. I think it was its simplicity, yet taking a meal I love [breakfast] and elevating it to a classy new standard by implementing some slow cooked, creamed leeks. I was also intrigued by the method of cooking scrambled eggs that I most definitely didn’t master. I am impatient in the kitchen. Believe that.

I really, really wish I would have had real milk and not coconut milk for this one. It made everything far too sweet, despite using unsweetened coconut milk. It wasn’t bad, but just not what I was feeling for breakfast. I’m hardly ever a sweet person [unless it's the savory french toast at Radar smothered in real maple syrup]. They’re absolutely worth making though. I love leeks. I’ve only been loving on them in the last few years. I never cook with them enough. I can’t get enough. Pile these leeks and eggs onto a piece of bread. Seriously.

Inspiration: The Sprouted Kitchen

Ingredients [for two]

• 5 eggs
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 3 large leeks, white and light green parts cleaned, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced into half moons
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons coarsly chopped tarragon leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil

Preparation

Whisk together the eggs and one tablespoon of the milk until smooth and light. You really won’t feel any tension as you whisk.

Heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and a little bit of salt, stirring occasionally until the leeks are starting to brown. It should take nearly 15 minutes. Add the remaining four tablespoons of milk and tarragon, cooking it until the leeks soak up all of the milk. Turn off the heat and set them aside.

In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil on medium low. Whisk the eggs one more time before tilting the pan and letting the oil pool at the bottom. Pour the eggs directly into the oil before leveling out the pan. Leave the eggs alone and let them cook. When the bottom starts to set, push the cooked parts toward the center of the pan; the uncooked parts will run out and fill in the empty space. Keep doing this until the eggs are almost completely cooked. Turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper, and flip them one or two more times to finish cooking any remaining parts. Transfer the eggs to a plate with the creamed leeks and some toast.