I made myself such a great lunch, this past weekend, at home. It was simple, savory, “French-feeling” and just lovely (and healthy, too!). And, it was also really easy since I always keep a well-stocked kitchen.

Here’s what I had:

My lunch.

Poached eggs, over sautéed spinach with seared heirloom cherry tomatoes.

Here’s why it was so easy:

First of all, I always keep a big bag of cleaned, fresh spinach in the house. After it’s all clean and dry, I pile the leaves into a jumbo freezer bag and stick the bag in the refrigerator, to use throughout the week.

Cleaned, fresh spinach is kept in the fridge so it's always ready and waiting...

So now…when I want to include spinach in my meal (whether cooked or raw), I don’t have to “all of a sudden” clean the leaves, which takes some time. All I have to do is have fun putting my meal together!

(FYI: Doing things like cleaning spinach in advance can really help you to feel like you have an assistant in the kitchen (only it’s YOU!)

About cleaning spinach: The way to do it so you don’t end up with nasty grit between your teeth (which can totally ruin your meal), you need to be meticulous when cleaning the leaves, especially if working with a mature crinkly type. (There are different varieties of spinach and some leaves are smooth (called “spade” spinach) and others have deep crevices which is where all the dirt gets hidden). You need to take off any long fibrous stems and rinse the leaves well under cold running water. Then, fill a big bowl with cold water and submerge the spinach. Swish the leaves around, using your hands, let sand settle at the bottom (just takes a minute after you stop swishing) then lift the leaves out of the water and place them into a second bowl. (Don’t pour the leaves into a colander to drain, because you’ll just transfer and sand and dirt back onto the leaves). Once you’ve done this twice, each time using fresh water (rinsing and wiping out the bowl each time), then spin the leaves dry in a salad spinner. Pile the leaves on doubled paper towels and roll the leaves up in the towels. Store the spinach this way in a jumbo plastic bag in the fridge.

To cook the spinach for this dish, all you do is heat a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan, over high heat. I had a jar of garlic confit oil in the refrigerator, which I love, so I used that.) When the oil is hot but not smoking, toss in several big handfuls of spinach leaves. Use tongs to turn the leaves in the oiled pan, helping them to quickly wilt. Then sprinkle in a clove or two of minced garlic, a few crushed red pepper flakes, if desired, and then cover the pan and reduce the heat to very low. Let the pan sit, covered, over low heat, for just about 2 minutes and uncover the pan. Toss the leaves around again…they should be bright green and tender but not overly dark or mushy. (The longer you cook spinach, the darker and more bitter it gets…so be mindful, here.) Season the spinach with salt and pepper, to taste, and transfer the cooked leaves to a warmed bowl. That’s all there is to cooking fresh spinach!

Now, about poaching eggs: Although I totally love kitchen tools of all kinds, I’m not one of those that likes to accumulate lots of stuff that just gathers dust. Anything in my kitchen needs to be truly functional and, to me, (especially if you like poached eggs) I completely recommend having a stove-top egg poacher.

Here’s what the one I have looks like…

An egg poacher with a six-egg capacity.

These poachers have the capacity to cook either four or six eggs at one time. I have the larger one because I like being able to, if I want, just poach one egg and up to six.

Here’s what it looks like with the lid off…

Here’s how to poach eggs using the above contraption: First, take out all of the perforated egg cups and then spray only as many as you need (one egg per cup) with nonstick vegetable spray.

Two egg poaching cups...just use as many as you need.

Fill the pan 2/3 to 3/4 full with water and insert the sprayed cups into their receptacles. You should see some of the water come up through the holes so that the cups are about 1/4 full. If not, just add more water. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil. Uncover the pot and add some salt to the water and then crack an egg into the egg-cup. (I use extra-large eggs.) When all of the eggs are in their cups, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the eggs at a simmer for 4 to 4 1/2 minutes (a bit less for smaller eggs) which will produce a poached egg with a firm but very tender white and a fluid yolk…yum, yum). Uncover the pot, turn off the heat, and use tongs to remove each cup (one by one) out of the water. (See the note at the end of this step.) Use a heat-proof rubber spatula to help loosen the egg from the sides of the cup. Lay some doubled paper towels in one hand, tilt the egg out of it’s cup and onto the paper. Carefully transfer the poached egg to a plate.

A stove-top note: If working with an electric stove, it can take several minutes to go from high to low heat. When a dish is timing sensitive (and poaching eggs is one of those…), it’s a good idea to heat a separate burner to low. That way, once the eggs are in their cups, you can cover the pot and simply transfer the pan to the burner that’s on low.

Some things to know when wanting to poach eggs without an egg poacher: Because, here, the eggs go directly into boiling water (without being cradled in a poaching cup), there are a few tips to help keep the whites intact, as opposed to spidering out into a straggly mess. You’ll need to add an acidic ingredient to the boiling water before adding the eggs, which will help the whites to coagulate more quickly. Usually, this is distilled white vinegar. Use about 2 teaspoons to 2 quarts of water. (Personally, I can always detect this taste on my eggs…and it usually affects my enjoyment.) The other tip is to use the freshest eggs possible since, when eggs are really fresh, the whites are at their most gelatinous (thick and viscous) which helps them to keep their integrity through the poaching process. As eggs age, the whites become much more watery (very thin).

You’ll want to fill a deep-sided, nonreactive skillet about half full with water and bring the water to a boil. Add some salt and a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar to the boiling water and cover the pan, for now. Crack your eggs into separate small heat-proof custard cups (I use Pyrex). Uncover the pan and, one by one (working somewhat quickly), slide each egg out of its dish and into the boiling water (bring the dish right down to the water so the eggs ease into position, keeping each egg separate). Cover the pan and lower the heat to low. Simmer as you would when using a stove-top egg poacher. Meanwhile, fill a bowl with very hot tap water. To retrieve the eggs, turn off the heat, drag the pan to a cool burner and, using a slotted utensil, carefully lift each egg out of the water. To avoid tasting any of the vinegar, gently dunk the egg (while still in the slotted utensil) in the bowl of hot water. Lift the egg out, let it drain and then use a paper towel to dab off any excess water, being careful not to break the yolk (heaven forbid!!)

To sear the cherry tomatoes: (I suggest you do this when the eggs are poaching and in the same pan used to cook the spinach–no need to wipe out the pan.) Rinse, dry and halve or quarter several cherry tomatoes (about 4 per person). Heat a pan, over high heat, with a tablespoon or so of olive oil or garlic confit oil. When the oil is hot, add the tomatoes and saute briefly, just to warm them and to give their edges a bit of color (without compromising their texture–keep them firm). Season with salt and pepper and remove the pan from the stove. (To see a preview of me making the garlic confit, click here.)

Then, to serve, all you do is pile the cooked spinach into an individual serving bowl, scatter the tomatoes around the spinach and place the poached eggs on top. Serve while hot, accompanied by a well-working pepper-mill.

So, when you’ve got the right tools and ingredients, it’s really easy to make a weekend lunch that’s simple and yet elegant.

To remind you…

I made this delicious dish just for myself, this past Saturday, for lunch.

Yes, I’m worth it and so are you!

Tags: a healthy lunch at home on the weekends, egg poacher, egg poacher pan, elegant cooking made easy, healthy and easy, how to clean fresh spinach, how to cook fresh spinach, how to make a great lunch that's elegant, how to poach eggs, how to use an egg poacher, Lunch for one can be elegant!, perfect poached eggs

Comments (1)

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1. I agree with your suggestion to use an egg poacher stove top pan. They maintain the shape of the eggs as opposed to doing it by hand. Thanks for the recipe.

   Comment by Jenni — December 16, 2010 @ 8:57 pm

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