Vegetables seem to be the most challenging food for people to cook in a way that results in robust flavor. This recipe nestles soft boiled eggs into a bed of swiss chard with caramelized onions. Incredible flavor and incredible nutrition!
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Salad Greens vs. Dark Leafy Greens
When people talk about “leafy greens” they are often referring to “salad” greens. This generally means lettuce, baby spinach, arugula, endive, etc., and these greens are most often used as a base for tossed salads.
While salad greens are low in calories (hence the ubiquitous use of salads for diet food), they are also relatively low in nutrient value.
For example, baby spinach in your smoothie or salad certainly adds some nutrients, but not nearly as much as full grown spinach sautéed as a side dish for dinner.
The “greens” with high nutrient value are usually referred to as “dark leafy greens”. The most commonly known dark leafy greens include:
- collard greens
- kale
- spinach
- swiss chard
- Mustard greens
- beet greens
There are more of course, but these are the six leafy greens I am most familiar cooking with.
Swiss Chard is by far my favorite. It is the sweetest and mildest and doesn’t require the long slow cooking of something like collard greens.
The recipe below enhances the swiss chard with some tomato vinegar and makes it a meal by nesting in some eggs at the end. It’s a delight for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Here is a video of how to cook this savory, flavor-packed recipe….step by step. The detailed recipe follows the video if you prefer reading text.
I used a fruit shrub syrup for one of the enhancement ingredients, but feel free to use plain ole’ apple cider vinegar instead if you want. It’s all good, as they say.
Other Easy, Tasty, Nutritious Egg Recipes
For holiday breakfasts where you may want a make-ahead dish that will feed a crowd, this Swiss chard and sausage strata (casserole) is really popular.
Like many of you, I enjoy eggs for dinner almost as often as for breakfast! Here are a few of my favorites for breakfast, lunch or dinner:
Low Carb Baked Eggs with Chile Verde Sauce
Mediterranean Baked Eggs (Shakshuka)
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Swiss Chard with Nested Eggs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 med onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch swiss chard
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup tomato vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 3-4 eggs
Instructions
- Cut the ribs out from the leafy part of the chard. Chop the ribs into fairly fine pieces (like you would chop celery). Set the ribs aside in a bowl and coarsely chop the leafy green portion of the chard.1 bunch swiss chard
- Heat up olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat (can use cast iron skillet or no-stick)2 Tbsp olive oil
- Add chopped onion to skillet and saute for a few minutes. Add swiss chard chopped rib pieces to the skillet and saute with the onion until soft and caramelized (5-10 minutes)1 med onion
- When onion and stems are soft add the garlic, the salt and the spices and stir together for a minute. Then add a large handful of the chard leaves to fill the skillet.2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Cook down the first batch of chard leaves until wilted and then add the rest of the chard leaves and cook them down, stirring to blend everything together. Add the tomato vinegar and stir.1/4 cup tomato vinegar
- When the greens are thoroughly wilted and blended with the other ingredients, turn the heat to medium or medium low and add the eggs on top of the greens one at a time. You can make small pockets in the greens, crack the egg gently on the counter and then hold it close to the greens when adding the egg to the pocket.3-4 eggs
- Cover the skillet and cook over med-low heat until the egg whites are cooked and the yolk is to your liking. I cooked for about 5 min. to get a yolk that was still runny, but your stove will be different. Lift the lid occasionally and check to see if eggs are cooked to desired doneness.
Nutrition
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This was delicious! Highly recommend.
Thanks for commenting Kriya. Definitely one of my favorite low carb breakfasts!