Yet Another Breakfast For Dinner

If you are a regular reader you know I am a fan of eggs and an eve bigger fan of breakfast for dinner. Awhile back I read this post by one of my favorite bloggers Molly from Orangette. Now I'll state up front I'm not the best when it comes to eating my veggies. I know I should, but it's rare that I'd ever crave a big ole plate of greens, but something about this recipe sounded really tasty and it went on my list of things to try.

After a few weeks of too much baking and lots of heavy food I decided it was time to get a bit healthier and work more veggies into our meals, which brought me back to Molly's post. I have never cooked kale or any greens like it before and was excited to try. I adapted the recipe a big to include ingredients I had on hand. As I was organizing my ingredients to prep this I realized that instead of kale I had bought collard greens. At that point I decided that greens are greens and moved ahead with my dish. Which luckily worked out! After some research today I learned that kale and collared greens are actually in the same family and can be swapped out for one another (in this dish anyway) based on what's readily available.

Collard Greens on Toast
serves 4

1 bunch of collard greens - stripped from the ribs and sliced into 1/2 inch ribbons
1 leek - white and light green parts sliced
2 cloves of garlic - thinly sliced
1 pinch crushed red pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
salt & pepper
bakery fresh multigrain bread
halved garlic cloves
4 eggs
olive oil
Parmigiano shavings

1. Place the chopped leeks in a bowl of cold water and toss around with your hands to get any bits of dirt off and the separate the pieces. Drain in a colander, rinse with some more water and pat dry with a paper towel. Repeat the same steps with the collard greens.
2. In a pot heat one Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Saute the leeks until translucent and tender. Add in the garlic, red pepper and greens, saute until wilted then pour in the chicken broth. Let simmer until tender, tasting to adjust seasoning as you go, approx 30 mins
3. Slice bread into thick slices and toast. While bread is toasting bread fry eggs in olive oil to desired doneness. Rub cut side of garlic on to toast. Spoon a generous helping of greens onto toast with a bit of extra chicken broth. Top with fried egg and parmigiano shavings.

This is a very basic dish that is packed with tons of flavor. While you could easily simmer the greens in water, the chicken broth really adds so much that I wouldn't recommend anything else. I was a bit nervous serving this to my meat & potatoes guy, but he enjoyed it so much and responded more enthusiastically than he has to dinner in quite awhile. I liked it so much that I reheated some of the greens for breakfast the next morning and I have to say it was one of the most satisfying starts to the day. If you've never been a huge fan of greens, make this dish. I am not sure if it is the slowly simmered greens or the warm yolk all over everything or the garlic toast sopping it all up but this is a hearty, satisfying and oh-so-healthy meal that I think everyone should try at least one. Enjoy!