Poached Egg Pea Shoot Salad
I encourage guest bloggers and recipe creators to join our blog from time to time. In fact, one of my favorite things to do with this blog is collaborate on recipes. Most of the time, it’s a simple conversation with a couple of vendors - I ask them what’s new and in season and we discuss great ways to use their products. This particular recipe I got from someone different at our market - our Market Concierge, Piyush Rangra (known to his friends as “PR”).
Last year, he began the arduous process of starting his own personal chef company, Chef 4 Tonite. Over the past months, I’ve watched him prepare every aspect of his business, experiment with seasonal recipes, and eventually launch his great new company. I share with you one of his recipes in an effort to introduce his company and perhaps shed some light on the quality of food that he offers.
The recipe is a Poached Egg Pea Shoot Salad. The recipe is so simple, with just 5 ingredients, yet so complex in it’s flavors. I chose this one because I love to use greens from Young Harvests, especially in such a pure form as this. Rob’s pea shoots are always at the top of my grocery list when they are available. Earlier this year, I shared a recipe for Pea Shoot Soup that got a lot of great feedback. It really is true that using simple, farm fresh ingredients create the most delicious dishes.
One more thing I’d like to point out - PR’s original recipe calls for bacon. Since I don’t eat pork, I was more than happy to substitute lamb bacon in the recipe. If you have yet to try this amazing product, I highly recommend stopping by the Bethesda Central Farm Market and grabbing a package. Chaim Silverberg and his brother Hillel are almost always at the market, ready with samples and songs that will leave you wondering how you ever went without it. Trust me, even the biggest supporters of “regular” bacon have enthusiastically endorsed this delicious, smoky product. You can obviously substitute the lamb bacon in this recipe for whatever your palette prefers.
Poached Egg Pea Shoot Salad
Serves 2INGREDIENTS
- 2 Eggs (Liberty Delight Farms)
- 4 Cups Pea Shoots (Young Harvests)
- 10oz Bacon (Lamb Baaacon or Springfield Farm)
- 1⁄2 Container of Mozzarella (Blue Ridge Dairy Co.)
- 5 Tbsp. Spring Onion Vinaigrette, divided (Two Acre Farm)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
DIRECTIONSSet a pot of water to boil. Wash and dry the pea shoots. Roughly chop the bacon. Small dice the mozzarella.In a medium cold pan, cook the bacon. Soon, it will begin to release some of it’s fat. Cook the bacon in the fat, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and in a small bowl. Toss the bacon with 2 Tbsp. of the vinaigrette.While the water is boiling, prepare the eggs. Put a piece of plastic wrap over a bowl and spray it with cooking spray. Crack the egg over the surface of the plastic wrap. Salt and pepper the egg. Gather the plastic wrap and tie the excess in a knot. Place egg, in plastic wrap, in the boiling water for about 5 minutes, or until firm. Remove the egg from the boiling water, still in the plastic wrap) and put it immediately into a cold water bath to set. Repeat with remaining egg(s).In a large bowl, combine the pea shoots, bacon, mozzarella, and remaining 3 Tbsp of vinaigrette. Toss to coat all ingredients. Plate the salad with the poached egg on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!