Eggs are better with carbs, and they’re particularly good with grains like rice, farro and quinoa, which can soak up a runny yolk. The herby-green grains here, from my cookbook, “Cook90,” are good for more than just breakfast, though — you could pair them with sautéed fish, skin-on chicken breasts and almost any roasted vegetable.
The herby-oily green sauce, a mint and parsley sauce that starts by roasting an entire head of garlic, lasts at least a week
in the fridge and sometimes up to three; I top it off with a little olive oil each time I use it to create a seal.
To make a big batch of this recipe and eat from it all week, simply stir the herb sauce into a pot of grains while still warm; start with 2 tablespoons of sauce for every cup of cooked grain, and go up from there.
Servings: 1 (easily doubled) with leftover garlic-herb sauce
ROASTED GARLIC-HERB SAUCE
1 head garlic, separated into cloves, unpeeled
2 cups (packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves with tender stems
1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from about ½ large lemon)
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (from about ½ large lemon)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
GRAINS AND GREENS
1 cup cooked rice, quinoa, farro or other grain
2 tablespoons Roasted Garlic-Herb Sauce
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg
Freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce, for serving
Heat a medium, heavy (preferably cast-iron) skillet over medium heat. Roast the garlic cloves, stirring occasionally, until the skins have darkened on all sides and the insides are soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.
Peel away the garlic skins and discard; transfer the cloves to a blender. Add the parsley, mint, oil, lemon zest and juice, red pepper flakes, and kosher salt. Blend until a pesto-like sauce forms. Store the sauce in a jar or other airtight container and keep in the refrigerator, where it will last for at least a week, often longer.
Combine the grains and herb sauce in a medium nonstick skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally to distribute the herb sauce, until the grains are warm and have come back to life a bit, 1 to 2 minutes. Take the grains, add a little kosher salt if desired, then transfer to a bowl or a plate.
Add the olive oil to the skillet and raise the heat to medium-high. When the oil begins to shimmer, crack the egg into the skillet and give it a sprinkling of kosher salt. Cook the egg until the white is opaque around the perimeter but still translucent near the yolk, about 1 minute. Carefully tilt the pan slightly toward you, just enough to make the oil pool in the front edge of the pan. Spoon the hot oil over the translucent parts of the white, avoiding the yolk as best you can, until the white is set, about 1 minute. Use a slotted spatula to transfer the egg to the rice. Top the egg with a few grinds of black pepper and eat with hot sauce.
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David Tamarkin is the editorial director at King Arthur Baking and was previously editor and digital director of Epicurious. He is based in New York.
Excerpted from “Cook90” by David Tamarkin. Copyright (copyright) 2018 by David Tamarkin. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
