Eggs and Broccoli for Breakfast

I like to blanch my sprouting broccoli in boiling salted water for about a minute and then shock it in ice water to stop the cooking and keep it bright green. This helps to get rid of any aphids or caterpillars that might be hiding in the buds and leaves. I generally try to blanch the broccoli as soon as possible after harvest and then keep it in the refrigerator to be used at a moments notice. Saturday night I used a big portion of the broccoli that was waiting in the refrigerator in a big pot of Turkey Vegetable Soup. It was quite handy to have more of the blanched broccoli on hand on Sunday morning when I wanted a nice substantial breakfast without a lot of fuss, something to get me through a vigorous hike later that morning. These are not your typical soft scrambled eggs, which I do not like, the eggs are allowed to get a bit brown and crusty and must be scraped off the bottom of the pan so don't use a non-stick pan.

Serves 2

A few spoonfuls of bacon fat if you happen to be cooking a few strips to accompany your eggs, but olive oil or butter works just as well

About 1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet yellow onion

About 1 1/2 cups or more coarsely chopped blanched sprouting broccoli (di Sarno Calabrese for this rendition)

The equivalent of 4 large eggs (5 small from my girls), cracked into a bowl but not scrambled

About 1/2 cup Petit Basque cheese cut into 1/4-inch cubes (or cheese of your choice,  preferably something semi-soft and that melts easily)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat your fat of choice in a medium saute pan (not non-stick) over medium high heat and saute the onion until it starts to brown, add the broccoli and continue to saute the veggies until cooked to your liking, I like to keep the broccoli a bit al dente. Turn the heat down to medium-low and immediately add the eggs to the pan, breaking the yolks but not scrambling them. Let the eggs and broccoli cook together until the eggs become a bit crusty on the bottom, break them up a bit and scrape them off the bottom of the pan with a metal spatula, turning them over to cook the runny parts of the eggs. Once a light crust has formed on the bottom again, add the cubed cheese, break up the mixture a bit more and toss it a bit to cook any runny parts that might be left and to incorporate the melting cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve on warmed plates with a couple of slices of crispy thick cut bacon. Some fruit on the side is nice too.

A couple hours after consuming that you should go for a three hour hike and enjoy the nice weather!