**This post is part of a month-long series as I participate in the Salad as a Meal Challenge.
I’m in love with poached eggs. I’ve always been kind of scared to make them because it seems like it would be hard, but it’s really not! And ever since I saw the recipes in Salad as a Meal that have poached eggs, I’ve wanted to try making one. Am I ever glad I got over that fear!
For me, protein is key when having a salad. Beans, cheese, lentils, nuts, chicken, fish, eggs…there are so many ways to add protein to your salad. It’s healthy, it’ll help fill you up, and you can be really creative with how you add the protein. I frequently have hard-boiled eggs in my salad, but decided to try a poached egg instead after reading a few recipes in Salad as a Meal.
Now, the two poached egg recipes in Patricia’s cookbook both use ingredients I don’t eat (ham, bacon) or don’t like (frisee), so I decided to make my own salad base for the poached egg. I chose fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, and chopped basil and scallions, but I can imagine an infinite number of base ingredients.
The best thing about having a poached egg over a bit salad is that when you break the egg, the yellow deliciousness of the yolk runs down all over the other salad ingredients creating this amazingly rich dressing. Trust me, you’ll be a poached egg convert too. I ate this salad for lunch. I made a poached egg over a baked potato for dinner 
You don’t really need a recipe for this, but here are some instructions for poaching an egg, you can be creative with the salad ingredients.
Poaching an Egg
- Heat a small sauce pot with water and 1 tsp rice vinegar (learned this trick from Chuck Hughes, supposedly it helps the egg stay together) until it is simmering.
- Crack an egg into a dish. When the water is ready, lower the dish close to the water and gently drop the egg into the pot. Allow it to cook for 3-4 minutes until the whites are cooked. Carefully remove to a paper towel with a slotted spoon. You can trim the ragged edges if you like but I didn’t feel the need.
Love your combination of ingredients. Definitely want to try this one! Your photos are stunning.
I would call that a PERFECTLY poached egg! You really have your technique down! Makes me want to make it!!!!!! :))
Delicious! I too love poached eggs. As Hillary said, your egg looked perfect.
I tried the asparagus, ham, and poached egg salad, and I now have a hunch that it will be a classic in my kitchen. You could easily make it without the ham, if you are up for more poached egg salads.
http://urbanfoodproducer.blogspot.com/2011/03/recipe-2-salad-as-meal-challenge.html
I just had a conversation with a friend of mine about having poached eggs on salads in Paris and how the Nicoise seem to put eggs on everything (from my experience). Everything is better with poached eggs, especially simple greens. Way to go! That looks fantastic!! (The pictures too).
AND I am so having a poached egg & potatoes tomorrow!
[…] Rella, a.k.a. the Penny Pinching Epicurean, has been presenting the essential elements of a salad, and this week she discusses toppings and protein. First, Rella adapted Patricia’s recipe for Curried Pumpkin Seeds, and yesterday she went on an egg poaching spree! […]
This sounds DELICIOUS!