South American Influenced Power Breakfast: Poached Egg on Quinoa

     Last year, between semesters, Allison had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. She tells me that in South America, the thought of having eggs for breakfast is basically unthinkable. They do like to serve a cooked egg over meals at other times of the day.  In fact, one favorite dish at a barbecue, or an asado, is a pepper grilled with an egg in it.  In Peru, it's common to serve an egg on top of a stew made with quinoa. So, for us that means it's a breakfast item - right?  Well - maybe more like brunch since the quinoa in this post has some fairly complex flavors due to the cumin and coriander in this recipe.

One of the Many Friends Allison Made While in Peru

Ingredients for Four Servings:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained

1/2 red pepper, diced to make 1/2 cup

1 medium onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, put through the press

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

3/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (15 oz.) can broth, vegetable or chicken

2 large tomatoes, diced or 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 ripe avocado, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

4 to 8 eggs, how ever many you wish to serve

Directions:

Saute the diced onion and red pepper in the olive oil until tender. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, and pepper and cook for another 30 seconds.  Add the quinoa, broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. While the quinoa mixture is simmering, or a head of time, poach the eggs. Take off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Spoon into bowls, top with avocado, cilantro, and  poached eggs*.

*While the quinoa mixture is simmering, or a head of time, poach the eggs.

Bring about 4 inches of water in a sauce pan up to a boil. One or two at a time, crack the egg(s) onto a saucer. With a wooden spoon, give the water in the pan a swirl and slip the egg off the saucer into the middle of the swirl.  Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, lift each egg out of the water and place it on a cloth dish towel until ready to serve.