My Market Kitchen episode 3: Middle Eastern baked eggs

Watch the episode, meet the grower, get the recipe, check out the nutritional facts, and discover research projects relating to vegetables and other featured produce

In episode 3 of My Market Kitchen, Hort Innovation’s Research and Development Manager, Dietitian and Nutritionist Jemma O’Hanlon stops by Prahran markets to make a delicious winter warmer breakfast dish. We also visit Catherine Velisha of Velisha Farms and Carl Larsen of RMCG to explore all the employment and leadership opportunities available in the Australian horticulture and vegetable industries.

Recipe: Middle Eastern baked eggs 

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp Australian extra virgin olive oil
1 Australian red onion
Small bunch Australian spring onions
¼ cup Australian kale
1 Australian red capsicum
1 clove Australian garlic
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tin Australian canned diced tomatoes
Pinch sea salt
Cracked black pepper
2 eggs

To serve

1 tbsp fresh Australian parsley
1 tbsp fresh Australian coriander
Sourdough bread

Method

1. Dice onion, capsicum and garlic finely. Slice the white part of the spring onions finely.
2. In a non-stick pan place the olive oil and place on the stovetop on a medium to high heat.
3. Add onion, spring onions, capsicum and garlic and heat for a couple of minutes, reducing the heat to low, and stir as onion goes translucent and lightly browns.
4. Add cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper and stir over low heat for a minute while the aromas release.
5. Add the canned tomatoes and stir whilst simmering until the liquid reduces. Stir through the kale, season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 2 minutes
6. Pour into two small ovenproof ramekins and make a little hollow in each for the egg to sit in.
7. Crack the egg on top and bake in the oven on 200°C for about 12 minutes or until the egg starts to set on top but is soft in the middle.
8. Roughly chop the fresh herbs, sprinkle over the top and serve with some crusty sourdough bread.

Tip: Keep an eye on the oven as your egg will cook quickly. If you like a hard egg, leave it in the oven a few minutes longer. This dish is the perfect weekend breakfast but also makes for an easy lunch or dinner!

Download the recipe

Nutritional facts

• Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant which has been found to reduce the risk of prostate and pancreatic cancer
• Cooking tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil increases the lycopene levels absorbed in the body
• Extra virgin olive oil contains powerful antioxidants that protect the healthy fats in the oil when it’s heated, drizzle it over vegetables and this will also increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A,D,E & K.
• Extra virgin olive oil is a healthier choice compared to other oils due to its powerful antioxidants – about 36 polyphenols. It also contains 75% good fats and just 15% saturated so has a much healthier fatty acid profile.
• Onions are a natural source of fructans, a prebiotic, which feeds gut microbiomes and promotes the growth of good bacteria, plus reduces the risk of colon cancer
• Onions are good for our mind as they contain folate (vital for a healthy pregnancy and reducing the risk of neural tube defects) and vitamin C, and keeps immune systems fighting fit
• Onions have also been linked with reduced cholesterol and lowered blood pressure

Investing in the future of the vegetable industry

Hort Innovation invests levy contributions from the vegetable industry, together with Australian Government contributions in the case of R&D, into Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund initiatives to improve and grow the industries.

You can read about these investments in R&D at the Vegetable Fund grower pages.