Today’s Meatless Mondays recipe is from The Naked Foods Cookbook: The Whole-Foods, Healthy Fats, Gluten-Free Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great, by Margaret Floyd and James Berry. The authors, a married couple, believe that preparing home-cooked meals can be easier and quicker than take-out, and much healthier to boot. The recipes in this book include no harmful additives, preservatives, or empty calorie-fillers. And they understand that no one has a ton of time to commit to cooking every day, so they’ve organized the book into three sections:  “in a rush” recipes take ten minutes or less, “every day” recipes take twenty minutes or less, and an “impress the neighbors” section offers more time-intensive recipe selections.

From The Naked Foods Cookbook:  

This is a fun, bread-free, and healthier spin on the classic eggs bennie. We’ve replaced the English muffin with a portobello mushroom and the ham with spinach, and we use our Vegan Hollandaise Sauce — lighter and less finicky than the traditional version — to finish it off. We use a little lard on the mushrooms to give it a hint of the flavor you’d have with the ham, but if you don’t have lard on hand, or to keep this recipe vegetarian, you can also use ghee or butter.

Ingredients:

• 2 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed (or 4 small ones, if the large aren’t available)
• 2 teaspoon lard or ghee
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch freshly ground pepper
• 2 firmly packed cups baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 1 recipe Vegan Hollandaise Sauce
• Pinch paprika

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 385°F.

2. Lightly rub underside of portobello mushrooms with lard. Place on an oven tray with underside facing up and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft with some of the liquids released into the mushroom cap. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. While the mushrooms are cooking, lightly rinse the spinach to remove any dirt, leaving the leaves a little wet. You don’t need to dry it—the extra water will help to steam the spinach. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add wet spinach leaves, cover, and let the leaves wilt. This will happen in 2 to 3 minutes, so stay close. Remove the spinach from heat, put it in a small bowl, and set aside.

4. Fill the same pan you used to steam the spinach with 2 inches of water. Add vinegar. Bring the water to a slow boil over medium-high heat. Gently drop the eggs into the water one at a time, and poach for 3 to 4 minutes, until they reach the desired firmness when you press them with the back of a spoon. (For a video demonstration of how to poach eggs, visit www.eatnakednow.com/videos and search for “poached eggs.”)

5. To plate your Portobello Eggs Benedict, place each mushroom on its own plate, underside facing up. Put half of the wilted spinach on top of each mushroom, as a bed for 2 poached eggs. Top with the Vegan Hollandaise Sauce and a pinch of paprika.

Makes 2 servings.

Reprinted with permission by New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
www.newharbinger.com