Pink of Perfection

I think there’s something really magical about the morning. In Walden, Thoreau calls it the heroic hour, and while I’m rarely accomplishing great feats, I do like the routine of setting up the coffee, powering up the laptop, and sitting down to write for a few hours, straight away.

At least, that’s the weekday routine. The weekend routine involves the heroic act of a handsome husband walking four blocks to slay a cappuccino and return with it to his sleepyhead wife. This is always my favorite part of the weekend. Sitting upright, tucked into white sheets, and talking about the future––distant or that day’s––all still so filled with possibility. Will we be East coast or West? Will we live in town or country? Will it be eggs or pancakes? Saturday morning, the world is utterly at our feet.

But it’s kinda hard to get me up and at ‘em. Even after the coffee there is a certain amount of cajoling and bartering, sometimes including the bribe of a second caffeinated beverage. And poor Sebastian, who suffers through all this lazing, loves nothing more than getting up and eating breakfast, while I just want to talk, talk, talk.

So I decided to be a heroine in my own right by making a weekend breakfast that might please us both: roasted sweet potatoes and beets taste so earthy, and when paired with crisp-edged quinoa, woodsy thyme and topped with an oozy egg, the result is the kind of meal a health-minded farmer might swoon over after milking the cows and picking up a few pumpkins from the patch.

Never mind that it was at this breakfast table I learned to add quinoa to the company of salmon and bok choy on the list of “foods my husband hates.” I thought this was autumnally delish, if a little time-consuming. Roast the vegetables ahead of time to throw this together in a flash on Sunday morning.

Fall Vegetable Quinoa Hash with Poached Eggs
from Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4

1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 beets, peeled and cut into 1/2″ wedges, greens reserved and rinsed
4 eggs
1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced cross-wise into 1/4″ pieces, rinsed well
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss sweet potato with 1/2 teaspoon oil and season with salt. Spread in an even layer on half of a rimmed baking sheet. Toss beets with 1/2 teaspoon oil and season with salt. Spread on other half of sheet. Roast, stirring halfway through, until tender, 35-40 minutes.

Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Break each egg into a saucer. Slide eggs, one at a time, into water where bubbles are just breaking the surface. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for 3 minutes until whites are just set but yolks are runny. With a slotted spoon, lift eggs out of the water and transfer to a towel.

Thinly slice beet greens. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add greens, leek, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Stir in quinoa, thyme, and vegetables; press down using a rubber spatula. Cook until quinoa is warm, 1-2 minutes. Divide and top each serving with an egg.

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