Cheesy Eggs Florentine

I love going out for brunch and my usual go-to is Eggs Florentine. When cooking at home, there is no way I’m going to take the time to make a proper hollandaise sauce! This is my twist on the classic for a quicker, healthier version.

Total Prep Time: 20 minutes

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1             English muffin, toasted

2             Eggs

1 cup      Spinach, tightly packed

2 slices   Tomato

1/3 cup   Cheddar cheese, grated

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Blanch the spinach in boiling water and then pat dry in a paper towel. Be careful not to overcook the spinach – it only takes a couple of minutes. (Another option is to wilt the spinach in the microwave – 90 sec with a dash of water and a lid with one corner open to let steam escape should do it)

Bring water to a low simmer in a small saucepan to poach your eggs. I use poaching pods but you can also go for it the ‘real’ way (How to poach an egg). Depending on how runny you like your eggs, they should cook for 3-5 minutes.

Evenly distribute the wilted spinach on the two toasted english muffin halves. Then continue layering with tomato and an egg on each half. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and season with salt and pepper as desired. The trick is to coordinate so that everything is ready at the same time so that nothing gets cold.

Choose your own adventure:

Switch up the veggies if you don’t actually want the ‘Florentine’ in Eggs Florentine. Another great option would be to spread mashed avocado on the english muffin and then layer with sauteed mushrooms before the eggs and cheese. You could also try frying the tomato slices and seasoning them with garlic powder and oregano.

I’ve tried havarti instead of cheddar and that worked well. A spicy cheese like a jalapeno monterey jack would be good too.

A little hot sauce or sriracha never hurt anything.