Just because summer’s officially over, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the fruits of its labor. Farmers markets are piled high with local vegetables, and not just with fall offerings such as squash and root vegetables.
You still can find tomatoes and a colorful array of peppers, which work in harmony in this easy Middle Eastern egg dish. It calls for yellow peppers to make a bright sunshine-hued breakfast bowl, but you always could substitute red for a more classic take, or even mix the two hues for a more vibrant meal. If you can’t find yellow cherry tomatoes (I used red), you always could chop up a golden-yellow slicer tomato.
Served with a crusty bread, this one-pot meal is just the thing for a lazy weekend brunch, or quick (and inexpensive) supper.
Golden Shakshuka
For yogurt sauce
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
For eggs
Olive oil, for sauteing
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch of cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon spicy harissa
2 cups yellow cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
To serve
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (cilantro, mint and/or parsley)
Dusting of za’atar
Fresh bread
For yogurt sauce, mix yogurt, honey and lemon juice in bowl; set aside.
Add drizzle of olive oil to a skillet and place over medium-low heat. Stir-fry onion until translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add peppers, cumin, turmeric, thyme, coriander and cayenne to skillet. Stir to coat onions and peppers with spices.
Add cherry tomatoes and garlic-salt mixture and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. If sauce begins to dry out, add a little oil and water but add sparingly as the shakshuka should not be watery.
Use back of spoon to make two shallow indentations in the surface of shakshuka and crack an egg into each. Leave shakshuka to slowly cook the eggs for 10 minutes, keeping heat on low. The result should be a dry sauce with the eggs just set. Remove from heat.
Serve in bowls with yogurt sauce drizzled over and top with fresh herbs and za’atar. Use bread to scoop up the sauce.
Serves 2.
— “Bowls of Goodness: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes Full of Nourishment” by Nina Olsson (Kyle Books, September 2017, $27.95)
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