Vegetable Eggs Benedict

Recipe courtesy of Sara Forte - Sprouted Kitchen

photo courtesy of Sprouted Kitchen

The sauce recipe is written using jarred roasted peppers. The yellow ones make a sauce that most resembles hollandaise. When bell peppers are sweet and in season near you, I am sure the flavor would be exceptional if you roasted them yourself. Though jarred will save you time regardless of the season. If you don't care for goat cheese, you could use cream cheese instead.

Ingredients

2 Whole Grain English Muffins
4 Large Eggs
5 Cups Fresh Spinach Leaves
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Zest of One Lemon
12 Spears of Asparagus
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Fresh Parsley for Garnish

Bell Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cup Roasted Bell Pepper Pieces, drained
3-4 oz. Chevre/Goat Cheese (richness to taste)
1/4 Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
Splash of Hot Sauce
Salt/Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500°

1. Start with the sauce. Warm the milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds. In a blender or food processor, combine the warm milk, goat cheese, mustard, lemon juice and the drained roasted bell peppers. Blend until smooth. Cover and set aside. 
2. Warm the olive oil in the pan, add the fresh spinach and lemon zest and sauté until just wilted. Turn off the heat and let it sit, it will stay warm enough while you finish everything else.
3. Toss the asparagus with a bit of olive oil, garlic salt and some fresh ground pepper. Put in the upper third of the oven for 8 minutes (this all depends on the thickness of your asparagus, alter your timing to get tender but not soggy spears). 
4. Bring one quart water + 1 Tbsp. vinegar to a boil, then down to a simmer. This is your egg poaching liquid, there are good directions on how to poach eggs here. If you are doing them one at a time, you can keep them in a bowl with some of the warm poaching liquid until ready to use.
5. Toast the english muffins and get ready to go. Toasted muff+spoonful of sauce+sautéed spinach+asparagus spears, halved+poached egg+another spoonful or sauce+maybe a lovely fruit salad on the side=perfection.