Bacon & egg baked chard

This is my idea of comfort food come spring. Gone are the cravings for big hearty casseroles and braises- but most days aren’t quite warm enough for full blown salads. Although the way the chilly wind was blowing the leaves off the trees yesterday  for a second I questioned whether I had missed summer and it was time to get out my winter coat again.

Fortunately, the weather man disputed my dreary outlook and promises sunshine and warmth at the weekend. I however, will be in bonnie Scotland this weekend- and all of next week where I suspect it will be a fraction cooler and most likely a little rainy. But I cannie wait! I have two reasons for going to Scotland. One to see a good old friend walk down the aisle and secondly because I’ve never had a deep-fried mars bar and I’d really like to try one! No, not really- but I’m super excited about some of the places we will be staying, real farm houses with better than free-range eggs for breakfast, big bowls of steaming oatmeal to get us through all the walking we plan on doing and we’ll finish the days of nicely with a little whiskey nightcap. I’m not a planner, nope, not me!

This egg and bacon chard could be done over the stove with a poached egg served on top- but i like the way the leaves on top get slightly crunchy in the oven and eating straight out of an individual dish means you don’t have to worry about warming up your plates before you serve. Now, I really must go- I have hiking boots to break in, work to do and a passport to find…..

Yours, Aye.

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Bacon & egg baked chardThis is my idea of comfort food. Buy the best pasture-raised eggs you can- this is the kind of dish where you will want to splurge on your eggs.

Serves 1 as a main course

Diet Facts: Gluten free

2 thickly cut pieces smoked bacon, sliced into small pieces
1 small onion, finely sliced
5 chard stalks, stems finely sliced, leaves cut into ribbons 1 cm wide 1 red birds eye chilli, finely sliced (optional)
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
salt & pepper
1 large free range or pasture raised egg
good olive oil

• Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Grease a small baking dish (6 x 3 inches)In a large nonstick frying pan over a medium heat, cook the bacon for about 2 minutes, or until the fat begins to release. Add the sliced onion and sliced chard stems to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is completely soft and browning. During the last 2 minutes, add the garlic and chilli and if you need to add a drop of oil if the pan looks dry.

• Add the ribbons of chard leaves and stir everything together for 1 minute. Season with a little salt and pepper. Fill your baking dish and then make a small, shallow indent in the middle of the chard. Crack the egg into this space and then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the egg white is set but not rock hard. Try not to overcook or you will have a hard yolk!

Tagged as: bacon & egg chard, chard, Recipe, vegetables