Fried Egg Breakfast Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Jan 26, 2016, Updated Feb 28, 2024
I have this situation. I’m exclusively breastfeeding a 4-month-old who is the size of a 7-month-old. Which means I’m hungry. Like, really, really hungry.
If I don’t eat the second I wake up in the morning, I get a massive headache. And by “the second I wake up”, I mean quite literally. A migraine is on the way if I take the time to scramble eggs.
So, I spring out of bed and scarf a quick bowl of cereal before I change any diapers, before I take anyone out of their crib, before I pour anyone a sippy-cup of milk. It’s like in the airplane where they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting someone else. A lesson in caregivers’ self-care.
But the upside is, with the edge taken off of my hunger, I can make something more nourishing at a leisurely pace. I’m a big fan of savoury breakfast. And I’m a big fan of vegetables at breakfast. You know how if you sneak a cookie in first thing in the morning, you kinda crave sweets all day? (Not a fact, just a personal theory.) I find the same is true if you start with veggies: start with salad, want more salad.
This is more an idea than a recipe, because of course you can use whatever vegetables you have in your crisper drawer. Â I shaved some beets on a mandoline (this is mine, I love it) and tossed them with mixed greens in a bright mustard vinaigrette. Â
Topped with a sunny-side-up egg, it’s a delicious, satisfying (first or second) breakfast.
And by all means add a piece of crusty bread if you haven’t just inhaled a massive bowl of bran flakes.
Prefer medium eggs to runny ones? Read this next: How to Make Perfect Eggs Over Medium.
Fried Egg Breakfast Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp minced shallot or red onion
- 1 tsp grainy mustard
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 large eggs
- Salt and pepper
- 12 cups mixed greens
- 1 large beet peeled and very thinly sliced
Instructions
- In small bowl or mason jar, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, mustard and salt.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Â When butter’s frothing subsides, crack eggs into the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until whites are set, covering the pan for the last minute or so to firm up the whites on top.
- In a large bowl, toss greens with enough dressing to lightly coat. Â Arrange on 4 plates. In same bowl, separately toss beets with a bit more dressing dressing and arrange on top of greens. Â Slide a fried egg on top of each salad.
I so agree!! Savory breakfast are IT. I have 2 egg mushroom omelette with a spinach, celery, tomato pesto salad 3x a week-breakfast for dinner, often. So satisfying.