Recipe: Pan-Fried Asparagus with Ramps, Lemon and Fried Eggs {eat.live.be.}

Emotional impulse shopping.

In the realm of "things you regret doing the next morning", it's right up there with emotional peanut butter/nutella/cookie butter eating, drunk dialing, and ultra-marathoning.  A serious affliction if ever I've encountered one.



I never realized just how susceptible I was to such a disorder until the lack of rhubarb at Whole Foods left me feeling so bereft and lost and alone and, well.  Just downright empty inside.  That I had to fill the void in the time/space continuum (by which I mean in my heart and in my shopping cart) with something.



And there they were.  Staring up at me from the corner of the store in which rhubarb should have been.

Beckoning to me with their withering green leafy glances.

The allium that is more of a harbinger of spring than just about any vegetable I can think of.

Ramps. Oh, ramps, how I've missed thee!



So you see, what choice did I have other than to snatch them up, fling them in my cart with reckless abandon and not even a single ounce of forethought as to what exactly I was going to do with them?

I was running on adrenaline, baby.  No thinking, just action.  It was impulsion at its purest.  

Until, of course, I got home, my cortisol levels now well below normal, and reality set in.

WHAT HAD I DONE?!?!?   

I had taken these wonderful adorable almost scallion-like entities (but cuter) home without even a single plan for their future!  And now they were probably going to rot in the fridge and die a sad, limp and probably moldy death. Bad karma, folks.  Not good.

And then!

Along came Melissa Clark and her recipe for pan-fried asparagus with ramps, lemon and fried eggs.  So simple.  So delicious. And well.  Just so perfect for the situation at hand.

Or for any situation, really.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner...this meal does it all.  And it does it all within about 20 minutes.  Win. 

(PS - if you can't find ramps, then Melissa suggests substituting them with leeks and garlic!  While they may not fulfill your impulse shopping needs quite as well, I really do think they'll be equally delicious here.)



Eat.Live.Be.

Where the week before was eating disaster after eating disaster...the days since we've last eat.live.be-ed were...not.  And I think it's because I didn't give up.

Not when I had a slice of rhubarb streusel tart for dessert on Thursday night.

Not when I tasted some biscotti I was sent to review.

Not when I ate a spoonful (literally) of strawberry balsamic ice cream straight from the freezer.

Not when I realized the tartlets I had eaten for lunch every day were approximately 600 calories a pop.

I could have panicked.  Thrown in the towel.  Reached for the jar of peanut butter out of habit and anxiety.

But I didn't.  I just shrugged. I said, "eh, it happens".  And I let it go.

And you know what?  The world didn't end.

I didn't gain ten pounds over night.  And I may have even lost two.  That's a win of a week in my book.  All because I realized that a momentary failure is just that. It's a moment.  But it's not every moment.  So don't sweat it.  Just move on.  And do better when the next moment comes around.



Panfried Asparagus with Ramps, Lemon and Fried Eggs
Serves 4, adapted from Melissa Clark's Cook This Now

Ingredients

• 1 bunch ramps (about 4 oz), bottoms trimmed
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
• 3 thin lemon slices, each round cut into 8 wedges
• 1 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 8 slices whole grain bread (I used a locally made quinoa and flaxseed bread from Whole Foods)

Instructions

1. Separate the green leafy part of the ramps from the white/pink bottoms.  Finely chop the greens and set them aside.  Thinly slice the white bulbs.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tbsp butter.  Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper onto the skillet.  Add the ramb bulbs (the white/pink parts!) and the lemon wedges.  Cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 tbsp butter to the skillet.  Stir in the asparagus, ramp leaves and remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.  Cover the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the asparagus is tender, shaking occasionally.  Scrape onto a plate and set aside.
4. Add the remaining 1 tbsp butter to the skillet.  Crack the eggs into the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook the eggs until the edges are set.  Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook until the eggs are completely set, about 1 minute more.  Serve the eggs atop the bread, with the warm asparagus mixture.