This is a great meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mesclun salad, a thinly sliced avocado half, and a great fried egg, cooked Spanish style. Once I’ve eaten this combo, I’m hooked for a while. Kind of like with a great song, I just keep coming back to it. And did I say it’s quick and easy?
The Mesclun Salad
Mesclun, meaning mixture, is a Provençal word coming from mesclar, to mix. Mesclun is a mixture of fresh edible leaves and herbs, ideally young and tender. Spring mix is often used as a synonym for Mesclun.
A good mesclun mix from the market is very convenient. However, you can mix one together yourself. There are many wonderful lettuce leaves for mesclun salad. I would stick with tender leaved young lettuces: baby greens, oakleaf lettuce, red oak leaf lettuce, green oak leaf lettuce, baby arugula, baby spinach, young dandelion, lambs lettuce (aka mâche, valeriana or corn salad greens) … Mix up the colors and textures.
As far as the dressing for the mesclun salad goes, I like it in the original sense of the word salad: salted. Lettuce with extra virgin olive oil and salt. That’s it. It’s easy and quick, and tossed with a good high quality extra virgin olive oil, I can think of no better way to eat any variety of lettuce.
If you like salads as a meal, you’ll love this Wild Arugula Salad with Crispy Golden Potatoes, Roasted Almonds and Dijon.
The Avocado
I picked up this way of serving avocado from Eder in The Basque Book, a cookbook by Alexandra Raij. Instead of slicing the avocado into wedges, like I tended to do, he thinly slices it while keeping the avocado half intact as a perfect bowl — sliced without appearing so.
Infuse your Sliced Avocado Bowl
For a vibrant counterpoint to the avocado, a little vinegar or lemon juice (or Tabasco, I suppose) can be poured into your avocado bowl before being salted, drizzled with olive oil and optionally sprinkled with red pepper powder. While you’re putting the rest of this quick and simple meal together, the vinegar or lemon juice seeps deep into the crevices of the avocado bowl.
Tip: Be sure to use a nice tasting vinegar. Nothing too harsh. Balsamic vinegar is a nice pairing here.
The Red Pepper
In Texas style, I’d been shaking a little Piment d’Espelette on my fried eggs, and all over my avocado, in a rather slapdash manner, ever since bringing home a jar of the powdery pepper flakes from the small French town of Espelette in the Basque country bordering Spain. Little did I know you could find it pretty easily across the U.S.
If you don’t have French Basque AOP Piment d’Espelette, powdered or crushed smoked Spanish paprika, or if you like it a bit hotter: cayenne or powdered peperoncino, all work great here.
The Egg
After the same jaunt around Spain, and Spanish and French Basque country, I started calling the style of fried eggs that I make to go with this mesclun and avocado meal “Spanish fried eggs” or “Basque fried eggs” in contrast to the low and slow method I had long been in the habit of cooking them. But hot and fast fried eggs can really be claimed by any number of regions and countries. I also just call them Great Fried Eggs.
Is it Tomato Season?
Great tomatoes laden with quality extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly cracked pepper are a great addition during peak tomato season.
Recipe
Note, the serving size in the recipe is for one because it’s nice to quickly make for one person. And by nature, it’s also easy to make each plate as a separate recipe.
Notice something missing here? No refined carbs. Low carbs. High in good fat and nutrients. Besides being completely enjoyable, this meal is also very satiating and nourishing. Eat it because you love it and enjoy the benefits!
Ingredients
- ½ avocado perfectly ripe, peeled and pitted
- ½ tsp balsamic vinegar (other options: lemon juice, tabasco)
- a pinch of powdered red pepper (such as smoked Spanish paprika, cayenne, Piment d’Espelette…)
- a pinch of salt (preferably Maldon sea salt flakes or Fleur de Sel)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (use a good quality, fruity olive oil for this)
- 4 cups mesclun salad
- 1 egg, fried Spanish style (see a great fried egg)
- a pinch of black pepper
- ½ tomatoes (optional when in season, perfectly ripe)
Instructions
- Avocado: Place a peeled avocado half flat-side down, and carefully cut into thin slices, around ¼" (6mm) thick, while keeping the half completely intact. When you're done, it shouldn't be very obvious that it has been sliced. Turn the avocado half flat-side up. It is now a bowl. Pour in a dash of vinegar, sprinkle with powdered red pepper, and drizzle with abundant olive oil and salt to your liking.
- Mesclun Salad: Toss the greens with extra virgin olive oil and a good dash of salt.
- Egg: Fry up a great fried egg. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and red pepper powder, if you like.
- Summer Tomatoes: If you have some great in-season tomatoes, cut them into slices or wedges. Optional Idea: Sauté them in the skillet a minute or two before you fry the egg. Douse the tomatoes, raw or cooked, with abundant olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.Assemble all on a plate, and enjoy!
