Pea Cakes with Poached Eggs

Here’s an eye-candy dish that looks like it’s a lot more effort than it actually is. Just make sure you don’t overcook the pea cakes or you risk drying them out. Consider topping it all off with a few dashes of smoked paprika or hot sauce.

1/2 cup (125 mL) dried split green peas
1 medium-sized Yukon Gold potato (about 1/2 lb/225 g), peeled and chopped
3 Tbsp (45 mL) whole grain flour of choice
2 cups (500 mL) spinach
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped fresh basil or mint
1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander
1/2 tsp (2 mL) sea salt
4 large free-range eggs
1 Tbsp (15 mL) white distilled vinegar

1 Tbsp (15 mL) chopped chives Place dried split peas in bowl, cover with generous amount of water, and soak for several hours or overnight.

Steam or boil potato until very tender and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Drain peas and place them in bowl of food processor along with cooked potato, flour, spinach, green onions, garlic, lemon juice, basil or mint, coriander, and salt. Process until mixture is a coarse purée—not perfectly smooth, but with no whole peas remaining.

Form pea mixture into 4 patties about 1 in (2.5 cm) thick and place them on a parchment- or silicone-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until just barely set.

Meanwhile, to poach eggs, fill large skillet with water and bring to a boil. Break eggs into separate teacups or small bowls. Add vinegar to boiling water. Gently tip eggs into pan and immediately turn off heat; cover pan tightly. Let sit for 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully remove poached eggs from water and set on clean dish towel to drain.

Serve each pea cake topped with a poached egg and chopped chives.

Serves 4.

Each serving contains: 235 calories; 15 g protein; 6 g total fat (2 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 33 g total carbohydrates (4 g sugars, 8 g fibre); 381 mg sodium  

source: "Little Green Giants", alive #366, April 2013