I am a firm believer of putting an egg on it. Toast? Put an egg on it. Pizza? Put an egg on it. Salad? You know what to do. Put an egg on it.
Or two.

Fun fact: I used to skip eating breakfast every day because I hated it. I KNOW. Fortunately, I’ve grown up and matured and come to my senses. Breakfast is awesome*.
This breakfast salad with avocado, prosciutto and eggs is my new favorite reason to get out of bed in the morning.

I like to use soft boiled eggs because I can make them ahead of time and have them ready to take to work with me during the week. I have no idea if this is technically safe food handling so while I do NOT recommend that you do it… just know that I have, and I haven’t died (yet). It will work equally well with poached or fried eggs if those are more in your comfort zone.
The avocado is super creamy, the prosciutto is salty and chewy to balance with the sweetness of the tomato, and the egg yolk… oh, the silky, rich egg yolk. An ample sprinkling of salt livens up all the flavors. Last but not least, the greens hold it all together and round out the textures of this healthy and super filling breakfast. Who knew salad for breakfast could taste so good?
Do it. You know you want to. Put an egg on it.
* … as long as it’s consumed at least 1 hour after I’ve woken up.

Avocado, Prosciutto, and Tomato Breakfast Salad With Soft Boiled Eggs
Adapted from The Kitchn
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 or 2 handfuls baby spinach or swiss chard, roughly chopped
1/2 large slicing tomato
1/2 avocado
1 – 2 thin slices proscuitto
2 eggs, poached, soft boiled (see note below) or fried
salt and pepper
Directions
Pile the roughly chopped greens on a plate. Slice tomato into wedges, then slice wedges in half. Scatter on top of greens. Pit avocado and run your knife through the flesh in a cross-hatch pattern. Scoop out avocado pieces and scatter on top of salad. Tear or chop proscuitto into small pieces and sprinkle on salad. Add eggs. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, to taste. Break yolks. Devour immediately.
Note: To make a soft boiled egg, bring a saucepan of water to a hard boil. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower cold eggs into the boiling water. Boil 6 minutes. Remove eggs to a bowl full of ice water to stop cooking. Eat immediately.
Hi friends! I hope everyone has been enjoying their emergency brownies. Last week my husband and I ran away from work and other life responsibilities to take a little tour of the Lowcountry – namely, Savannah and Hilton Head Island. I’ve been in Virginia for over a decade now, but I was born and raised a northerner, so the deep South is still a bit of a mystery to me. Pictures of those beautiful spanish moss-covered trees drew me to Savannah, and with the opportunity to explore nearby Hilton Head Island as well, I couldn’t say no!
Note: If you’re not interested in my vacation photos, skip to the bottom where I’m giving away some awesome free chocolate!
First stop, Savannah, Georgia! Savannah is such a beautiful city. There are tree-filled squares all over the city (22 in total!), historic buildings and monuments everywhere you turn, and the lovely Savannah river flowing through the middle of it all.


We worked up a good appetite exploring the city and it’s history, then headed to the most highly recommended restaurant in all of Savannah, The Olde Pink House. Guys, this place lives up to the hype. The atmosphere, service and food were all some of the best I’ve ever experienced! Our server was great at making recommendations, including suggesting that my husband add a scoop of vanilla ice cream from dessert to his stout – beer float! Like I said, basically a genius. He nearly passed out from delight.



Of course, I can’t go anywhere without finding chocolate and while The French Broad Chocolate Lounge will always be my first love, Lulu’s Chocolate Bar in Savannah is pretty great too! When I saw the double chocolate peanut butter pie in the glass case, it was love at first sight. I ate the whole darn thing.

On the way to Hilton Head, we stopped to take in the sights at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. It was gator city in there! We must have seen more than a dozen of them sunning themselves that day. There were also tons of wading birds. This nature lover geeked right out.


When we arrived in Hilton Head, I was surprised by how green it was. I’ve never been to an East Coast beach town with so many trees! Gorgeous. I also loved how pedestrian / bike friendly the island was, with paved trails so prolific we were able to bike over to breakfast one morning. It was bliss. The perfectly executed eggs benedict at Palmetto Bay Sunrise Cafe didn’t hurt either!

There was also a large Forest Preserve and another Wildlife Refuge nearby that we enjoyed exploring.



In addition to the natural beauty, there is so much great food is available in Hilton Head! Food Network chef Robert Irvine’s restaurant Eat! came highly recommended and the food there did not disappoint. We went on tapas night so I got to try a variety of dishes. They were all good, but I highly recommend the short rib gnocchi – it was to die for! We also visited former Next Food Network Star contestant Orchid Paulmeier’s restaurant One Hot Mama’s. We saw her running around and she’s just as cute as she was on TV! Her place is known for BBQ, but I was in the mood for tacos so that’s what I ordered. No regrets. Her tacos were among the best I’ve ever had! Last but not least, Neo was our other favorite Hilton Head restaurant. Neo is a farm-to-table restaurant that boasts 90% of it’s menu is sourced within 90 miles. That would have been enough to sell me on the place, but then I spotted the Holy $#!t BBQ Pork Nachos on the menu and couldn’t resist. They are worthy of the name!



Giveaway!
We have a winner! Congratulations MonicaD! Please check your email to claim your chocolates!

Now don’t worry. I wouldn’t just disappear for a week and then make you suffer through all of my vacation photos without throwing in a little something for you too. Southern sweets shop Sucré has generously offered to give one of my very lucky readers their special 15-piece Indulge Chocolate Collection!

Sucré is located in Louisiana and they sell everything from macarons to chocolate gift baskets. They even have some great Mother’s Day chocolate collections!
To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me: What do you love about the deep South? If you’ve never visited the Southern US, tell me what you’d like to see most or your favorite place to vacation!
And now for the fine print…
US residents only. One entry max per person, per day please. I reserve the right to disqualify anyone who doesn’t follow the rules. Contest ends Sunday, May 5th, 2013 at 5pm EST. One lucky winner will be selected at random. Winner will be emailed, posted here on the blog, and announced on Twitter. In the event that the winner does not respond within two days, a new winner will be selected. Disclaimer: Sucré is not paying me or compensating me in any way for this giveaway.
Spring-y Lemon Risotto
It’s Spring at last! I mean, technically it’s been Spring for a while now but the weather didn’t get that memo until, oh, last week. C’mon nature. Get with the times.
Look. Compare. Here’s what all of March looked like:



FINALLY.
Spring always makes me crave lemon everything. I think it’s the bright, fresh flavor. And Spring means asparagus season, which just so happens to pair well with lemon. I think you can see where this is going.
I confessed my risotto addiction in the fall with my Cheesy Pumpkin Risotto recipe. But pumpkin is out of season and lemon is in, so let’s make Spring-y risotto!

You can use Meyer lemons or regular old boring lemons – whatever you have. They’re both delicious. I happened to have Meyer lemons which is why my lemons look a little bit like oranges in the photos.
I use pretty much the same method as the pumpkin risotto, which means we’re cheating by heating the broth in the microwave. It works and it avoids dirtying an extra pot. I give you permission to cheat.
The rest is just some easy peasy stirring. You can do this!

Speaking of peas, they’re a fantastic addition to this risotto. Also, zucchini and asparagus. Get all your Spring veggies in there!
Lemon Risotto can definitely be a dish all on its own (especially when you add some veggies), but I really like to serve it along with some pan roasted salmon (this Sautéed Citrus-Herb Salmon is my favorite) and roasted asparagus.

Spring-y Lemon Risotto
Serves 6 as a side
To make it a complete one-dish meal, stir in peas, zucchini, asparagus or all of the above at the end!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 to 4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
zest of 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 of lemon
(optional) peas, zucchini, asparagus
Directions
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add arborio rice and stir. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine to rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until wine has been absorbed. Meanwhile, pour 2 cups of chicken broth in a glass measuring cup and microwave on High for about 2 minutes, or until hot. Raise heat to medium-high. Add 1 cup of heated broth to rice and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until broth is absorbed. Repeat, adding 1 cup of heated broth and cooking until absorbed, with the remaining 2-3 cups of broth or until rice is al dente and creamy. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan, lemon zest and juice.
Best served immediately.
Sweet Tea, The Trajectory of Dreams and a Giveaway!
I’m bringing you something a little bit different this week. My friend Nicole has published her first novel, The Trajectory of Dreams. When she asked me to host a stop on her virtual book tour I was delighted – and then she threw in a recipe and a giveaway for an e-copy of the novel plus two awesome cookie cutters! I’m reading the book right now and finding myself drawn in by the likable but seriously mentally unstable main character, Lela. I’ll turn things over to Nicole to tell you more!

This was not the tea room—no chance of getting a decent salad or sandwich. Judging by the greasy smears on the laminated menus, cracked with either age or too many bar fights, it was either a burger and fries or nothing at all. Reading the menu only confirmed it. The only thing not deep-fried, covered in cheese, or full of fat was the sweet tea … and even that was suspect.
—The Trajectory of Dreams
I’m a born and bred Northerner. Yeah, we like iced tea, and some of us (my husband, for one) prefer sweetened tea. But sweetened tea is not Southern sweet tea. It’s just not. I read on Salon that a typical glass of sweet tea can be as much as twenty-two percent sugar. That’s a crapload of sugar!
There’s a theory that Southerners and Northerners have different taste buds—Southerners allegedly like things sweeter than the rest of us. Whether that’s true is up in the air. Over the last ten years or so I’ve visited Houston a bunch of times to see friends, and most of them really love sweet tea. Those visits contributed to getting the background right for my novel, The Trajectory of Dreams, and that includes sweet tea in at least one scene.
Ask Southerners how to make sweet tea, and you’re likely to get a million different answers. Everyone has their own version, but a standard recipe is as follows:
- Boil half a gallon of water, then turn off the burner, toss eight regular tea bags in the saucepan, and steep for at least seven minutes.
- Add one cup of sugar; stir until dissolved.
- Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until ice cold.
- Serve over ice and garnish with lemon wedge or mint, if desired.
Now, that’s Southern sweet tea. Northerners have probably just as many variations for tea. In my family we tend to make plain, unsweetened tea brewed in the sun. It’s easy enough: a pitcher of water, six or seven tea bags, a day in the sun, and that’s it . . . although it should be noted that with sun tea, there’s a risk of food poisoning. I know, it makes you want to run right out and make it, right?
So how do I take my iced tea? Slightly sweetened with simple syrup, with the syrup added to a glass of tea (not the whole pitcher). I’m convinced I have the best simple syrup recipe for iced tea, and in honor of the launch of The Trajectory of Dreams, I’m sharing it. You will need saucepan, 4 cups of water, and 2 cups of Sugar in the Raw. Ready? It’s so complicated. Bring the water and Sugar in the Raw to a boil, cook it down for five to ten minutes, let it cool, and pour into a glass bottle with a stopper. Yeah, that’s it. Hey, sometimes simple is good!
In addition to my recipe for simple syrup, today you have a chance to win a The Trajectory of Dreams prize pack consisting of an e-copy of the novel and two awesome cookie cutters. To be eligible, just leave a comment below and tell us how you take your tea! Earn extra raffle entries by tweeting a link to this post (use the hashtag #trajectory). The winner will be chosen on March 23!
We have a winner! Congratulations to Victoria from Home and The Range, and her interesting tidbit about tea:
It seems there are, indeed, many ways to make Sweet Tea! Being new to the South…I just learned the art of making Sweet Tea ….versus Sun Tea (I hail from the Southwest), last year. I learned to add a dash of baking soda. I know it sounds weird…but it helps cut down on the bitterness from the tannins in the tea. I think I will try your simple syrup method. Sounds great!

Nicole’s Simple Syrup for Sweet Tea
If you’re not into tea, don’t worry. This simple syrup dissolves easily in all kinds of cold beverages, making it ideal for sweetening everything from iced coffee to smoothies and cocktails.
Ingredients
4 cups water
2 cups sugar in the raw
Directions
Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook for 5-10 minutes to reduce. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Add syrup to taste to prepared iced tea. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Publishers Weekly calls THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS (Bitingduck Press, ISBN 9781938463440) a “skillful mainstream examination of a psychotic woman’s final descent into insanity.” The novel exposes the chaotic inner life of Lela White, a sleep lab technician and mentally ill insomniac who believes she has been tasked with protecting the safety of the revitalized U.S. space shuttle program. She breaks into the homes of astronauts to watch them sleep, and she is prepared to kill to keep those with sleep problems from the shuttle launch. Her delicate grasp on reality becomes more tenuous when annoying co-worker Trina Shook insists on moving into her house and visiting Russian cosmonaut Zory Korchagin inserts himself into Lela’s life. Korchagin’s increasing interest puts her carefully-constructed world at risk of an explosion as surely as he does his own upcoming launch. Lela’s tragic childhood unfolds throughout the novel, revealing the beginnings of her illness and long-buried secrets, and as Lela’s universe unravels, no one is safe. Buy a copy of THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS at your local independent bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or anywhere books are sold.
Goodreads | LibraryThing | Shelfari
THE AUTHOR: Nicole Wolverton fears many things, chief amongst them that something lurks in the dark. From ghosts to stalkers, her adult and young adult fiction plays on the mundane and not-so-mundane things that frighten us all. THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS is her debut novel. She is a freelance writer and editor and lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, dog, and two cats.
MORE STOPS ON THE BOOK TOUR FOR THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS = MORE CHANCES TO WIN!






















