Thomas Joseph’s Tips for Using Fresh Spring Produce to Liven Up Your Egg Dishes

I cook eggs a lot, whether it’s just for me and my partner or if I’m entertaining a group for brunch. This time of year, I like to incorporate the colors and flavors of fresh spring produce into my egg dishes—it’s a great way to eat more vegetables and to lighten up what can sometimes be a rich dish. Here are some of my favorite ways to customize traditional favorites like frittatas, quiches, and omelets, while celebrating the bounty that spring has to offer. 

Spring Produce to Pair With Eggs

I love using a lot of fresh, bright, flavorful produce in my menus, and come spring, I impatiently wait for the first ramps, asparagus, and peas to hit grocery store shelves. Some of my favorite produce to add to egg dishes include:

• Alliums, which are members of the onion family. I especially like to use ramps, spring onions, and young leeks this time of year. 
• Spring greens, like watercress and spinach.
• Shoots, sprouts, and microgreens, which add refreshing, peppery little bites. 
• Spring mushrooms are wonderful in a quiche, or simply sautéed into a hash of sorts that you can put a fried egg over.
• Blanched asparagus can be served with a fried or poached egg on top.
• Tender herbs, especially chives and their blossoms, but also parsley, chervil, tarragon, cilantro, and basil.

How to Incorporate Spring Flavors Into Your Favorite Egg Dishes 

Depending on how you like to cook and how many people you’re feeding, there are many ways to serve eggs. 

Hard-Boiled or Steamed

I often serve hard cooked eggs the classic way, with salt and pepper, but there are endless other ways to enjoy a simple boiled egg and give it a spring accent:

• Jammy eggs (for me they must have runny yolks) with chopped tender herbs.
• Jammy eggs on toast with avocado and microgreens.
• Soft-boiled eggs with leftover rice, scallions, toasted nori, and your favorite condiments.
• Hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper in crisp lettuce cups with a smear or dollop of mustard and/or mayo—or maybe Dijonnaise.
• Perhaps my favorite has a Middle Eastern twist: a savory breakfast with soft-boiled or jammy eggs, cucumbers, yogurt or labneh, olives, toasted cumin, coriander or another fragrant spice, olive oil, and warm flatbread.

There are two methods for making hard-cooked eggs: boiling and steaming, though steaming makes them easier to peel. Follow these tips for perfect hard-boiled eggs, or try my steaming method:

Scrambled

All scrambled eggs need is an adornment of tender spring herbs. If you are so inclined, you’ll want to add a handful of flavorful, melty cheese like Gruyère, cheddar, or fontina. Serve the scramble with a simple green salad of peppery watercress or baby gem lettuces

Fried

You can use fried eggs in so many ways:

• Simply sauté some spinach and put a fried egg on top of it. (Or make an easy creamed spinach and put an egg on that!)
• Make a hash with sautéed mushrooms and spring onions, parcooked potatoes, shallots, or ramps, and top that with some fried eggs—but make sure they are jammy with soft yolks.
• Another special breakfast or brunch is to serve fried eggs in warm tortillas with cilantro, sliced avocado, and maybe some pickled onions or quick-pickled radishes. It’s an interesting breakfast that's really fast to make.

Poached

My favorite way to enjoy poached eggs is in the Middle Eastern and North African dish shakshouka, where they are poached directly in the tomato sauce. Try a spring riff on shakshouka and cook the eggs with sautéed onion, leeks, or spring onions, spinach, asparagus, peas, and a bit of chicken stock. Finish with some flavorful olive oil and a sprinkle of cheese before serving.

Quiche, Frittatas, and Stratas

These dishes are great starting points for getting creative using spring produce. Asparagus and peas, spinach and potato, spring onion and herbs, wild mushrooms, and ramps are all flavorful combinations for frittatas, quiches, or stratas. Add aged cheeses for maximum flavor.

Unexpected Egg Ideas for Brunch

I love taking sweet, eggy dishes and making them savory—think popovers, Dutch baby pancakes, and crepes. You can add cheese or herbs to the batters and also have savory toppings or fillings that are just delicious. 

• Top your Dutch baby with colorful spring ingredients, like a simple vegetable sauté.
• Turn a cheesy popover into a breakfast "sandwich" with scrambled or fried eggs and sautéed spinach.
• Fill your crepes with sautéed mushrooms and leeks, along with a bit of cheese and crème fraîche. If you want something for an extra special brunch, make a béchamel sauce or Mornay sauce (a creamy sauce with cheese) with a hefty spoonful of Dijon mustard. Then, add mushrooms, caramelized onions, or sautéed spinach to the sauce. You can fold the crepes decoratively with these fillings, and maybe flash them in the oven before serving so the crepe gets a little crispy on the outside, and the center is nice and gooey.