Since sautéing romaine lettuce for the first time a couple months ago (see: Braised Romaine & Goat Cheese Crostini) I’ve been kind of hooked on cooking lettuce. I eat a lot of salad and love raw lettuce as much as you do, but cooking it is really worth trying if you haven’t yet. It’s a nice change.

Usually when I make beets, I like to sauté the stems and leaves too. Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy to find beets with the stems/eaves left intact. That’s what gave me the idea to sauté up some lettuce with these. Cooking lettuce changes Its entire flavor profile, transforming it from green and unassuming to savory, luscious and fulfilling. I liken it to the difference between raw and caramelized onions. Both amazing. Just different.

Note: You’ll need more lettuce than you think because it shrinks down like any other green. Not as much as spinach or anything though.

For this salad, you’ll want to first sauté the beets until cooked through to your liking. If you happen to have beets with the stems intact, you can incorporate those too. I say, the more greens the better. For seasoning I use: garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and citrus thyme. I splash some rice on the pan before adding the lettuce and only lightly sauté the leaves so they remain crisp. You don’t want to go too far with them because they’ll continue to cook slightly even after you remove them from the pan.

This is SO good. I think it’s my favorite salad this summer. Crunchy and crisp and the feta cheese is a great tangy accompaniment.

Problem is, that while store bought granola is seemingly nutritious, it’s always pretty high in fat and sugar. Therefore I don’t buy it. I make it instead.

When you make it at home you can cut out a lot of the oil and sugar, making it healthier.

After several trials to get the recipe perfect, I’m pretty happy with this combination of walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, apricots and figs. I put some flax seed and coconut in there and rely on the natural sweetness of maple syrup and a little brown sugar.

It’s a pretty basic process really. Mix together all the stuff. Bake until just oats are just golden (any more than that and the nuts will burn) and then add your dried fruit to the mix.

I got some pretty decent clumping action too! And the trick to those nice clumps is not to stir it when you take it out of the oven until it cools completely. I also press firmly upon it with another baking sheet while it’s still piping hot to further compact it and help it all stick together.

And there it is…so good!

You might be familiar with the classic egg in a hole (where an egg is cooked inside a piece of bread that has a hole cut out of it), but have you ever had an egg in a hole sandwich? Just blew your mind, right? Totally know the feeling.

Now I’m not saying I’m the first to ever do this (in fact, I sure hope I’m not), but I haven’t seen it before and nothing of the sort comes up when I google it. I got the idea for this one afternoon when I was debating between having an egg sandwich or an egg in a hole for lunch. And then it hit me—have them both, duh.

So I made myself a provolone cheese, tomato and basil sandwich; cut a hole in it; put it on the pan and cracked an egg into it. This is obviously the kind of thing you want to eat while still hot with a knife and fork (and a nice runny yolk if you’re smart).

I made this one for Jason with ham, cheese and basil. I like mine with either roasted or fresh tomatoes instead of the ham.

First you make the sandwich. I think it might be better to keep the tough to cut ingredients (like basil or tomatoes) around the perimeter of the bread so it’s easier to cut the hole out. I do it both ways….haven’t decided which is better.

Before cutting the hole out, I like to cook the sandwich on a pan on medium heat for about 30 seconds per side with a little olive oil. Makes the hole easier to cut and also means you have a nicely toasted sandwich hole to dip into your yolk later. Make sure you cut the hole big enough so that the egg white has contact to the pan or it’ll never cook.This is a good enough size hole, but to be honest, a tad bigger is ideal.

Put just a little drizzle of olive oil on the pan before you put the sandwich back to cook (drop a little extra oil in the hole) and then immediately crack the egg into the hole. Keep the heat on med low so the bread doesn’t burn and cover the pan so the egg white cooks faster.

Flip it after a couple minutes and cook the other side. Check the egg for doneness by gently pressing the egg with your finger—should feel a little tight but still soft…not jiggley. What came first the sandwich or the egg?

That was terrible…sorry.