A healthy, easy one-pan winter lunch: parsley quinoa hash

Although our one-block garden is pretty dormant this time of year, check out this Italian parsley patch! Bursting with vitality and ready to escape the bed.

Italian parsley in the winter gardenI figured a recipe made with a boat-load of it would make us feel pretty vital, too. Then I remembered the quinoa we grew and have stashed away, and our olive oil, not to mention our Meyer lemons. If I was lucky enough to get some eggs from the chickens, we’d have parsley quinoa hash for lunch. Sweet!

With that in mind, I dropped off some parsley for the girls. They clucked and scrabbled around very happily.

And look what I found? Keep up the good work, girls.

One beautiful egg, still warm Here’s how the hash went  together, with a few extra eggs laid earlier this week.

Parsley quinoa hash

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well in a fine strainer

About 1 tsp. kosher salt or a bit less of sea salt, divided

1 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided,

2 qts. lightly packed Italian parsley sprigs (yes, 2 qts.!), plus a little more for garnish

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1/2 tsp. red chile flakes

4 large eggs

1. Simmer quinoa with 2 cups water and 1/2 tsp. salt in a medium covered saucepan until transclucent in the center and a white ring appears around the edge of the grain, about 15 minutes. Drain it, if there’s still liquid left.

2. Sauté onion with 2 tbsp. oil in a 12-in. frying pan over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutes.

3. Pulse 2 qts. parsley in a food processor to chop, adding it part at a time.

All this parsley goes down to about 1 cup4. Add quinoa, remaining 2 tbsp. oil and 1/2 tsp. salt, the parsley, lemon zest, and chile flakes to onion in pan. Stir hash well. Cook over medium heat without stirring until you hear gentle sizzling sounds.

5. Make 4 depressions in hash with a wooden spoon. Crack an egg into each. Sprinkle eggs with a little salt if you like.

6. Cover pan and cook until eggs are cooked the way you like, 5 to 6 minutes for softly set; reduce heat if hash looks like it’s getting dark on the bottom (it should crisp up, though). Scatter a little more parsley on top.

And that’s all you need to do for a very fresh-tasting, healthy light lunch or dinner.