You may have noticed, if you’ve here, that I like food. I like writing about it, reading about it, taking photos of it and even eating it.

One of the basics when it comes to being passionate about all this is understanding where the things that become food come from.

On a blog where I try to focus on relatively easy recipes with accessible ingredients, I don’t want to start preaching to everyone about how they should eat. I’m also the kind of person who wants to be sure of what I’m saying before I go on acting like I’m an expert in anything, and advocating for things I don’t understand.

But I’ve thought about this a lot, and I’ve done my homework. (There are some great resources out there for understanding what this all means on a grand scale.) You can do good things by thinking about how sustainable it is to grow something. Whether that something is cherries or chickens, it really is worth it, for the sake of being able to keep producing food, and to have land and water that can support its own ecosystems, among many other reasons.

To me, sustainability means a few things. It means that I try to eat organically for the environmental impact, seasonally and locally for the small business impact (and for the environment…), and with animal welfare in mind for the animals (and, well, the environment for this one, too).

I’m not perfect, by any means. I still really like avocados, even though they definitely don’t grow anywhere near England, and I don’t ask the people at the cheap-and-cheerful market stalls near my office where their meat comes from. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. There is nothing wrong with doing what you can afford, and thinking more carefully about what you consume and why.

Starting out

If you’re thinking about how you can #eatclean in the way it matters most, for sustainability and welfare, but not sure exactly where to begin – start small. The first food I made a serious commitment on was eggs. They’re affordable and versatile, and I learned quickly that moving up to higher welfare eggs wasn’t going to significantly change how much they cost, but makes a huge difference for the environment, the chickens, and the taste of my scrambled eggs.

Let’s travel together into the way-back machine, when I was first introduced to the happiest chickens I’ve ever met. Labor Day 2010, Catskills, NY. Handsome Brook Farms.

Our introduction came early. They crashed through the bushes and tried to follow us into the house, then joined us on walks through the fields. The hens of Handsome Brook spent time wherever they pleased; real ladies of leisure. With beautiful, glossy feathers and an active social life, I had truly never seen chickens who seemed so happy to be alive.

The chickens had run of the farm.

Then, we sampled the freshest eggs at breakfast, in French toast and on their own, and it was obvious how the freedom these chickens had to pick at insects, plants and whatever else they wanted to eat affected the quality of what showed up on our plates.

After that trip, I said no to battery cage eggs, and “free range” hens who have never seen the sun. It costs more but not a huge amount more, and I can just think about those chickens and understand why doing something, however small, is better than doing nothing.

So instead of skirting the issue, I am going to start addressing it in my posts. I can’t afford to make everything I eat the most local or sustainable, but when I can, I will. And if I can offer suggestions for people who want to do the same, then I will.

Eating sustainably

This is a luxurious and easy breakfast that showcases farm-fresh eggs, but still includes a guilty-ish pleasure ingredient, avocado. You can find organic, sustainable avocados, though it’s unlikely they’ll be local. This one came in our veg box from Riverford and was grown in Mexico.

Scrambled eggs with avocado and feta

Serves: 2

On the Counter

4 free-range organic eggs
4 tsp milk
1 avocado, sliced thinly, or into chunks
2 oz (55 g) feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 tsp (or a dash) of salt
1 tsp unsalted butter
2 slices of bread, your choice

You’ll need

wide/flat pan or skillet
whisk or fork
wooden spoon or rubber spatula

What to Do

Whisk the eggs, milk and salt together until well combined.

If you’re making toast, put the toast down now.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium/low heat. Once it’s melted, swish it around the pan until it’s covered the bottom. Add in the egg mixture.

Immediately as it starts to set, push the eggs from the edge of the pan to the middle and keep doing so, making sure that you don’t get giant curds of egg. Once you don’t have any more liquid egg mixture, but they eggs are still a bit wet, you’re ready. It should only take 2-3 minutes until your eggs are finished.

Top the toast with avocado, then egg, then sprinkle on the feta cheese. Serve!

I don’t take photos of everything I cook, especially if I think it isn’t going to be something worth sharing.

Sometimes, though, at the end of the meal I’ll be disappointed that I didn’t bother getting the camera out. This week, I had a pretty good run of camera time, so here are pics of a few things I made over the past week.

Some of these will hopefully be making it into the blog in upcoming weeks!

Eggs Florentine with Dairy-Free Hollandaise

Sirloin (Delmonico) Steak topped with Chimichurri Sauce, plus a Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Crispy Hash Browns with Truffles

Deep Dish Truffle and Goat Cheese Pizza

pizza base from the serious eats food lab

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

from serious eats

Slightly-Spicy Tomato Sauce with Shrimp and Mushrooms

Sour Cream and Chive Biscuits

from spoon fork bacon

It was a busy week in the kitchen!

Eggs are pretty fantastic. There are so many ways to cook them, and they have so many uses. Some of my favorite desserts are egg-based, which probably comes from growing up in a Portuguese family where we’d eat lots of custards, eggy bread (like pão de ló, made with 9 eggs) and puddings.

But even though I frequently have them for breakfast, and love them for dessert, they just don’t seem to make it onto my lunch menu. It’s even a rare occasion for me to have a hard boiled egg on a salad.

A summery Sunday afternoon seemed the right time to change that. The original inspiration was a craving for baked eggs, but with no interest in turning on the oven and a streak of impatience, I decided to switch to skillet eggs.

Skillet eggs can come in all sorts of combinations, and if you have some pre-made sauce handy, they’re even quicker! I recommend keeping the sauce simple; you don’t want to overpower the eggs.

It was the perfect day to have lunch in the garden, where I could enjoy some of the bounty of my overfilled cupboards and sit with the potted herbs lining the fence.

Serves: 2

On the Counter: 

the sauce:
1 can (14.5 oz/400 g) of chopped tomatoes
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1 medium clove garlic, minced 
1 tablespoon (17 ml) balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon (17 g) demerara sugar
2 tablespoons (34 ml) olive oil

the eggs:
4 large eggs
chopped fresh basil and parsley
salt and pepper

8 inch/20 cm skillet/frying pan

What to Do: 

The sauce: Heat olive oil in skillet, on medium heat, until it shimmers. Add onion, cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes. 

Pour in can of tomatoes, stirring the garlic, onion and oil into the tomato sauce. Turn heat up to high, and stir occasionally, until the tomato sauce starts to bubble. Cook for 5 minutes. 

Add balsamic vinegar, sugar and season with salt. Stir to combine. Once the sauce has thickened a bit  (to your taste), make an egg-sized well in the sauce with a big spoon. Crack the egg into the well. Repeat for each egg. 

Cook the eggs on medium heat until they’re cooked to your taste. About 5-6 minutes leaves you with a runny yolk but a firm white, which is my preferred way to eat them. 

Once they’re finished, spoon an egg + sauce into a small bowl. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs. This goes really nicely with a bit of buttered bread on the side, which you can use to dip into the tomato sauce. 

These eggs are an easy and filling lunch meal that still leaves room for dinner!