Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

I didn't think Laos would be the place my mountain biking skills {mainly mental} would be put to the test. Yesterday proved me entirely wrong! We set out with our new friend, Charissa, to bike around the countryside across the Mekong River from Luang Prabang. It's an easy ferry ride across the river, and we were told to just go up the hill, take a right, and the 40k loop will be obvious. Well, it wasn't. We missed our first turn, but luckily that just meant doing the loop in reverse — still ok! Until we then went the wrong way, thinking we were still going counter-clockwise. We figured that out soon enough, but added quite a few miles to our quickly-tiring legs!

Finally, after stopping and asking for directions and receiving a lovely hand-drawn map, complete with Laotian "Help these white people if they're lost" note, should we need help again, we finally figured out where to go. So we went! UP. and UP. and DOWN. and UP. and UP some more! Oh. My. Gosh. I've been ridiculously inactive for the last six weeks, so my poor little out-of-shape body was NOT used to it! All the while, the views were good, villages were interesting, and people were nice — and then the rain came.

It's the wet season in Laos, which means MASSIVE rain storms. Seriously, the amount of water that falls from the sky is incredible! It's like looking through an aquarium — it's SO DENSE. We had no choice but to carry on, being in the middle of nowhere with only our bikes to get us home. The rain really wasn't an issue, we were warm enough and actually glad for the cool water {and relief from the sun!}. It did make the whole experience seem much more adventurous, though! We had a great time laughing about it and fighting our way up the steep, muddy, rutted hills. Finally the rain stopped, at which point we were splattered head to toe with gritty mud, which prompted a fully-clothed bath at one of the steam crossings — not that our cleanliness lasted very long.

We planned to stop for lunch in one of the villages, but quickly discovered that food was not readily available — only drinks and a few snacks {like a handful of peanuts}. By three pm, thinking we were only halfway through our route, we decided to pull the plug. We hadn't had any food, but finally found pepsi and peanuts, and knew we'd be in trouble if we really had to do the same amount before reaching our destination. Thankfully, we asked our Pepsi-sellers how many kilometers there were left — ONLY SIX! OH YES! We decided we could do six more kilometers, no matter how long it took us, or how hard it was. We hopped back on our bikes {ouch, no bike shorts!}, and set out again into the {now hot and sunny} wild, up and down many more hills, and finally arrived back at the ferry with huge smiles on our faces — happy to be DONE, happy to have done it, and happy to be going back to the land of showers and food. We were so excited for a big meal — and we absolutely had one!

All in all, the day was actually great. We had a lot of fun, with great company, got a lot of exercise, and saw the countryside — but it was a bit rough there in the middle! Lesson learned: always bring snacks. Weirdly, we always DO bring snacks, but somehow thought we wouldn't need them that day. Wrong!

Our after-adventure comfort food here was bruschetta, Belgian fries, and pad thai {great combo, right?}, but at home: I love these eggs poached in tomato sauce. This meal never disappoints, is SO quick to throw together, and has varying degrees of difficulty. If you wanted to, you could just dump a bottle of your favorite pasta sauce in the pan and get on with it! I started with diced tomatoes, as that's what I had, but used my immersion blender to smooth them out a bit. Serve with some hearty bread, or even over pasta or greens, and you have a great meal. I'll admit to making this at home on various lazy evenings — probably post mountain run or bike ride! Some things never change, I guess!

Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

• Author: Mary
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 3-4 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 large pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 4-6 eggs

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Instructions

1. In a heavy skillet, preferably one with a lid, head the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for just a few minutes.
2. Use a blender (immersion or normal) to smooth the tomatoes to your desired consistency — I like mine with a few chunks left. Pour into the pan with the onion and garlic.
3. Add all of the herbs and balsamic vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes — longer if you want more intense flavors. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Using an egg shell, make 4-6 divots (depends on your pan size and how many people you're feeding!) that are not touching. Crack one egg into each divot. Cover your pan, and let the eggs cook for 6-10 minutes to your desired doneness.
5. Remove from heat, and serve over toast, greens, or pasta.

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