Greek Egg Lemon Soup w/ Chicken and Spinach

I first encountered this Greek specialty at Nick's. (Shout out to Nick's!) They have it a few times a week, and I'm told that the matriarch of the family makes it. I love that. Avgolemono is the proper name, but I have the damnest time saying it. The Real Simple recipe (see below) employed only egg yolks, but other recipes don't seem to require that.

 

As a general rule, I don't like separating eggs. Not because it's challenging, but because I rarely end up using the remaining part. And I abhor wasting food. So I threw in the entire egg.

I encountered a small texture obstacle. Initially, I thought it was because of using the whites in addition to the yolks, but now I think it's because the soup was too hot. You're supposed to prevent it from boiling when you add the eggs. Despite the strange texture, it tasted phenomenal.

Oh, and I tossed in spinach for a little extra nutritive power. Go, go, iron and calcium!

Serves 4 | Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup orzo
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Add the pasta and boil until tender, 8-9 mins.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of hot broth. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until thickened, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the chicken and lemon juice to the saucepan. Season with ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper.

Happy Cinco de Mayo + The Green Owl Cafe

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! I did nothing to celebrate. Not a damn thing. But I don't think I've ever celebrated Cinco de Mayo. Maybe next year.

Last Saturday was the state event for history day, so I spent a chunk of my day asking kidbots about their historical research process and such. It was a good day, but I was tuckered out by the end of it.

The night before, L. and I went to dinner at The Green Owl Cafe, which is a funky, newish vegetarian restaurant at Schenk's Corners. I had the barbequed jackfruit* sandwich with kale crisps, and L. had the Middle Eastern platter with hummus, muhammara, and baba ganoush served with toasted pita wedges, olives, and pickled vegetables. The jackfruit sandwich is their take on a pulled pork sandwich and was surprisingly successful. I must admit that I was a little skeptical about jackfruit. I'd never had it before, and the notion of a fruit even approaching the texture and taste of pork seemed doubtful. I mean, it didn't taste like pork, but it was a satisfying substitute, and the vegan slaw on top of the sandwich was a delicious contrast. Oh, and the kale crisps rocked, too. L. was also pleased with her platter. After dinner, we shared a slice of spectacular lemon-poppyseed cake. I'm a lemon-poppyseed fan to begin with, but this defied expectations. The cake itself had the consistency of a delicious pound cake, and the glaze was citrusy and rich. We were both quietly moaning at our table, and the cake vanished way too rapidly.

Afterward, we saw Broom Street Theater's production of Multiple O: Women on Top, for which I wrote a review for the Isthmus (http://bit.ly/dpO5io).

*I was curious about jackfruit, so I looked it up. Here are a few highlights:
     -species of tree in the mulberry family
     -national fruit of Bangladesh
     -native to southern and southeast Asia
    -its fruit is largest tree-borne fruit in world
    -fruit can reach up to 80 lbs. in weight