Eggs Florentine

[kirra]

Eggs Florentine

I would say that there are three very important elements to a hollandaise sauce, vegan or not: rich fattiness, tanginess and creaminess. Cashews make this stuff both rich and creamy, while providing a fabulous source of copper and magnesium. For tang, lots of lemon juice. If you make it with unsweetened hemp milk, oat milk or rice milk, it's also soy free.

Nutritional yeast is the only specialty ingredient here, but it is well worth finding if you haven't already. There are not alot of non-animal sources of vitamin B-12, but nutritional yeast is a great one. It's fabulous with balsamic vinegar on cauliflower and an integral ingredient in cheeseless macaroni and cheese. Get thee to a health food store and buy it.

Ingredients:

Hollandaise Sauce:

1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Cup Milk, non-dairy, unsweetened
1/4 Cup Nutritonal Yeast
1/2 Tsp Dry Mustard
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
Juice of 1 1/2 to 2 Lemons

Eggs Florentine:

4 Organic Eggs
4 Slices Whole Grain Bread
A Few Large Handfuls of Baby Spinach

Preparation:

Grind the cashews into a powder using a coffee or spice grinder. Combine all sauce ingredients, except lemon juice, in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, whisking to combine. Turn down heat to low and continue to let simmer for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in enough water to get to desired consistency, which could be as much as ½ cup. Sauce thickens as it sits, so the quicker you use it the less water you’ll need. Turn off the heat and whisk in the lemon juice, to taste, until mixture is smooth.

In the meantime, poach the eggs (see here for a great set of instructions on that), toast the bread, and sauté the spinach until just wilted—either in a little olive oil or the water still clinging to the leaves after rinsing. Season the spinach with sea salt and black pepper. Smear a little olive oil onto the toast, if you’re feeling naughty.

For each serving, layer toast, then a little spinach, then an egg, then drizzle generously with sauce. Sprinkle with a little paprika or black pepper for color. Serve immediately.