How to Cook a Soft Boiled Egg

When it comes to breakfast, eggs are a very popular dish. There are many ways to prepare eggs. The more popular choices are omelets, eggs sunny side up (or over-easy), or hard boiled eggs.

I love eggs any which way, but my most favorite way to enjoy them is soft boiled—when the whites are firm but not too hard and the yolk is liquid. A soft boiled egg is delicious, nutritious, and safe to eat.

How to cook a soft boiled egg?

Cooking a soft boiled egg is easy. Fill a small pot with water, put it on medium heat, and let it come to a boil. To speed up the process, you can boil water in a kettle first and then pour that water into the pot. When the water starts boiling, gently place the egg into the pot using a spoon. Let it cook for 4.5 minutes. When time is up, carefully take out the egg and place it into an egg holder or onto a plate if you don't have one.

Sometimes if the egg is jumbo size, cooking it for 4.5 minutes may not be enough, so you may need to let it cook for another 30 seconds.

Ways to enjoy a soft boiled egg:

You can crack the egg in half, remove the yolk and the egg whites into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, if you prefer, mix, and enjoy. 

Another thing you can do is eat the egg out of an egg holder. To begin, simply hit the top part of the egg with a teaspoon (but not too hard) to crack the shell. Then remove the cracked top shell so there is enough opening to insert your teaspoon into. Discard the shell. When done, gently ease the tip of your teaspoon into the top of the egg whites and move the teaspoon all the way through to the other side. Remove the top part of the egg (the egg whites) and eat it. Now you are ready to enjoy the rest of the egg. If you don't want to do that you can also take a sharp knife and carefully cut the top of the egg off. If you do that, scoop out the egg whites from the shell before discarding. 

Instead of eating a soft boiled egg by itself, you can also pare it with a beet salad or a side dish of sautéed zucchini or eggplant. That is what I love to do. You can also pair a soft boiled egg with buttered toast or fresh white bread topped with either Greek caviar spread, red or black caviar, or zucchini or eggplant spreads. You can't go wrong either way.

Beet Salad with Prunes

Beets are popular in many countries of the world. Among these countries are Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Beets are a very big part of Russian, Belarussian, and Ukrainian cuisine. They are used in soups (hot borscht, cold borscht, Ukrainian borscht), salads, and when making stuffed fish.

When it comes to salads, beet salads are popular in these countries and there two of these that everyone has at their dinner table when there are big gatherings or celebrations.

One beet salad is called shuba, which is a layered salad made with beets, carrots, potatoes, onions, and herring with a little bit of oil and mayonnaise. Another beet salad is beet salad with prunes. Below is a recipe for this beet salad. If you love beets you will enjoy this salad. And if you are not a fan of beets you just might fall in love with them once you give this salad a try.

Beet salad with prunes

Ingredients

• 2 Medium Beets
• Handful Prunes
• Few heaping tablespoons Mayonnaise
• Salt
• Dried Parsley
• Minced garlic (optional)
• Walnuts (optional)

I hate raw garlic and walnuts so I leave them out of this salad. If you love these two ingredients feel free to add them to the salad. They go great with it. You can also use pine nuts or Brazilian nuts instead of the walnuts.

You can also mix mayonnaise with some sour cream. I'd do the same proportion of each: one tablespoon of mayonnaise and one tablespoon of sour cream. Mix the two together and then add to the beet salad and stir before eating. Now you don't necessarily have to use this amount. If you prefer less mayonnaise and/or sour cream feel free to use less. If you prefer more feel free to use more. The amount you use really depends on your taste.

Instructions

1. Thoroughly wash the beets under running water, place in a pot, fill with water and place on medium heat. Boil the beats for about forty minutes or until they reach your desired tenderness. Once the beets have finished boiling, drain the water from the pot and place the beets in cold water. Let them sit in cold water for about ten minutes. Then drain the water and peel the skin off of each beet.
2. Using a manual shredder, shred each beet into a salad bowl. You can use a food processor as well. If you use a food processor you might first need to cut the beets into smaller pieces so they fit into the processor opening. 
3. Take a handful of prunes, cut into slices and add to the shredded beets. 
4. Sprinkle with salt, add a few heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and stir. 
5. Finally sprinkle with dried parsley and stir again. You are now ready to enjoy your beet salad.

Bean Sprouts

We see bean sprouts in Asian supermarkets and perhaps in regular supermarkets as well but what are they?

Bean sprouts are sprouts that come from mung beans. They are commonly used in Asian Cuisine, mainly in stir-fry dishes. 

You can use bean sprouts in many dishes and recipes. They are delicious and crunchy and will only add to the flavor of the dish.

You can add them to your favorite recipes or you can simply munch on them in place of potatoes chips. You can even dip them in your favorite sauce before enjoying.

How are bean sprouts used?

Bean sprouts don't have to be cooked. They can be eaten raw and are actually best eaten raw since they preserve all the vitamins and minerals.

You can add bean sprouts to sandwiches, salads, even soups. If you choose to add them to soups do so when you are ready to eat it so the vitamins and minerals are preserved.

And if you are looking for a snack you can munch on some bean sprouts. Just be sure to wash them before eating.

If you'd like, you can even use bean sprouts to decorate your meat, fish, rice, and pasta dishes. Be as creative as you want to be.

Remember that before eating the bean sprouts make sure that you thoroughly wash them under running water. Also know that bean sprouts are a perishable food. Keep them in your refrigerator and consume within a few days. After a few days they will most likely be spoiled.

Some bean sprout recipes

You can use bean sprouts in any dish... Here are some recipe suggestions you might want to try.

Bean sprouts tomato salad:

Wash a yellow tomato, cut into slices, and place into a salad bowl. Then wash the bean sprouts and add to the salad bowl. Add a dash of salt and sprinkle with grapeseed oil. Mix well and enjoy.

Bean sprouts in sandwiches:

Toast your favorite bread and lightly spread some mayonnaise. Add your favorite cold cuts and cheeses, place some (washed) bean sprouts on top and enjoy. You can even place another piece of toasted bread on top of it if you'd like.

Bean sprouts in soups:

Next time you eat chicken noodle soup or seafood soup, try adding the bean sprouts to it. Simply heat the soup (if it is cold), add the (washed) bean sprouts to it, mix and enjoy.