Being a member of a CSA often requires a lot of creativity. Generally my pick up involves a head of lettuce, a hefty serving of greens and a variety of other veggies. Pick up day is automatic salad day. As beautiful as those lettuces are, getting them to last beyond day one is quite a struggle. After lettuce it’s on to the rest of the haul. The challenging part is quantities. While dozens of tomatoes is never an issue, some of the other veggies can be a bit sparse. Two peppers, a small bunch of radishes, one Japanese eggplant–you get the idea. Most recently I had a pound of green beans to find a recipe for.

So often green beans are the side dish, a supporting role to the main dish of generally a giant piece of meat. This time I wanted to give them a chance to be in the spotlight. I had some leftover pesto from a giant batch I had recently made and figured tossing them together would be a great solution. I wasn’t looking to add in another hunk of meat so instead deferred to my favorite protein: eggs. With a poached egg on top, the runny yoke blended perfectly with the garlicky pesto. A perfect dinner that takes less than 20 minutes.

Poached Egg on Pesto Green Beans (Serves 2)

• 1 lb green beans, cleaned
• 1/2 c pesto, preferably homemade
• 2 large eggs
• Sea Salt
• 6 leaves basil, julienned

In a saucepan, fitted with a steamer insert, bring 1-inch of water to a boil. Steam green beans until still slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, toss green beans with pesto until well mixed. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, bring a large skillet of water just to simmer over medium-low heat. Sprinkle water with salt. Working with 1 egg at a time, crack into small bowl and slide egg into simmering water. Cook eggs until whites are cooked through but yolks are still runny, 3 to 4 minutes.

Divide pesto green beans between two plates and top each stack with a poached egg. Sprinkle with sea salt and julienned basil. Serve immediately.