Sunday Shakshuka Breakfast

Three contrasting components: hot saucy shakshuka, cool avocado toast, sweet-tart pomegranate yoghurt — DASH-friendly, serves 1, about 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

Fresh

• 2 eggs
• ½ red onion, diced
• ½ red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• ½ avocado, mashed
• 30g feta, crumbled
• 100g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
• Squeeze of fresh lemon
• 1-2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
• Optional: 2-3 baby plum tomatoes for the toast

Storecupboard

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• Pinch of crushed dried chilli (optional)
• ½ tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Sprinkle of za’atar
• 1 slice wholemeal seeded bread
• 1 tsp honey
• Pinch of sumac (optional)
• Pinch of cinnamon (optional, for yoghurt)
• Black pepper

Method

Shakshuka (start first)

1. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan or skillet (15-20cm). Add diced onion and red pepper. Cook 5 minutes until softening.
2. Add crushed garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, and crushed chilli. Stir 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, splash of water, and black pepper. Simmer 8-10 minutes until thickened.
4. Make 2 wells in the sauce. Crack an egg into each.
5. Cover the pan and cook 4-6 minutes — whites set, yolks still runny.
6. Crumble feta over the top in the last minute. Sprinkle with za’atar.

Avocado toast (while shakshuka simmers)

7. Toast the bread.
8. Mash the avocado with lemon juice, sumac (or black pepper), and a small pinch of salt.
9. Spread thickly on the toast. Optional: thinly sliced tomatoes on top with a drizzle of olive oil.

Pomegranate yoghurt

10. Spoon yoghurt into a small bowl. Drizzle with honey, scatter pomegranate seeds, optional pinch of cinnamon.

Plating

11. Shakshuka in its pan or scooped onto the plate. Avocado toast alongside. Yoghurt in a small bowl.

Variations

• Without eggs: add ½ tin drained black beans to the sauce instead, simmer 5 more minutes, serve over the toast
• Fancier: add chopped fresh parsley or coriander at the end
• Lighter: Swedish crispbread alongside instead of toast
• Make-ahead: sauce base can be made the night before; warm through, crack the eggs, cover and cook

DASH Notes

• Eggs provide complete protein and B vitamins; cholesterol concerns from eggs are largely outdated
• Tomatoes rich in lycopene and potassium
• Avocado adds healthy monounsaturated fats and fibre
• Spice mix (cumin, smoked paprika, coriander) does flavour work that reduces salt-dependence
• Pomegranate seeds bring antioxidant polyphenols

Notes

• Pan size matters — 15-20cm keeps the sauce deep enough for the eggs to nestle properly
• Cover the pan when cooking eggs — steams the tops while the bottoms cook in sauce
• Yolk doneness: 4-5 min covered = runny, 6-7 min = just-set

Sunday breakfast — approximately 620 calories, ~30g protein, ~12g fibre