For a while, eggs were getting a bad rap. They were high in fat, high in cholesterol and, if you felt like you had to have one, you didn't want to eat the yolk. In the past few years, though, studies have reflected that eggs have a good side.
I'm not going to tell you that you should be eating half a dozen eggs weekly, but I will say that they are one of my family's favorite foods and I'm personally comfortable serving them a few times a week. "Everything in moderation" seems to make sense here, as it does almost everywhere else.
Are eggs perfect? I'm fairly certain that no food is the perfect food. That said, eggs are far too good to be chained to the breakfast table. In fact, they come in handy whenever I'm looking for a quick, easy and satisfying meal, which is often at dinnertime.
The idea of "breakfast for dinner" is universally popular, especially with kids. The breakfast/dinner — "brinner" — concept is a solid one, especially if eggs, packed in protein and other nutrients, take center stage.
For my family, there is no such thing as a bad egg. They enjoy eggs in all their forms, whether scrambled, fried, hard-boiled, soft-boiled or rolled into an omelet.
For dinner, though, I like to make my eggs more of a complete meal by cracking them over flavorful vegetables, such as sautéed mushrooms and spinach. Then I drizzle a tiny splash of cream to keep them moist and sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top before I pop them in the oven to bake until the whites are just set, but the yolks are still delightfully runny. Served with a slice of toasted baguette, it's the perfect meal, at least for tonight.
Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredith@meredithdeeds.com. Follow her on Twitter @meredithdeeds.