Baked Egg and Vegetable Cups with Feta
Twelve egg cups baked with spinach, roasted pepper and feta, two to a portion, ready to eat cold or warm for five days.
Why it works
Eggs are among the most complete protein sources available and the cheapest per gram, and baking them in a muffin tin turns them into something you can eat standing up. Two cups deliver 18 grams of protein at breakfast, which is where most people are shortest: intake is typically skewed heavily toward dinner, and spreading it across the day supports muscle retention better than the same total eaten in one sitting. The yolks carry choline, which the body uses to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter central to memory, and most people fall short of the recommended intake. Squeezing the spinach dry before it goes in is not fussiness; wet spinach makes the cups weep and collapse in storage.
Protein distributed across meals supports muscle retention better than the same amount concentrated at one meal. Eggs are the richest common dietary source of choline, which most adults fall short of.
Ingredients
- 10 large eggs
- 200 g spinach, wilted and squeezed very dry
- 2 roasted red peppers, chopped
- 80 g feta, crumbled
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 60 ml milk
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, and a little salt
- Olive oil for the tin
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C and oil a 12-hole muffin tin thoroughly, including the top surface, since egg welds itself to anything it touches.
- Wilt the spinach, cool it, then squeeze it dry in a clean cloth. This step decides whether the cups hold together for five days or turn watery by Tuesday.
- Whisk the eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper, then stir in the spinach, peppers, spring onion, and most of the feta.
- Divide between the holes, filling each about three quarters, and top with the remaining feta.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until set and puffed. They deflate as they cool, which is normal. Cool completely before boxing, or condensation makes them soggy.
