I’m a little worried.
Here’s why. It’s a tenet of good writing that the opening sentence is critical to capturing the reader’s attention. As William Zinsser puts it in his marvelous book, On Writing Well, “The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead.”
In THIS interview in The Atlantic, Stephen King talks about the first line of a book or article. “It’s a little do-or-die here for the writer.” King says it can take him months or years to write an opening line.
And I know from experience that when I receive an e-mail with a blog post from a blogger I like, if the opening line doesn’t intrigue me, I won’t bother clicking through right away. “I’ll read it later,” I’ll tell myself. But I almost never do.
So I’m a little nervous that I didn’t write an opening line to this post that makes people wants to read on. And I’m bothered to think that if you don’t read this post, you won’t learn about Breakfast Broccoli – and you won’t even know what you are missing!
This is my second favorite breakfast. And it is serious contention to surpass my current favorite morning meal — kale, chicken and granny smith apple. There’s just something about the way the bacon fat coats the broccoli and the broccoli gets all roasted and tasty. Add the crumbled egg makes it almost a little creamy. It’s really good.
I hope that I can convince you to try it and that you like it as much as I do.
Breakfast Broccoli
Broccoli, 1.5 to 2 cups, chopped well, almost minced
Eggs, 1
Bacon, 2 ounces
Olive oil, 1 tablespoon
Garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon
Salt and pepper
- Slice bacon into small pieces then toss with chopped broccoli, olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Spread broccoli mixture on a very lightly greased tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until broccoli is soft and just starting to brown. (When I am in a rush, I just microwave bacon and broccoli for 3-4 minutes. That’s the truth.)
- While your broccoli and bacon are cooking, hard boil the eggs.*
- Peel the eggs and crumble them over the broccoli mixture. Serve hot. I like to serve with a granny smith apple too so you get some sweetness along side. The sweet and salty combo rocks.
* Everyone seems to have their own system of hard boiling eggs, but here’s how I do it: Fill a small pan with cold water. Place eggs in pan then put pan on the stove. Turn stove to high. Once water starts boiling fully, let eggs boil for 12 minutes. Then drain water and your eggs are done.