Everything You Need
- 4 large eggs
- 2 Persian cucumbers, halved and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 medium red bell pepper, deseeded and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp za’atar, plus extra for topping
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly torn if large
- 3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
- Whole grain pita chips for serving
Cook the Eggs
Put the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches.
Heat until the water bubbles gently, then cover and pull off the heat. Let sit for 8 minutes.
Drain and dump the eggs into ice water. Let them chill for ~3 minutes.
Peel and halve lengthwise. These are soft-boiled – the yolks will be jammy, not hard.
Make the Salad
In a bowl, combine the cucumbers, bell pepper, tomatoes, olives, 3 tablespoons of oil, capers, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and za’atar.
Season with salt and pepper – start with 1/2 teaspoon salt and go from there. The olives and capers bring salt too.
Fold in the mint at the end. If you add it too early and mix too much, it turns black.
Assemble
Divide the cottage cheese between bowls – about 3/4 cup each.
Top with the vegetable mixture, then nestle in two egg halves per bowl.
Sprinkle more za’atar on top if you like that lemony herb flavor.
Serve
Eat with pita chips for scooping or just use a fork.
The remaining tablespoon each of oil and lemon juice is if you want to drizzle extra on top. Persian cucumbers work best here – they’re crunchier and less watery than regular ones.
Mediterranean Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 Persian cucumbers halved and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 medium red bell pepper deseeded and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives sliced
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tablespoon capers drained
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp za’atar plus extra for topping
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves roughly torn if large
- 3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
- Whole grain pita chips for serving
Instructions
- Cover eggs with water in saucepan, bring to gentle bubble.
- Cover, remove from heat, let stand 8 minutes.
- Transfer eggs to ice bath for 3 minutes, then peel and halve lengthwise.
- Mix cucumbers, bell pepper, tomatoes, olives, 3 tbsp oil, capers, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and za’atar in bowl.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Gently fold in mint leaves.
- Divide cottage cheese between bowls (3/4 cup each).
- Top with vegetable mixture and 2 egg halves per bowl.
- Sprinkle with additional za’atar.
- Serve with pita chips.
