When Kaitlin and I were growing up, breakfast was largely an overlooked meal. In high school, we’d wake up every day at 6:15 to catch a 6:45 bus (our school day started at 7:35; I look back on this fact with both horror and amazement).
In those days, our mornings would end up devolving into one of the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: After slapping our respective snooze buttons no fewer than three times, we stumble out of bed and into the bathroom, brushing our teeth with our eyes closed to squeeze in a few last seconds of sleep. We grab our heavy, book-filled backpacks (as we are pretty much the Asian over-achiever stereotype personified) and trudge out to the bus stop.
Scenario 2 (aka every other day): In our haste to get to the snooze button, we both unconsciously manage to disable our alarm clocks completely. By some miracle, one of us bolts awake at 6:39. And then books and clothes are flying everywhere, mouthwash is our new best friend, and we barely have time to pull on pants before we are RUNNING to catch the bus that is now disappearing around the bend in the road. The bus driver takes pity on our spastic sprinting and general air of desperation.
In either of those scenarios, there was really never time or thought given to the first (and purportedly most important) meal of the day: breakfast. I was lucky if I had a half-crushed granola bar at the bottom of my backpack, though eating what were essentially crumbs in a delicate manner in front of one’s peers is never easy.
This recipe is here to help.
These cheesy kale prosciutto brunch melts may look relatively elaborate––and they are way more impressive than your average piece of dry toast. But if you take just ten minutes to prepare the “melt mixture” the night before, you’ll be all set the next morning. Just lightly toast a couple English muffins, slather on the melt mixture, put it under the toaster oven for a few minutes, and cook a couple eggs while that’s going. Almost as easy as pouring cereal, and way WAY better.
The folks over at Cobblestone Bread Co. were kind enough to send us some beautifully fluffy, soft English muffins that were perfect for this recipe. Before I even started preparing these melts, we toasted a couple and had them with just a swipe of salted butter. Perfection.
So yeah, what you see here was actually our Second Breakfast last Sunday. We’re basically hobbits.
Recipe Instructions
In a pan over medium heat, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute, and add the chopped kale. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook the kale until tender and wilted.
Add the cooked kale to a mixing bowl along with the grated cheddar and cream cheese.
Stir to combine. Spread the mixture onto each of the lightly toasted English muffin halves.
Broil on low for 3-4 minutes, until golden.
While that’s happening, add a little oil to a skillet over medium heat and cook the eggs sunny side up. To serve, tear some prosciutto over the top of the melts and serve with eggs.
