I’m trying a nice way to get my greens in with Albanian burani – rice and spinach topped with poached eggs. I’m guessing the name has the same etymology as biryani – originally from the Persian word for rice. The recipes for burani all incorporate herbs, but these herbs differ by recipe – I’ve seen ones with mint, basil, dill, or fennel. I’m going to go with basil since I have a nice new basil plant! I’m using this recipe from My Albanian Food, with one modification – I’m adding a few cloves of garlic since most of the other recipes use them (and why miss an opportunity for more garlic?)

It’s a pretty straightforward dish – sautée up the onions and garlic, add rice and water, then spinach and herbs, then once it’s boiled down a bit, gently crack the eggs on top and let them poach. It’s simple and filling and pretty healthy – I feel like I could play around with the herbs and get creative. I think the amount of water in this recipe was a bit off, it didn’t boil down as expected, but that can be adjusted – still a nice tasty lunch.