What's a good low-carb substitute for toast for the purpose of sopping up over-easy egg yolks?

January 1, 2013 10:17 PM

What's a good low-carb substitute for toast for the purpose of sopping up over-easy egg yolks?
posted by ErWenn to Food & Drink (40 answers total)

Quinoa? You may be able to mold it into cakes of some kind, if pick-up-able-ness is a criterion.

I also like to have poached or over easy eggs on top of leftovers (especially anything beany or stewish). The yolk works as a sort of sauce to rehydrate and add interest to the boring leftovers.
posted by Sara C. at 10:20 PM on January 1, 2013

A bed of quinoa will do the trick.
posted by breadbox at 10:22 PM on January 1, 2013

Ditto with plopping a delicious OE egg atop virtually any stir-fry, stew, or salad. Also, try a fried or toasted polenta cake.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:25 PM on January 1, 2013

Quinoa or polenta might not be considered low-carb enough. The person in my life who has this concern has very successfully placed poached eggs atop a roasted-root-vegetable hash.
posted by matildaben at 10:35 PM on January 1, 2013 [5 favorites]

I have been won over by almond flour breads, muffins and pancakes. And I third toasted quinoa cakes, too!
posted by skye.dancer at 10:36 PM on January 1, 2013 [4 favorites]

I have eggs over roasted vegetables or sauteed mushrooms; it's not quite as good as toast for the purpose, but it does well enough.
posted by KathrynT at 10:36 PM on January 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

Ezekiel 4.9 bread is flourless, not grainless, and low in carbs. It's usually in the freezer section.
posted by shoesietart at 10:39 PM on January 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

I haven't tried it yet, but you can make a flatbread called socca from garbanzo flour, which is quite high in protein.
posted by gilsonal at 10:43 PM on January 1, 2013 [4 favorites]

Best answer: You can make a ricelike dish by chopping cauliflower finely and steaming it that would probably work quite nicely with an over-easy egg on top.
posted by DrMew at 11:02 PM on January 1, 2013 [6 favorites]

Nthing over-easy eggs on a green salad -- amazingly delicious.
posted by Wordwoman at 12:28 AM on January 2, 2013

Best answer: Beans and quinoa, though delicious and nutritious, generally aren't considered low-carb.

Flax seed crackers are low in net carbs (total carbs minus fiber), if you want something vaguely toast-like.

Further afield from toast, but low in carbs and high in protein, are Boca burgers.

Cooked dark leafy greens go well with eggs, too. Eggs on kale is quite good.
posted by nacho fries at 12:31 AM on January 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

I just plopped a couple of sunny-side up eggs on top of a bowl of cubed, roasted butternut squash and blew my own mind. The squash was just dense and soft enough to act as a satisfactory bread replacement, and the egg yolks coated each chunk deliciously. I buy butternut squash whole, slice it up skin and all (thus skipping the irritating and near-impossible step of peeling), toss it in olive oil and sea salt and throw it on a cookie sheet into a 400 degree oven for around forty minutes. I might stir it once if I remember. The cubes start to brown and caramelise, the skin softens right up and becomes delicious, and it turns into the best egg-yolk conveyance I've ever experienced. Plus the hands-on prep time is about three minutes.
posted by DSime at 1:09 AM on January 2, 2013 [10 favorites]

I buy low carb tortillas. At 5g per they compare pretty favorably.
posted by phearlez at 2:04 AM on January 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

Spinach!
posted by Ziggy500 at 3:43 AM on January 2, 2013

Best answer: Bacon. No, seriously.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:50 AM on January 2, 2013 [7 favorites]

Fingers.

socca

With freshly ground pepper, cumin and salt? Soo good. Other chana flour options; Besan Puda, Karentika, Farinata, Panisses and though you can't mop up the egg with one another option might be Papadums which are made from lentils, or depending on how low carb (60gr a day? 130? 200?) you need it to be, and how adventurous an eater you are, you might want to check other bean flours for ideas.
posted by squeak at 5:52 AM on January 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been eating my eggs over easy with sauteed greens; usually Swiss chard or baby spinach or collards. It is delicious, very low carb, plus it's always good to get more greens into your diet, right?

Doesn't have the same satisfying crunch and soakability as toast, but I find I don't actually miss it that much.
posted by Andrhia at 5:54 AM on January 2, 2013

Joseph's Flax, Oat-Bran and Whole Wheat pitas are tremendously good for this - lots of "nooks and crannies" when you split them open, and only 4g carbs. Available at your local mega-mart or mail-order.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:57 AM on January 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

There are low carb breads, Healthy Life makes one that's not so very saw-dust tasting.

Trader Joe's also has a couple of low carb breads, one's a rye that actually has flavor.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:37 AM on January 2, 2013

I just want to point out that one of the questions you need to address when you change your diet to something like low carb is this: are you going to try to eat the same way but try to find substitutions for the exact things you eat, or are you going to try to change the way you eat altogether?

I'm with the folks who no longer eat my eggs on a plate with toast to mop it up; I eat my eggs on top of sauteed greens or leftover vegetables.
posted by CathyG at 6:39 AM on January 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

One of my best breakfasts lately has been leftover roasted brussels sprouts with an egg on top.
posted by padraigin at 6:41 AM on January 2, 2013 [4 favorites]

Yup. Roasted veggies with egg is the best breakfast, says me. I think it works much better than toast. Dsime above said butternut squash, but sweet potato works just about the same.
posted by agress at 6:48 AM on January 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I make my own low-carb breads (specifically grain-free, not focussed on the carbs), and have, after much trial and error, discovered that this one is great: Bread 2.0 from Elana's Pantry. It rises nicely (although I do recommend the smaller pan size), slices well, can be toasted, and generally substitutes for all uses of bread and some uses of other starches (like in place of rice with Indian food, etc.). Worth the time every week or two to bake more!

Both almond flour and flax meal are available at places like Whole Foods (or online), and arrowroot is cheap through Amazon (and can substitute for corn starch and other thickeners in other recipes).
posted by acm at 7:14 AM on January 2, 2013

Caulipots! I guess that's only lowER carb but it's super delicious with fried egg on top. Make mashed potatoes with 2/3 cauliflower, garlic, walnut oil, a little gruyere . . . so good!

Leftover sweet potato is also good, with a little Tony Chachere or similar seasoning.

Roasted root vegetables

Spinach sauteed with garlic and crushed red pepper
posted by HotToddy at 7:17 AM on January 2, 2013

This Microwave Flax Bread recipe makes a nice, nutty-tasting bread that works very well for sopping up eggs.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 7:47 AM on January 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

If you can't find flax meal you can find bags of whole flax seed and grind the seeds in a coffee grinder.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 7:49 AM on January 2, 2013

I'm a big fan of eggs over sautéed spinach. I'm 50/50 with scrambled vs. over easy. This was my gateway vegetable for getting rid of the breakfast carbs.
posted by boba at 8:27 AM on January 2, 2013 [2 favorites]

Joseph's Flax, Oat-Bran and Whole Wheat pitas are tremendously good for this

Thirding this. They make pitas tortilla wraps and whatever those flat bread rectangles are called. They're all specifically manufactured to be low carb [and are also low cal] but taste just like their regular-carb equivalents, to me. I am basically made of these things and I like them.
posted by jessamyn at 9:10 AM on January 2, 2013

Roasted broccoli. The nubs on the florets grab the yolk well. Here's a good recipe.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:20 AM on January 2, 2013

Agreed with all those who recommend cauliflower, squash, and broccoli. Another thing that might work is ham. Or chicken. Seriously.
posted by mskyle at 10:12 AM on January 2, 2013

Response by poster: Lots of great suggestions here. For those who wanted more information: I'm looking to lose at least 5-10 pounds in a couple months. I've made weight-loss attempts before, and the only one that worked to help me lose weight quickly was a simple carbohydrate-reduction thing. I wasn't even counting carbohydrates at the time; I just cut out bread, rice, noodles, and potatoes. Given my diet at the time, this was extremely effective. My diet is different now, so I may not be able to do that this time (for example, I eat cereal (Grape Nuts or Shredded Wheat) for breakfast now, so I'll have to deal with that). In any case, my go-to lunch/dinner for when I'm too lazy to make anything else is currently over-easy eggs with toast, and so I was looking to see if there was a way to modify that so I'd still have an easy go-to for that situation. I've got ideas for my general diet plans, but right now, I just wanted to focus on my fall-back.

I've had smashed cauliflower before, and I ordered it at a restaurant quite often when I last did a lowish carb diet, so I definitely will try doing something like that. Broccoli might be good too. I'll take a look at some of the lower carb bread and cracker substitutes. I think that the egg yolks would definitely taste good on greens, but I don't think it would work quite as well as a substitute for toast. Not really sure why, but for me, dieting is all psychological self-manipulation anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter why.
posted by ErWenn at 11:26 AM on January 2, 2013

Um, that Ezekiel bread has about the same amount of carbs as regular old white bread.

I love eggs over easy on top of roasted zucchini and tomatoes (or with a tablespoon of tomato sauce). Broccoli slaw might be good too.
posted by inertia at 12:40 PM on January 2, 2013

Best low-carb yolk sop? Steak. Very rare. Mmmmm...
posted by gregor-e at 12:43 PM on January 2, 2013 [2 favorites]

I made soft poached eggs in amaranth the other day and it was AMAZING. Combine water and amaranth and a pinch of salt, cook a bit, add an egg or two when it's still watery, continue cooking until egg is done and amaranth is the right consistency. You could do this with quinoa and teff too.
posted by valeries at 12:50 PM on January 2, 2013

Valeries brings up a good point. What about converting your go-to eggy meal from over easy with toast to shakshuka?
posted by Sara C. at 1:29 PM on January 2, 2013

Given your update, probably your best bet is to take a two-pronged approach to this particular meal. First, experiment with the various low-carb breads or bread-like foodstuffs out there, to find one that suits your palate. Second, try reducing the toast-portion by small increments, so you gradually are eating a higher egg-to-toast ratio. That might mean upping the amount of eggs in the meal to reach satiety.
posted by nacho fries at 2:27 PM on January 2, 2013

~ Pork rinds
~ Wasa has a lot of good options. (The "Crisp'n Light" type have nearly the came consistency as pork rinds, actually.)
posted by sentient at 4:48 PM on January 2, 2013

I eat a lot of over medium eggs on my low-carb diet (Dukan) and turkey bacon isn't too bad, but I have to agree that a rare steak is absolutely perfect. Though it does feel a bit extravagant.
posted by pyjammy at 9:45 AM on January 3, 2013

Response by poster: I've tried the cauliflower, and it was fantastic. I just broke it up into small pieces and put them on the toaster-oven tray with a tiny dab of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I set the toaster oven to broil and cooked them for about 5-10 minutes while I was cooking the eggs. They were perfect for sopping up the yolk. I still might try some of the low-carb cracker/bread substitutes for other reasons, but I think I'm set for the egg yolks.

Thanks, everyone!
posted by ErWenn at 2:34 PM on January 10, 2013

Response by poster: The cauliflower has been working out for me. As an update, I just hit the -10 pounds mark.
posted by ErWenn at 5:30 PM on February 16, 2013 [5 favorites]