My indulgent Saturday brunch: simple vegetable stew

Every Saturday morning, I go through the same ritual – grab my bluish-grey Ikea cup, fill up with tap water, and microwave for 2 minutes. Add in 3 teaspoons of instant coffee, 2 teaspoons of creamer, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Sip the cup while watching a documentary. When my coffee runs out, I make a simple yet extremely comforting vegetable stew, loaded with peppers, tomatoes, and onions, for my brunch.

What I love about this recipe is that it is extremely non-demanding and foolproof. It is one of those dishes, where I can throw everything together in a pan, and simply wait while I check my emails. When the timer is up, I know the outcome is as delicious and glorious as any dishes with few ingredients. When I cannot predict anything in my medical school life, it is good to know that some things will always turn out the way I expect.

Extraordinary things really do happen when ordinary ingredients are given enough attention. The long stewing process brings out the natural sweetness from the vegetables and creates a magenta-tinged broth that is instantly salivating. The eggs nestled among soft vegetables, with their soft velvety runny yolk, screams out brunch. When I open the lid, the aroma from all those various vegetables really make me want to just eat from the pan right away. Well, in fact, that’s what I do. If I cannot do anything I please on Saturdays, what’s the point of being alive?

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion (sliced)
• 2 plum tomatoes (sliced)
• 2 peppers (julienned - any color is fine, I prefer one green and one red)
• 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• A sprinkle of chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• Salt and pepper to adjust the taste
• Garnish with cilantro

Instructions

• Heat up the oil in a large sauté pan.
• Add all the vegetables and tomato paste together.
• Add ½ cup of water.
• Cover and simmer under low-medium heat for 45 minutes.
• Add in chili flakes and brown sugar, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Crack the eggs over the soft vegetables, and cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the white becomes opaque.
• Serve it with bread or over rice while piping hot.