This year the kids and I planted our first garden. And it’s actually growing. I mean really growing. Give or take a few weeks and we will have a plethora of heirloom tomatoes, crookneck squash, gold bell pepper, and crunchy cucumbers. One of our favorite ways to use up the many fresh vegetables of the late summer harvest is to throw them in these simple baked eggs.

Here, we’ve used crunchy & sweet bell peppers mixed with chopped red onions and fresh basil. Don’t feel like you have to limit it to those vegetables, however. Get creative and add in a few sliced garden fresh tomatoes or a little chopped zucchini. Or try a combination of mixed garden herbs and a little grated cheese. The kids will love adding their own vegetable combination to their personal breakfast dish!

Makes 4 baked eggs

• 4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons red onion, chopped
• Coarse salt, to taste
• Coarse ground pepper, to taste
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place four ramekins (about ½ cup capacity each) in an 8×8 baking dish. Pour one tablespoon of heavy cream in the bottom of each ramekin.
2. Crack one egg into each ramekin.
3. Place 1 tablespoon of chopped bell pepper and 1 teaspoon of red onion on top of the egg. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top of the eggs. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the eggs as well. Fill the baking dish halfway full of hot water.
4. Place the eggs in the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Bake a little longer if you would like the egg yolks fully cooked. Remove the eggs from the oven and carefully lift out of the baking dish with a pair of tongs.
5. Sprinkle chopped basil over the baked eggs just before serving (adding the basil and letting is sit for too long will cause it to wilt and brown).