Fried Eggs over Warm Lentil Salad

One of the things I like about having my writing group so early (9:30 every other Thursday) is that when it's my turn to host I get to dip into my not-very-often used chapter of The Gourmet Cookbook, which is 'Breakfast and Brunch'.

And here's something I love about my writing group--they are game for just about anything I bring to the table.

So Fried Eggs over Warm Lentil Salad seemed like a fun, unusual thing to try, and the good news for people who like to do things ahead is that you really can do 90% of this earlier and just fry the eggs at the last minute. The lentil salad holds beautifully in a low oven.

I love warm lentils, and vinegar and bacon make a perfect marriage in this dish. Fried eggs round it out, make it smoother, and we had a calendar-marking day as well--this dish was the first time that Ruth had eaten a fried egg. She's had them hard-boiled and poached but never fried.

There is something uniquely thrilling about being the author of somebody's culinary "first". I'm glad I had something so tasty to put under that first fried egg!