RECIPE: Enjoy some egg bites without a sous vide, or a road trip

I used to rage against the youth travel sports industry. Then I became a parent. Now it feels totally normal to drive my daughter 250 miles to play a game against another team from our hometown. Along the way, we stop for overpriced, over-sugared coffee drinks (which I also said I wouldn’t do) and sous vide egg bites. Like little soufflés, these little pillows of protein are tasty, filling, and seem like they should be easy to replicate at home. However, a sous vide machine, which is basically a food Jacuzzi, is an expensive appliance I can’t justify. So, if I happen to have a Saturday at home, could I make egg bites using the equipment I have on hand?

The restaurant egg bites are light and fluffy. To create a soufflé-like texture, I separated my eggs and used just the whites. Pro tip: Separate your eggs into a bowl one at a time so that a rogue yolk doesn’t wreck havoc with the whole recipe. I dropped the egg whites into the blender jar, and added chives and a handful of spinach for vitamins. A nanosecond whirl in the blender chops your spinach so you don’t have to. Not a fan of spinach? Other non-crunchy vegetables, like roasted red bell peppers or caramelized onions, are delicious too.

My resulting bites were a little too light and fluffy; dairy would add some firmness to the texture. I found a 3:1 ratio of part-skim ricotta to Neufchâtel cheese created the perfect bite. Adding just Boursin cheese created a close second. But if you use Boursin, your people will thank you for omitting the additional chives and garlic powder.