I love eggs. There, I’ve said it. It feels a little anticlimactic because you probably already know this about me, but there it is.

I’m not sure when my love affair with eggs started. When I was little, I hated them. I think it’s because most of the eggs I ate were scrambled, overcooked, and dry. I hated the texture and I thought they were flavorless. I avoided scrambled eggs at all costs.

Flash forward to when I first visited France. This sounds weird to admit and feels even weirder to write, but I don’t think I’d ever tried a poached egg before then. I remember seeing one in the middle of a ham pizza, jiggling like a jellyfish. I was skeptical but intrigued. It ended up being one of the best food discoveries of my life.

I realized that I liked eggs that were less cooked. The runnier, the better. I loved an oozing yellow yolk. I loved the way the whites were just cooked, so they were smooth and soft. I like the way a poached or soft boiled egg became a part of the rest of the dish while still standing on its own. A poached egg is the penultimate performer.

I realized that I like eggs when they’re cooked into other things. For example, frittatas and quiche are two of my favorite dishes and they both take a lot of eggs, mix them with other ingredients, and bake them into one pan. The resulting eggs are usually light and fluffy, although some quiches can be dense. Either way, I love them.

I’ve also learned more about eggs over the years to see how they’re used in other cultures. Two of my favorite egg dishes, Eggs Kejriwal and Shakshuka, incorporate eggs in inventive ways. Eggs Kejriwal is an Indian dish served on toast with lots of cheese, and Shakshuka is a Middle Eastern dish that involves simmering eggs in a skillet with lots of tomatoes and spice.

I’ll always think of Shakshuka as a holiday dish because I made it the year my sister came to visit me in D.C. over Christmas. I didn’t have heat in my apartment so we huddled around the kitchen in blankets, feasting on eggs. I fed my sister the big, pretty eggs, and served the deformed ones to myself in a gesture of benevolence.

ANYWAY. Below are my top 10 egg dishes. I’m putting them here so you can make them, but also so I can easily have them on hand. When the weather gets cold and all I want to do is stay inside, I turn to eggs. I think you’ll enjoy these recipes as much as I do.

Egg Dish Power Rankings:

1.) Shakshuka
2.) Baked Eggs with Mushrooms and Spinach
3.) Eggs Kejriwal
4.) Zucchini and Corn Skillet with Eggs
5.) Broccoli Skillet Flan
6.) Sorrel Rice Bowl with Poached Egg
7.) Huevos Rancheros Scrambled Eggs
8.) Fried Egg with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
9.) Spinach Gruyère Quiche
10.) (Almost) Perfect Scrambled Eggs