Grilled Fish Omelet with Greens and Spicy Yogurt-Dill Sauce

If I can't be inventive in my on-going attack on my mid-section and the arms that continue to wave after I've stopped, then I'm a lost cook.   Thanks to my testing recipes for others (and for my own cookbook), I've found that cooking nearly the same thing over and over again -- even  in the morning -- isn't such a bad thing.  I kind of like it.  I feel accomplished.  In a happy way.  Not like when I clean the bathroom, either--even though I also do that over and over again.

Take egg white omelets.  Other than a short-order cook, I just don't know anyone who's cooked more egg white omelets than I have.  There are months on end when I eat them every single morning.  This might be embarrassing, but as it works for someone who wants to save their calories for dinner, it's not.  I make the occasional foray into Greek yogurt and fresh berries, melon, or peaches for several weeks in the summer, but I quickly nix that when the berries start to come in by Fed Ex plane and the cantaloupe begins to have the texture of a cardboard box.  Then I'm right back to eggs.  On Sundays, at noon, I have whole eggs.  Yolks and all.  Very adventurous.  (Here's my baby tutorial on making omelets. Just in case. )  And making so very many egg white omelets, what do I do with all of those egg yolks?  My friends, that's why God made dogs and cheesecake:

Would You Make Breakfast? Egg & Egg White Omelet Filled with Cottage Cheese on Whole Wheat Toast

 Tired of the same old, same old breakfast?  This little omelet (I cut it so you could see the filling...) sitting on a piece of whole wheat toast is so fast and so luscious.  Not only is it quick and nutritious (made with one egg and one egg white), it'll hold you until early afternoon.  No elevenses (tea and cookies in the UK) needed.   Serve it up with a few slices of great August tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!   Try this:

Veggie Pizza without the Pizza

Vegetables are maybe the thing about which most people are picky. Good pun, huh?  And if you're wondering why, it's because each little green or orange or yellow thing on the plate recalls some horror of a kitchen table nightmare ("My mother forced me to eat green beans at Thanksgiving.) or a tasteless memory of "the only vegetable my father cooked my whole life and he cooked it to death."  Thank God we've all grown up and gotten over all those things, right?  Oh.

But don't think you must choose between broccoli, green beans, and squash simply because you're the only one at the stove.  Choose several.  Cook them all together.  You then needn't worry about spoilage and you have a lip-smacking side (or main) to boot.  To boot now has a different meaning, doesn't it?

This particular melange of veg tastes, to me, like veggie pizza without the crust.  You can add a few shreds of mozzerella or shards of Parmesan if you like, but it doesn't need it.  And, as always in my house (and maybe yours), leftover this makes an omelet filling about which you've always dreamed:

I added a few leaves of spinach.

Vegetable Sauté (that tastes like Veggie Pizza)

• 1T olive oil

  • 1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence*

    • 1/4 t ea kosher salt and ground mixed peppercorns

• 2 small zucchini, sliced

• 8 oz sliced button mushrooms

• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced

• 1/2 small onion, sliced as thinly as possible

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

• Pinch of crushed red pepper

• 8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

• 2T chopped fresh parsley

• 2T minced, pitted kalamata olives

  • Optional:  2T grated mozzerella or Parmesan cheese

*can sub a mix of dried basil, oregano, crushed rosemary, etc

1.  In a medium-large skillet, heat the oil, salt and pepper and herbes de Provence over medium-high heat for a minute or so.
2.  Add zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion.   Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes; add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes until vegetables are all softened.  Dust with crushed red pepper.
3.  Stir in cut cherry tomatoes.
4.  Plate and garnish with parsley, olives,  and cheese if you choose.  

Serves 1 as a main dish or 2 as a side dish

Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Herb-Spinach Egg White Omelet

 

Egg white omelets are not for everyone.  Some people just don't get the yolk.  (Very bad; I know.)  They need yellow.  Even orange.  Others make the trip over to white easily, "This isn't bad!"  "Hey this is good!"  depending on what's in the omelet.  If you're in a spot where you seriously have to watch either calories or cholesterol, egg whites are your fine, fine friend.  But they're also a luscious, filling meal for just anyone who's going to dinner that night or who wants an extra piece of pizza the next day.

On Weight Watchers, 3 egg whites are 1 point.  (And yes, they do have some protein.)  No complaint at all.  PAM the pan and skip the oil point, too.  A few chopped herbs...a little spinach...a dose of salsa.  Et voila!  Excellent use of leftover fresh herbs, which are (if you buy them) so expensive you feel like a wastrel if you don't use them all to make something.

About buying egg whites:  you can break and separate eggs yourself, using the whites and cooking up the yolks for the dog or  you can buy egg whites in the dairy case near the eggs.  They come in small pint or quart cartons.

A little giftie from my next-door neighbor:  basil, dill, flowering thyme.

Herb-Spinach Egg white Omelet with Salsa and Fresh Tomatoes

3 egg whites beaten with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
PAM or 1T olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, your choice (parsley, basil, thyme, tarragon--even sage), plus
    a bit extra for garnish*
1 cup fresh spinach
1/4 cup salsa (I like Frontera Grill's if you don't make your own.) or 1T grated Parmesan cheese
1 small-medium tomato, sliced

1. Slice tomatoes; place on serving plate.  Add a few fresh herbs for garnish if you have extra.
2. Heat pan over medium-high heat for a minute or so.  Add PAM or oil.
3. Add spinach and herbs to hot, oiled pan, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and let cook 1 minute until a bit wilted.
4. Add beaten egg whites to pan and let the white set  20 seconds or so.  Lift omelet at one edge with rubber spatula and tip pan to allow uncooked white into pan.  Repeat quickly until omelet is cooked, making a few small holes in the whites and vegetables (the omelet will reseal) if necessary to make sure eggs in the middle are cooked as well.  
5. Turn off heat.  To plate, tip pan toward the plate, using the rubber spatula to slide the omelet out.  You may fold the omelet as you go or after it's on the plate.  It will eat however you do it and you'll become a better omelet maker as time goes on.
6. Garnish with salsa or Parmesan and a quick dust of black pepper. (Or more white pepper is fine.)
7. Enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.
8. *If you have no fresh herbs, add a 1/4 tsp of your favorite dried herb to the spinach.  You could even try a bit of garlic, shallot, or green onion if you'd rather.

 

If you like, you can watch a British chef do it a bit differently, but basically the same. Skip the commercial first!

Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

An Omelet and a Glass of Wine

..is a fine book by famed writer, Elizabeth David.  I wish I'd coined the phrase, but, alas, I just eat the meal regularly.  Add sauteed spinach, a piece of whole-grain toast (I often skip this or have half) and you have a meal.  (Photos below.) This particular omelet is a cheese one, but you can make whatever kind of omelet you like.  I'll give some tips about that at the bottom under "Solo Cook's Notes."  If you'd like to see another, more classic omelet prep, watch this Julia Child video et voila!

Or watch Jacques Pepin make an omelet here.   Choose your method!

A great Judith Jones omelet post, with lots of pics from her kitchen, is here.

No, I'm not pedaling books, but I've read Elizabeth David (and others-- Jacques Pepin or MFK Fisher for example) for years.   If you like yummy prose as well as yummy food, try books by  these writers who knew from words and knew from food. 

My Little Omelet Info and Primer:
Omelets are  notorious for using up leftovers...that bit of broccoli left from last night, that last tablespoon of chopped onion or green pepper, that bit of hard cheese you didn't wrap well.  Here are a few tips:

• Best quality cage-free eggs.  (or from a local farmer)
• Don't overbeat your eggs.  30 whips with a big whisk is plenty for two eggs. 
• Buy a heavy-duty, 8", nonstick pan (or stainless steel if you like that) and you'll have it for a long time.  I like Scanpan for more expensive pans and Pampered Chef for a good cheapie. 
• Don't be afraid to crank that heat up a little to really get the butter really hot.  But don't dare walk away either.  Turn off your cell phone.
• You must have everything you need ready before you heat the pan, because after that, your eyes and your hands must attend the omelet.  Set table and get your drink first.
• Do not make an omelet without butter unless you are allergic to it, are vegan or have a health problem that requires you to use oil.  Omelets are made with butter period. 
• As the eggs begin to cook, gently stir them to allow uncooked eggs into the bottom of the hot pan.
• If you want to cook more than one omelet, heat the oven to 200 and let one omelet rest there while you cook the other.   Move on to a frittata if you have several people.
• Be brave, cook your omelet and enjoy it!  However it turns out, you'll eat it and be glad. 
• Note: For South Beach Option, skip toast

Omelets are great for solo cooks.