recipe: egg and veggie scramble

Around here, we sometimes eat breakfast for dinner. It’s quick (who wants to slave away in the kitchen after a long day’s work?), it’s easy (scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, cereal – how much easier can it get?) and actually comforting (makes me think of waking up late on Saturday mornings and enjoying brunch with a nice cup of coffee). It’s also pretty budget-friendly so it’s a win-win situation.

Lately I’ve been craving a good omelet so I thought I would try to make a vegetable omelet. Who was I kidding? Usually my omelets turn into scrambled eggs. Regardless of the presentation, I was ready to eat some eggs. I’ve also been trying to get back into eating healthier (ummm, yeah, Christmas break was a wash with that one), especially with my half marathon training in full swing, so I “loaded” up my scrambled eggs with vegetables: asparagus, mushrooms and smoked sun-dried tomatoes and added some protein in the form of turkey bacon. I nixed the usual omelet-y ingredient of shredded cheddar cheese and instead grated just a tiny bit of fresh parmesan cheese. A very satisfying meal that I’ll be making more often. A little bit of breakfast (for dinner) with a twist.

Egg & Veggie Scramble (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 6 eggs (with 3 eggs lightly beaten in one bowl, and 3 eggs beaten in another bowl)
• 10 asparagus stalks (trimmed & cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 3 pieces of turkey bacon (chopped)
• 1 cup of sliced brown mushrooms
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter (divided in half)
• smoked sun-dried tomatoes (4 whole pieces, chopped)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Place asparagus pieces in a bowl and add 1 tbsp water. Heat in microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Drain excess water and keep asparagus warm (I left it in the microwave).

2. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium to medium-high heat and cook the turkey bacon pieces until slightly crisp. Set aside when done.

3. Using the same pan, use half the butter and saute mushrooms. Once mushrooms are soft and browned nicely, set aside.

4. Again, using the same pan (this time sprayed with vegetable spray), add the first 3 beaten eggs and scramble. When eggs are nearly done (careful not to overcook), add half the bacon, half the mushrooms, half the asparagus and half the sun-dried tomatoes. Mix well and finish cooking, then remove from heat. This should take about 3-4 minutes, tops.

5. Top eggs with a little bit of parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.

(Use remaining eggs and ingredients to make second egg and veggie scramble.)