Breakfast for Dinner

I love having what would normally be considered breakfast foods for dinner. I love how much easier those meals can be in comparison.

Last week I made a vegetable frittata that came out perfect. All the vegetables were cooked just right and the eggs for nice and puffy, but not to crispy on top.

Veggie Frittata

1 broccoli crown, cut down into half florets
½ bunch of asparagus, top 2/3 of each stalk cut into 2 pieces
½ large red pepper, sliced thin
½ large red onion, sliced thin
1 cup egg whites/egg substitute from a carton
½ cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Steam the broccoli and asparagus just until they were fork tender. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Set your broiler on high. Sauté the pepper & onion until tender in the hot oil. Add the garlic to an open spot in the center of the pan and quickly mix into the cooking vegetables. Add the asparagus and broccoli. Sprinkle the cheese over the vegetables and toss to mix. Add egg white to cover the vegetables evenly. Add salt & pepper if you like. Allow the eggs to cook just until they begin to bubble and you can see them have set underneath the liquid top layer. Move the pan to the broiler. Watch it carefully under the broiler until the eggs complete cook and puff up. It should be golden brown on top, but not too brown.

Allow it to cool for just a minute, cut and serve. One quarter of the dish clocked in at just about 3 Weight Watcher points for anyone who is considering how the dish fits into an active diet regimen.

And there you have breakfast for dinner!

Jason

Making Margot’s Favorite Breakfast – Eggs Benedict

Margot goes nuts for Eggs Benedict. I have never seen her pass on ordering it when it shows up on a restaurant menu. Me, I had never had it before today. I’ve never been a huge fan of cooked eggs with yolks intact so I could pass this over without thinking about it.

I figured making it for the first time would also be a great opportunity to try it for the first time. I decided to use the regular bacon we had rather than Canadian Bacon, knowing full well that the dish would come out a bit different than the classic. Margot approved so I went ahead.

Hollandaise sauce can be tricky to make primarily because you must be careful not to scramble the eggs during the cooking. Similar to the lemon curd I made recently and the many applications of melted chocolate, the use of a double boiler (or similar apparatus) is required. The recipe I used for the Hollandaise came from Tyler Florence and The Food Network.

I didn’t find the process to make the sauce too much of a challenge and Margot confirmed that it tasted correct and had the desired texture. I’ll say I got lucky the first time out!

The poached eggs were pulled off using a cheat, a microwave egg poacher. Margot bought the little contraption to for her to make poached eggs without any hassle. It worked well and I hope nobody will think less of me for not doing to work to poach the eggs.

The assembly of the final dish included a light English Muffin covered gently with Smart Balance, several pieces of bacon, the poached eggs and a healthy portion of Hollandaise sauce. I used Marjoram for a garnish. I added a little salt and pepper to mine and dug in.

The Hollandaise sauce definitely expressed the lemon flavor and acid, something Margot said she really likes. I can imagine the difference with the Canadian Bacon and Margot suggested it holds up against the sauce a bit better than the traditional bacon. I can’t say I am as enamorate of this dish as Margot, but I can see how it can be just the thing to make for a satisfying breakfast.

Cheers!

Jason