Good morning All!  I am writing this from the lovely Northern Virginia area in the hotel prior to some meetings today.  Lately I have been eating a lot of eggs and one thing I find with eggs is that they are very versatile.  Which is a good thing… but you have to keep it fresh and real!  Make eggs fun.

I wanted to walk through the way I cook an omelet.  This is something I talked about three years ago but I wanted to freshen it up and share a few things I have learned along the way.

Omelets: They’re easy to cook, right? We’ll see.

The first thing to remember is that you need the right size of frying pan. This is more important than you may think. Too large, and the omelet will dry out; too small, and it will not cook through.

As a basic guide, you need a 15 centimeter pan for a two-egg omelet and a 25 centimeter pan for a four to six egg omelet. That is, 6 in. and 10 in. respectively. Which, handily enough, is pretty much the size of pans you should have in your kitchen anyway.
The second most important thing is not to beat the eggs. I’ll repeat… do NOT beat the eggs like they stole your iPad from you.

Instead, abandon the habits of a lifetime and stir the yolks into the whites using a knife blade. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Warm your empty pan through on a moderate heat, add a good knob of butter, turn up the heat and swirl it round to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.  When the butter is foaming pour some into the egg mixture, stir it in and then immediately pour the eggs into the pan.

Shake the pan to spread the mixture evenly. Now, using a fork or thin spatula, draw the cooked egg away from the edge of the pan and let the uncooked liquid run into the space created.

When the omelet is almost cooked, but the surface is still soft and liquid, flip one edge of the omelet towards the center of the pan so that it folds over. Then slide the unfolded edge onto a warmed plate, rolling the folded edge over the top of it as you do so.  An omelet cooked in this way requires no filling, except perhaps some fresh, chopped, herbs added to the egg mixture about 15 minutes before cooking.

So just to recap, by all means you can add extra ingredients to your omelet, whether it be cheese, vegetables or meat.  It will not really change the cooking time just be careful not too add to much extra “stuff” as it will dry out the mixture.  For the one above I added some baby spinach and a little cheese.  It was excellent and sometimes I have been even getting in the habit or serving a little salsa with it.

I have a question for you!  How many people eat beans with their eggs?

Can’t wait to hear from you.  I will check the comments and I will be back Wednesday for another post.  I am working on getting the brussel sprout recipe from last week to post for everyone to enjoy.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Help The Students Event: Day 17

Heather from Hangry Pants submitted her Help The Students Event recipe in the form of an egg sandwich.  Anyone like a toasted egg sandwich with cheese?  How about an egg sandwich in under 5 minutes?  And not from take-out?  Now my ears are perked up and ready to listen.

It sounds pretty simple, the steps are super easy ( you can check them out below ) and it is healthy for you!  She opted for just egg whites and whole grain bread.  Myself I would be all over this like a plump kid on a Rolo Bar but I would like top it with some fresh tomatoes, leaf lettuce and some cracked black pepper.  I love that combination.  Follow along below for all the details.

Ingredients

• 2 – 3 egg whites
• 2 slices of whole grain bread
• 1 slice of Swiss cheese
• Other Toppings as you desire

Method

1. Cook egg whites in the microwave for 1 minute.  They will puff up.
2. If you have a toaster, toast the bread.
3. Assemble sandwich.
4. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: This will work very well with an English Muffin or a kaiser roll as well as regular bread.  I am always up for tasting bread with eggs and cheese.  One of my favorite toppings is Jam or homemade preserves.

Thanks for a quick fun post Heather.  I know there are millions of students out there that will find this post helpful.  Such a great source of protein, somewhat in expensive and tastes great.  Good Job!  I cannot believe it is Thursday already!  Have a super day and I will talk to you on Friday to wrap the week up.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I dropped the ball on Monday and forgot to schedule my post for 8 am as always so it sat in draft mode until I realized around 2:00 that it was not live.  Oh dear – what a doofus.  So with that being said your Google readers did not get updated with the Juicer Recipes post until yesterday because I have my feed burner set to update at 12:00pm.  My bad and I am sorry.  However, on the positive side of things – it is looking like I am posting two days in a row.

Not the case but wait until you see this beauty!  A simple avocado and egg salad with a splash of balsamic vinaigrette – simply delicious.  The health kick is pushing forward day after day and I am actually loving it.  Now don’t get me wrong, I still eat a little treat here and there but very much in moderation.  Mrs. Zesty and I are teaming up and by doing it together it is quite fun and motivating.  Not that I was a terrible eater before i would sometimes over indulge in some unnecessary snacks at random times of the day.

Without further a do – feast your eyes on this salad.  Totally random but lovely just the same.  Do you think it is weird that a guy uses the word “lovely” a lot?  Oh boy, i am getting off topic a lot today…. my apologies.

Ingredients

• Spring Greens
• Avocado
• Hard boiled egg
• Sliced almonds
• Blackberries
• Grape tomatoes
• Balsamic Vinegar

Method

1. Wash and prep greens, berries and tomatoes
2. Peel and chop hard boiled egg
3. Peel and chop the avocado
4. Add all ingredients together in a bowl
5. Toss and dress with a drizzle of balsamic.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Peel your avocado just before you are ready to eat the salad and give it a little squirt with some fresh lemon juice to keep it from going brown so quickly.

A great salad for a lunch or even a light dinner.

This salad is very versatile and of course you can add whatever you want.  Cold chicken would be a great alternative if you like that or you could even add some garbanzo beans for some extra flavor.

My whole take on salad is add what you like to eat and be simple with the dressing.  The one thing that I do not like about salad is when the dressing is too heavy and the greens become soggy and limp.  Keep it fresh and crunchy.  Have an amazing Wednesday and keep your chin up.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty