Here’s a healthy protein packed way to start the day: a cheese and seasonal greens omelet for breakfast.

I am not one for New Years Diet Resolutions. It’s not that I don’t think we all could rein it back in after the holiday parties,  cocktails  and big meals and all the cookies (oh the cookies!) we’ve indulged in over the last month. But I think that New Years should be more of a time to check in with where we’ve been, where we’d like to go and look forward to setting some healthy lifestyle goals. The last thing we should do is beat ourselves up for having had fun or anything we’ve done in the past that we can’t change.

My friend Winnie sent me a copy of her new book recently, titled One Simple Change. She has her degree in naturopathic medicine and also writes the beautiful blog Healthy Green Kitchen. Her book, is a great manual for surprisingly simple ways we can tweak our lives so that we can have better health, and make the planet a healthier place to boot. This would be the perfect way to get some ideas for  realistic changes we can make or goals that we can set right now for the new year.

For example, “Have a proper breakfast” is one of her recommendations. I’d like to talk about that for a moment, because I don’t do it very often and it is the most important meal of the day.

I am a breakfast lover. I always have been.  When I was a kid, and especially when I was in high school I ate what I now consider to be really sugary breakfasts. Things like chocolate graham cracker pop-tarts or buttered toaster waffles with maple syrup (they were Nutri-Grain waffles, but still! Eeek! I shudder to think about all of the days I did this.) Then I would arrive at school and be starving by 8 am. The reason I am telling you this is that I have found that if I eat an egg, cooked in oil with a slice of toast, I am fine until lunch. Even now, if I eat cereal, I am hungry by 10.

So I wasn’t really that surprised when I read recently that there was a new study that backs up what I had guessed from my own deductive reasoning; that eggs makes what Winnie would call “a Proper Breakfast.”

This article about the study perfectly proves exactly what I had thought. Half of the participants in the study had a breakfast of about 300 calories with 30 grams or so of protein.

According to the results of this study,

eating a protein rich breakfast:

• greatly improves appetite control
• may help control overeating later in the day
• will help you curb your calories intake at lunch

This cheese and greens omelet that I am sharing today comes in at about 300 calories, and has 25 grams of protein. Nutrition Bonus: The greens in this count as two vegetable servings toward your daily goal of 5 to 9, and gives you 2 grams of filling fiber. I used a combination of bok choy, spinach and watercress from our CSA. Plus they will bring you good luck in the new year!

If you’re really watching your weight you can choose a reduced fat cheddar. It will melt just fine with this technique because the moist environment from the steam helps melt cheeses with a lower fat content. And you’ll save about 40 calories. Or use two egg whites in place of one of the whole eggs to save another 40 calories. Here is another one of my omelet recipes that has these two substitutions.

Happy New Year all. What are your healthy lifestyle goals for 2014?

Happy Cooking!

~Katie

cheese and greens omelet

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 1 serving

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Description

Healthy omelet with two eggs and one egg white. Filled with wilted greens and cheddar cheese. A proper protein packed breakfast.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped greens, washed with water still clinging to the leaves
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg-white
• pinch salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• ¼ teaspoon canola oil
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or save 40 calories with sharp light cheddar)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

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Instructions

1. Place greens in a small non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cover and cook until the greens are wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer greens to a sieve or strainer, and drain off any excess moisture.
2. Beat egg, egg-white, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Wipe out skillet with a clean towel and brush oil over the insides with a pastry brush and place over medium-high heat. When pan is just hot, add egg mixture and cook, lifting the edges of the cooked egg up and tilting the pan to allow uncooked egg to flow onto the surface of the pan.
3. Once the egg is set up into one solid mass, about 1 minute, top with the greens, scallions and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Lift up one edge of egg and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons water between the egg and the pan. Immediately cover the pan to trap steam inside. Cook until the cheese is melted and all of the egg is cooked by the steam, 1 to 2 minutes. Fold omelet in half and tilt out of skillet onto plate to serve.

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Notes

Sat Fat 8, Fiber 2 g, Protein 25, Sodium 557.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 omelet
• Calories: 296
• Fat: 19

DISCLOSURE I received a copy of One Simple Change for free. This post contains affiliate link/s, which means if you click on the link and purchase that product, I may receive a small commission which helps support me in bringing you  bangin’ recipes and content like this. I only link to stuff I love, and all opinions here are my own.