cheese and greens omelet
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
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cheese and greens omelet
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Healthy omelet with two eggs and one egg white. Filled with wilted greens and cheddar cheese. A proper protein packed breakfast.
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
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 omelet
- Calories: 296
- Sodium: 557 mg
- Fat: 19
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 25 grams
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.
I fixed dried beef gravy on buttermilk waffles for our New Years brunch! Yum! Not the least bit healthy but a big favorite. I found an online source for dried beef and they even will chip it. Pork roll is in the deli counter at one store here- never seen it like that. Habersett’s scrapple is in the freezer section, so we have found all of the “salty PA meats” that we love and indulge in now and then. I agree about the protein breakfast. I had to have protein when wrangling Second Graders all day.
Yes, when there isn’t time to stop, it’s good to have a good breakfast. I haven’t had pork roll in so many years. Thinking of that brings me back to Rices’ Market. That is so funny that you can find pork roll now. Though I don’t think I would would bother ‘indulging’ in any without a good amoroso roll!
Breakfast has always been my favorite meal, too! This omelet looks delicious…I’ve gotten into the habit of eating egg sandwiches for lunch, and it’s awesome. Thanks for sharing…and Happy New Year!
Mmm. Egg sandwiches for lunch. Have you ever had an egg on a BLT? Magic! Happy new year to you too David.
Bacon on a BLT? No…but I kinda need to fix that. Like today. BELTs for lunch!! (BELTs sounds way better than BLETs, too.)
I actually didn’t overindulge over the holidays this year, which is rather unusual. However, I didn’t really eat breakfast as I chose to sleep in. I’m getting back to my usual routine of waking up early and fixing myself a hearty meal to last me through lunch. I used to eat a lot of sugary cereals growing up as well..oh and big-as-my-face muffins. Now, I normally eat Greek yogurt with fruits and nuts or eggs with toast. Protein packed bfast is def the way to go!
Ha the muffins. I remember those days. We love Greek Yogurt in this house too. Especially drizzled with a little of our home-made maple syrup or with a little granola.
Your omelet looks fabulous, Katie!
I’m pretty sure that I could eat eggs at every meal and be a happy girl. I’ve started eating them in a 3:1 ratio (3 whites to 1 whole egg) to keep my cholesterol and fat in check 🙂
Do you remember those incredible edible egg ads? I think they really are:)