| (testing out the iPhone 5 camera) |
This recipe is the result of not wanting to spend another dime on my dinner. I mean, I did think the combination would be tasty, and the white, orange, red, and green would be visually appealing, but mostly I had these ticking time bombs in the fridge and needed to act fast.
A lot of people have been asking me what my favorite thing to cook is. While I still have trouble thinking of a definitive answer, I've decided that a good short answer is breakfast food. I love breakfast because it's versatile - it can go sweet or savory. It can get dressed up when need be, like a brunch with smoked salmon or eggs benedict, or not, like a bowl of yogurt and fruit. It's the only meal that can consist of nothing more than a plate of carbs, and that's perfectly acceptable (see: pancakes). And most importantly, a lot of my fondest family memories center around breakfasts rather than dinners. So yeah, I like my breakfast.
| everything tastes better with cheese, right? |
Omelets are usually a no-brainer to me when it comes to breakfast, and yes, the occasional dinner as well - they're easy, full of protein and vegetables, and a great way to use up bits of produce in your fridge. And for the record, I know my omelet is more of a folded frittata than a proper omelette (in fact, if you used an oven-safe skillet, about 3 more eggs and skipped the folding, this could pretty much be a frittata). It's definitely not as technically intricate, but that's sort of why I like it. My apologies, Julia Child. My apologies.
| The blue shadow is me. Sigh. |
Bacon, Sweet Potato and Kale Omelet
Serves 1
1 small sweet potato (mine was only about 4 oz), halved and sliced into thin half-moons
1 slice applewood smoked bacon
large handful of kale, chopped
3 egg whites
small chunk of asiago cheese
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1. Cook the bacon. Heat a 6-inch skillet over medium high. Chop the bacon into bite-sized pieces and place in the heated skillet. Cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy. Put the bacon aside in a small dish lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess fat.
2. Cook the sweet potato. Without discarding the hot bacon fat*, add the sweet potato. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, turning them only every couple of minutes so that they get crispy on the outside. When the sweet potato is cooked all the way through (crispy outside and soft inside), carefully remove it from the pan (without losing the fat) and reserve it with the bacon.
3. Cook the kale. To the same pan, add the kale and cook for about 2-3 minutes, until it has significantly reduced in size and is getting slightly browned and crispy. When the kale is done, add the potato and bacon to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and stir.
4. Cook the eggs. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the eggs to the filling - lift and rotate the pan in a circular motion so that they cover the entire surface of the pan. Immediately turn the heat to low and cover the skillet with a similarly-sized lid. Wait for about 3 minutes, or until the egg in the center is just beginning to set. Using a box grater or microplane, grate about 2 tablespoons of asiago cheese over the eggs. Then, use a spatula to fold the omelet in half, and carefully slide it onto a plate. If you'd like, serve with a simple salad of baby spinach dressed with balsamic vinegar (to cut the richness of the bacon fat), salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
*If you don't want to cook with the bacon fat, you can pour it out into a small jar (don't pour it into your sink because it'll clog the drain!) and continue cooking with the fat/oil of your choice.
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