Salsa Omelette

Posted in Breakfasts & Breads, Recipes by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

I’ve made a couple new exciting discoveries lately.

1. Happy Hour Oysters are seriously awesome. Buck a shuck? I think I will.

2. These chips from Trader Joe’s are amazing. There’s flax seeds in them… so that means they’re healthy. Yup!

3. A guilty pleasure: The Carrie Diaries. The prequel to Sex & the City. I forgot how dramatic high school is, and I LOVE it.

4. THIS list of 50 Nacho recipes.

and 5. I LOVE corn tortillas. I don’t think I’ll ever buy any other type again!

While one might think that corn tortillas = tacos (and they may be right), corn tortillas to me = eggs. It’s the perfect crispy, salty, warm vessel for eggs. Goodbye english muffins … hello corn tortillas.

My new favorite thing to do is to saute up one or two corn tortillas (2 are only 80 calories! omg!) with some sea salt and stuff them with eggs. Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and now even a delicious omelette covered in salsa.

Salsa Omelette

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Butter

3 slices of Onion, chopped

1 Jalapeno, chopped

1 handful Fresh Spinach

1 handful Grape Tomatoes, sliced in half

2 Egg Whites & 1 Egg

1/4 cup Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

Red Pepper Flakes, Ground Pepper & Sea Salt

1-2 small Corn Tortillas

2 Tablespoons Salsa (I use Jack’s Special from Wegman’s… its the BEST)

Directions:

1. Heat the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeno. Stir and cook for a few minutes before adding the spinach.

2. Meanwhile, scramble the egg whites, and egg into a separate bowl. Add the water and scramble with a fork.

3. Switch the heat on the pan to medium so you don’t burn the eggs. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Let sit for about 4-5 minutes. Make sure to tilt the pan so the uncooked egg covers the entire pan.

4. With a spatula or silicone scraper, lift the sides of the egg up to make sure it’s not sticking. (If it is, forget the omelet and just scramble it up… it will taste just as good!) When there isn’t much runny egg left on the top, add the cheese, then lift one side up and flip it on the other (creating a half moon shape). Let cook for another 4-5 minutes or until it looks like there is no runny egg left. You might want to put a lid on the pan… it will help with the cooking time. Season w/ Salt, Pepper, and Red Pepper Flakes and remove from the pan.

5. Add a few drops of olive oil to the hot pan and place a corn tortilla or two onto the pan. Season with sea salt. Flip after two minutes of cooking. Add the salsa and tomatoes to the omelette and enjoy!

Try one of my other favorite Omelettes!

The Ultimate Jewish Omelette

Portobello Omelette

Salami Omelette

1Nov2012

Silk City, Philadelphia

Posted in Rants, Restaurants by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

Oh, Hurricane Sandy… First you prevent me from buying Edy’s Slow Churned Peppermint Ice Cream which was finally on sale in fear of you taking out our electricity. Not cool. Then, you don’t take out our electricity. Somewhat cool. Then, Sandy, you destroyed the entire Jersey Shore and probably our beach house. NOT cool. Next comes a free day off of work on Monday… VERY cool. But I guess along with that is the millions of dollars of damage and people without electricity all over the east coast. BOO, Sandy, BOO.

Amazing pic of Sandy from Space, and some others too from Wired.com… click on the pic for more

My biggest complaint turned RANT from Hurricane Sandy of the day is that she took out the power to most of the businesses in my work area… including a few traffic lights.

Rant #3: Learn how to drive, people.

(probably a series of rants about driving eventually)

One of the down traffic lights on my daily commute and daily errand run is on a 4-way intersection. One of the streets comes from a curve where people tend to drive WAY fast. How is it that EVERYONE that drives in this direction towards where I’m stopped… doesn’t understand the simple concept that you need to STOP at a non-functioning traffic light? Is that so hard to do?!

The PA Traffic Laws clearly state: 3112.c. (2): Red or completely unlighted signal shall stop in the same manner as at a stop sign, and the right to proceed shall be subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign.

Obviously no one would know the law word for word… but ISN’T THIS COMMON SENSE? You don’t just speed through a 4-way intersection just because the guy in front of you did?! I have had to go through this intersection maybe 10 times already since Tuesday. EVERY SINGLE TIME I have to wait because people are speeding on through without stopping. WTF?!!??!

My favorite radio morning show, Preston and Steve even complained about this exact intersection earlier this week. It’s not just me. Drivers of Lower Merion: learn how to STOP!!!! Your busy life isn’t any busier or more important than mine or anyone else’s. Learn how to drive safe or don’t drive at all. GRRR!!!

Okay, I’m done. I feel a little better.

The silver lining to my flat tire last week was that Dave and I were “stuck” in the city until Sunday morning, when we could put my donut on. This meant that we could do brunch (only the best meal of the week) with Mike & Mer. If you would have seen how excited this made me, you might think I drove over a nail on purpose 🙂

This makes me laugh.

Mike, Mer, Dave and I ventured a few blocks over to the Northern Liberties section of the city to check out funky-dunky Silk City. I had to share the Yelp listing with you, becuase I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen and will NEVER see a description like this… you know including Breakfast/Brunch & Dance Clubs in one. Wow.

Silk City is a huge restaurant which apparently turns into a dance club at night. They have a large outdoor seating section, the club section, and then in the middle a classic diner seating complete with a breakfast bar and all. If this place isn’t “hipster” then I don’t know what is. (Dave is laughing, because I really don’t totally get “hipster” yet and am constantly asking if something is “hipster” to him. hehe)

How cute and colorful?

When we arrived, there was luckily no wait. Love this. We decided to enjoy what was probably our last Sunday of nice weather and sunshine and sit in the outdoor area. The decor here is adorable. We didn’t have to wait long to order our drinks, which were DEE-LISH. I only wish the Bloody Mary was a little cheaper… I would have ordered one… or two.

Dave ordered the Bloody Mary: absolut vodka, house mix, fresh horseradish, cilantro, herbs, pickled tomato, olives & cornichon garnish.

Mer and I ordered the Pimm’s Cup: Pimms, fresh lime, ginger beer, cucumber, mint.

Mike went with his signature (yes it’s officially your signature drink now) Raspberry Vodka & Diet Coke. Which is really awesome too.

The bloody was great, but my two thumbs go up for the Pimm’s Cup… I think I have a new love for Ginger Beer. So yummy.

I almost finished my drink before remembering to snap a pic! MMM

After we ordered the food part of our meal… the restaurant started to get more and more crowded. We had to wait a pretty long while to get our food (boo) and even longer to get a check and to pay.

Regardless of the spotty service, Silk City was pretty awesome. As for our food, everything was really good. The menu is huge, which despite giving me that terrible ordering-anxiety, I do think is a huge plus for a restaurant.

Dave and Mer picked one of the specials: an Omelette with their house-made Chorizo, Peppers, Cheeze, Guac, and some other good stuff. You can tell from the pics this omelette was STUFFED.

Mike ordered a special Breakfast Sandwich and I chose the Chilaquiles: layered baked corn tortillas, salsa verde, rancheros sauce, marinated avocado, queso fresco and queso oaxaca, pico de gallo, sour cream, over easy eggs, and house-made Chorizo.

Really good potatoes too…

Special Omelette of the day.

This was so good! Yummm

We all agreed that the food was good and that we’d want to come back and try more. For those of us keeping track, Sabrina’s Cafe in Fairmount is still my favorite brunch spot in the city. I’d love to see Silk City gettin’ down and funky with it as a Night Club after dinnertime! Who’s comin’ with me?

1Oct2012

The Ultimate Jewish Omelette

Posted in Breakfasts & Breads, Holidays, Main Dishes, Recipes by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

Check this recipe out on Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party!

If you didn’t believe me before when I told you how much I love eggs, do you believe me now? This is now my fourth Omelette post and tenth post about Eggs. This is the best one yet. (Better than my Salami Omelette & the Portobello Omelette too!)

My family hosts the yearly “break-fast” (as in breaking the fast, not your morning meal) dinner after Yom Kippur, serving delicious bagels with your typical Jewish fix-ins… Lox, Whitefish Salad, Onions, Tomatoes, Cukes, etc. This year we had tons of leftovers… YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Here’s where I went with it:

The Ultimate Jewish Omelette

A Recipe by: It’s Good to be the Cook

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Butter

3 slices of Onion, chopped

2 slices of tomato, chopped

3 slices Lox, chopped

2 Egg Whites & 1 Egg

2 Tablespoons Fat Free Cream Cheese

Ground Pepper

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan (or just use spray) over medium heat. Add the onions and stir until they start to soften/brown. Add the lox and stir in with the onion. Cook for another 4 minutes or so until the lox cooks (it will turn a lighter pink).

2. Meanwhile, scramble the eggs together with a teaspoon of water. Pour over the cooking onion and lox. Continue to cook over medium heat until the top is no longer runny or almost solid. It may help to put a lid on, it will help steam the egg and cook the top half.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and using two spoons, dollop 2 Tablespoons of Fat Free Cream cheese as evenly as possible. Fold the omelette in half and let sit for another minute or two so the cheese will melt. Serve with some pepper.

YUMMY YUMMY! I obviously already looooooove Lox/Eggs/Onions, but Dave had never tried it before. He was pretty skeptical but enjoyed it too :). The cream cheese was awesome and it got super melty/creamy. MMM.

Pre-Flip

I couldn’t resist some good Jewish Rye and of course Whitefish Salad.

The onions were almost caramelized and look how creamy the cheese is!

I had big eyes and wanted to use some other leftovers and ended up eating this with a piece of Rye and Pumpernickel Toast w/ some Whitefish Salad… and (random) sauteed spinach. If you’ve never tried Lox in your eggs, please do! It sounds strange but it works. I promise. OH, and don’t add extra salt! Lox is really salty as it is.

18Sep2012

Sabrina’s Cafe

Posted in Restaurants by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

Dave and I have spent the last month apartment hunting with our friend Adam. It’s not easy, and it’s been a ton of work. We’re lucky that we’re on no serious time crunch, because there arent that many place in our budget to choose from! We have yet to find a place that is both right in price and all of the details we’re looking for. I’ll keep you posted, and I’m SURE you’ll know when the three of us finally move out!

Last week, we had an appointment to see a place in Old City late Saturday morning. (this was a few days before Dave broke his ankle!) Dave and I got up super early to get to my gym- he goes to lift and I take my Powerstrike kickboxing class, then we meet up for spin class. What a great workout. We showered, and wanted to head out into the city early since it was such a gorgeous day.

A few people have told me about Sabrina’s Cafe before and when I knew we’d be driving downtown in the area, I had to check it out on Yelp and give it a try. Sabrina’s has a few locations but we went to the one in the Art Museum area. They are known for their long waits during brunch… a sure sign the food is awesome.

When we arrived at Sabrina’s, we were told there was going to be a 15 minute wait. The first great thing about this place is that we ended up only waiting maybe 4 minutes. Score! Our server was very nice and attentive. Sabrina’s also serves my second favorite coffee (nothing beats illy), La Colombe… iced… in HUGE cups. Love love love love love!!!

The menu is ridiculous. Everything is interesting. This place reminds me of somewhere Guy Fieri would visit on TripleD. It just seems that every single item on the menu has a lot of thought and time put into it. So many details… all of this made it nearly impossible for ME to decide what to eat.

Dave and I both ordered off of the daily specials menu which of course, has changed by now so I don’t remember the names. But I DO remember what was in it… these were two of the most impressive breakfasts I’ve ever eaten.

Dave: Breakfast Sandwich with: a Broccoli Rabe Omelette, Chorizo Sausage, Pepper Jack Cheese, and Hot Pepper Jam on a Sarcone Roll. WOW. I mean, just look at this… it’s not like your typical egg sandwich. This is an OMELETTE in a sandwich. Wow.

Beth: Egg White Omelette with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Red Peppers, stuffed with Sriracha-Avocado Cream Cheese. Whatttttttttttt? What was it stuffed with?? Yes. Sriracha-Avocado Cream Cheese. I’m jotting that one down… I have to try to make it someday.

Check. Out. Dave’s. Sandwich. OMG!

Broccoli Rabe in an Omelette. I mean seriously… wow.

My Omelette… humongous. Fab potatoes… LeBus Multigrain bread… side of perfectly cooked bacon? YES PLEASE!

Alright, Mr. DeMille… I’m ready for my closeup

Absolutely everything we ate was ridiculously amazing. The potatoes were perfect, and probably one of the best breakfast potatoes out there. Dave even loved Sabrina’s… the same guy who complained that I was walking through the city with my head down on my phone Yelp-ing my way to find the most PERFECT place to eat. He admitted he was happy I remembered to try Sabrina’s. We loved it. I cannot wait to go back.

After a summer of terrible service experiences, Sabrina’s stood out in every way possible. We’ll be coming back very soon and probably many more times!

12Sep2012

Salami Omelette

Posted in Breakfasts & Breads, Main Dishes, Recipes by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

My Tuesday workouts are insane. You may not have figured this out yet, but I work in the office of a gym. This is great and all, as I get to use the gym for free, take any classes, use any equipment, etc. The best part is that I completely bypass the worst part of working out: getting ready and off your ass and going to the gym. I’m already there!

My problem with Tuesdays, is that my FAVORITE class, Powerstrike is at 6:30. I finish work at 4:30 and have TWO full hours to kill before I get to take the class.

The only sensible solution to the problem? Workout like a maniac. I do about 45 minutes of cardio, then take the 5:30 Spin Class… then make my way downstairs to take Powerstrike (which is similar to kickboxing). It’s a long, long day… but I make it work and LOVE it.

Because of this, on Tuesdays, by the time I come home… I’m famished. I never have the patience, endurance, or time to make anything special. What do I do when I have no time and I’m starving? I make eggs.

I LOVE EGGS! Just this week, after my Tuesday workout-marathon… I whipped up a delicious Salami Omelet for dinner.

Salami Omelette

Ingredients:

3 Slices Genoa Salami

2 Egg Whites

1 Egg

½ Teaspoon Water

¼ Cup Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Salt, Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat a medium sized skillet coated in Cooking Spray over medium heat. Roll the salami together and slice them. Add it to the hot pan.

2. Meanwhile, scramble the egg whites, egg, and water into a separate bowl. Add the water and scramble with a fork.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the cooking salami. Let sit for about 4-5 minutes. Make sure to tilt the pan so the uncooked egg covers the entire pan.

23Aug2012

Portobello Omelette

Posted in Breakfasts & Breads, Main Dishes, Recipes by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

Eggs are my FAVORITE.

In case you couldn’t tell… check out this amazing Hash Brown recipe, or this protein-packed Poached Egg with Quinoa recipe, or even this fun Breakfast Baked Potato I cooked up back in March!

Dave always makes fun of me because in an ideal world, I would eat eggs every breakfast and every dinner.

While Dave was away last week, my Mom and I got into a package of Portobello Mushrooms. This has been our tradition; when Dave isn’t around… we eat mushrooms. It’s one of the only foods he won’t touch, and we love ’em! I had bought a family-pack of Port’s at Wegmans to make Mushroom Burgers and we had one leftover. What to do with it? Make it with eggs!

Portobello Mushroom Burger recipe coming soon!! Here’s a little preview for you 🙂

This turned out to be my absolute best Omelette I’ve ever made. It was a great combination of flavors and textures, and I’ve finally learned to be patient and not burn the crap out of the bottom. It’s sooo worth the wait.

Portobello Omelette (with Onion, Broccoli, and Avocado)

a Recipe by: It’s Good to be the Cook

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon Light Butter

1/2 Portobello Mushroom, washed, patted dry, and chopped

1/4 Onion, sliced thin

1 Egg

2 Egg Whites

1/2 cup Broccoli, chopped

1/2 Avocado, cubed

1/4 cup Shredded Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sea Salt, Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat light butter in a medium-sized pan. Add mushrooms and onion. Saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent (I did it for about 4-5 minutes or so).

2. Scramble the egg and 2 egg whites in a bowl. Add a Tablespoon of water. Using water instead of milk will keep the eggs nice and fluffy. Pour the scrambled eggs over the mushrooms and onions. Add the broccoli.

3. Keep on medium heat and let cook until the bottom has solidified. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. You can also swirl the pan around to re-arrange the uncooked egg more evenly. Put a lid on the pan.

4. After about 3 or 4 minutes, lift up the lid. If the top layer is solidified, flip the egg if you can. If not, don’t worry about it. Add the cheese evenly and avocado piece by piece to evenly distribute. Fold the omelette with a large, flat spatula and cover again for 2-3 minutes.

5. Enjoy!!

Here’s what the egg looked like right before I flipped it. Keeping the head on medium will prevent the eggs from burning. It takes longer but it’s worth it.

Added some shredded cheddar and avocado

Finished product… OMG! Amazing. Avocado in eggs = heaven.

19Jun2012

Dieting is hard!!

Posted in Breakfasts & Breads, Main Dishes, Recipes by Beth @ Good to be the Cook

F Dieting. It really, really, really sucks. It really sucks when you LOVE food like I do. About 3 weeks ago, I started back up on the new Weight Watchers program. I am also seeing the dietitian at my work (aka “John the Dietitian” … as we have another John in my office). John the Dietitian is wonderful and fills in the blanks that WW leaves out, such as how many servings of grains/fruits/dairy, etc I should be eating per day, the timing of my meals, and things like lowering sugar intake. The combination of the two programs have been really helpful.

This all sounds fine and dandy, until I get home and my parents are making a delicious homemade pizza… I didn’t get a chance to food shop for the week, and I’m exhausted from working out and finally getting home at 8pm. WTF’s a girl to do?!

Although my parents, boyfriend, sister, and some friends are supportive of my trying to lose some weight, it is still so difficult to try to be “good” when everyone else… isn’t.

Snacks are a big weakness at home. My family is notorious for having a fully stocked chip/snack cabinet, filled with new flavors and types of goodies. The same thing goes with our sweets and candy. My Dad is Tastykake’s #1 Fan and we even keep boxes of those out on the counter… in plain sight. I’ve grown used to avoiding at least those, but fresh soft pretzels and new chips are nearly impossible to ignore.

At work… free food is such a trigger for me breaking my diet. With the way my finances have been (well since I graduated, ha)… the sound of free food is almost too good to pass up. Most of the time, free food is never what I really want to or should be eating. People bring in chocolates, cookies, hoagies, bagels, etc etc. My co-workers never really get the point that i DO NOT WANT to eat bad! They continue to try to give bad food to me… it can be very hard at times to say no.

With friends, the hardest thing for me is going out to eat. I absolutely LOVE trying new restaurants, and i seriously enjoy spending time with my girlfriends… but going out to eat with them twice or even just once a week adds up. I feel guilty but try to steer our restaurant choices to make sure there is something I can eat that is on the healthier side.

With all of these outside factors constantly affecting my choices, of course it’s going to be hard to diet. However, it is ultimately my decision what I put into my body. Making smart choices can be hard but they’re what it takes to make a difference.

Although it’s not fun, a great way for me to make good decisions is to “be on my own” for dinner. This week, my parents cooked up a homemade pizza and Dave made himself a ridiculously gooey grilled cheese.

It smelled as good as it looks!

Dave’s RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING grilled cheese… mmmmmmmmmmm!

I decided to go on my own and make a Spinach & Tomato Omelet with Toast. It’s so easy, so healhty, and honestly I love it. Eggs are my absolute favorite healthy food… I love them in the morning… with my lunch… and it is a GREAT dinner when I’m short on time and “points”!

I love to load on the spinach… its super healthy and ZERO points, like all green veggies!

A huge dinner for only 5 WW Points… Oh, and I love ketchup on eggs. 🙂

Spinach & Tomato Omelet w/ Toast

ONLY 5 POINTS! (it will be more if you don’t measure the parm & cream cheese, so be careful!)

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites

1 Egg

Handful Spinach

1/2 Tomato, chopped

2 Slices Smartwheat Wonder Bread (the best diet bread, ever)

1 teaspoon Fat Free Cream Cheese

Spray Butter

Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese & Garlic Salt

Directions: Easy!!

1. Mix eggs and pour onto a heated & sprayed frying pan. Mix it around with heat-proof rubber scraper until the eggs start to settle on the bottom. Add tomato & spinach. When the egg is almost cooked, fold over and let the inside cook for another two minutes.

2. Toast the bread, then spread the cream cheese on one side, spray butter and a sprinkle (teaspoon or less) of Parmesan cheese on the other. I like a little garlic salt on that piece too!

It's Good to be the Cook

Tag Archives: Omelets

Salsa Omelette

Salsa Omelette