wakey wakey, eggs and bakey

I'm not a huge fan of sweet breakfasts. I might like the occasional pancake or French toast, but muffins aren't really my thing, and cereal, to me, is more of a snack. I just don't have a massive sweet tooth. My tooth is salty. I have salt-tooth. I have savory teeth.

I LIKE DORITOS!

Ahem.

So, when I have time, I like to make THE BEST BREAKFAST IN THE WORLD, also known as Eggs and Tomatoes. If I've made this for you, it means I really like you. Or perhaps you did something amazing in a past life, like rescuing orphans from a burning building, and you're being rewarded now in this life. What I'm saying is, this stuff is GOOD. Trust me on this ... Iraqis know food. We wrote the first cookbooks. Anyway, I decided to blog this because I've gotten favorable reactions when I've made this for friends (even if they pick the onion out ... you know who you are!), and, after posting a picture of the finished product on my Facebook page, got positive comments on that, too. By the way, it was a bit difficult for me to put down a recipe for this, since there are so many little adjustments you can make to suit your tastes. Read on to see.

OK. To serve one person, you'll need:

• Some cooking oil (I use a tablespoon of vegetable oil)

• 1 small onion, or half a bigger onion, or even half a small onion, depending on how much you like onions (I guess you could leave out the onions entirely if you're not into them, but if that's the case, you should do some soul-searching. Who doesn't like onions? I mean, really.)

• 1 tomato, again using a size that suits *you* (yes, you ... I use a medium-to-large one so I can toss a couple of pieces into my mouth before cooking. I love tomatoes. Like, a lot.) (also, this is a good way to use up soft tomatoes ... you know, it's getting old and you don't really want it in your salad, but it's not going bad so you don't want to throw it out ... that tomato is perfect for this)

• Salt and pepper, to taste (though really, everything in this recipe is "to taste")

• 1 egg, however you like it (I scramble mine, but you can leave yours whole to get a sunny-side egg)
  

(By the way, this can easily be multiplied to feed the masses: on weekends my mom uses a large skillet to make enough for four, and even prepares the eggs differently in the same large pan (scrambled for me, sunny-side up for my brother, etc.))


Start by prepping all of the ingredients: chop and, if you want, salt the tomatoes (but don't drain them, as that increases likelihood of burning, which I discovered this very morning); slice the onion; and do whatever you want with the egg (as you can see, I scrambled mine and seasoned it with salt and pepper).


Now that all the prep work is done, saute the onions in that cooking oil until they're shiny and getting soft. Make sure you really toss them around, so you don't wind up with some burnt bits and some crunchy bits. When the onion is ready, add the tomatoes.



Cook and stir occasionally as the tomatoes cook down. I tend to let them cook down until the peel starts to come off by itself. You can remove it entirely if you'd like (my mom peels them before she even starts cooking), but I don't mind it. Anyway, it'll look like this:


At that point, turn the heat down a bit, pour your egg on top, put a lid on it, and leave it until the egg is cooked through. Don't stir! Feel free to tilt the pan around though, to spread the egg while it's still liquidy. When it's all done, it'll look like this:


At this point, I like to toast some bread, slap on some cheese, and then put some eggs and tomatoes on top to melt the cheese a bit. Then I proceed to shovel it into my mouth as fast as humanly possible. YUM YUM.

And that is how you make the best breakfast ever. Enjoy!

We are going to PUMP [clap] you up!

Guess what, y'all? I joined the Y yesterday! I'm ridiculously excited about this, mostly because they have a pool (actually, they have 2 pools: one for lessons and one for laps). Maybe this summer I'll finally get around to learning how to swim :) That's right people, I don't know how to swim. What can I say? My parents are from Iraq, and who swims in the desert? Not my folks. So it wasn't really an educational priority when I was growing up.

Anyway, in honor of this momentous occasion, I present a healthy, protein-y breakfast, which also happens to be my first recipe blog. Enjoy!

Egg & Salmon Sandwich
makes 1 sandwich
(from Eating Well magazine, July/August 2008)

1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 large egg whites, beaten
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp capers, rinsed and chopped (optional, which I used, yum yum)
1 oz smoked salmon
1 slice tomato
1 whole-wheat English muffin, split and toasted (I used Arnold Multi-grain Sandwich Thins)


1. Heat oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about 1 minute. Add egg whites, salt and capers (if using) and cook, stirring constantly, until whites are set, about 30 seconds.




2. To make the sandwich, layer the egg whites, smoked salmon and tomato on English muffin.

(yes, there is tomato underneath all that.)

Per serving: 214 calories; 5 g fat (1 g saturated, 2 g mono); 7 mg cholesterol; 25 g carbohydrate; 19 g protein; 3 g fiber; 670 mg sodium; 221 mg potassium. Also a good source of omega-3s.

As a final note, I just want to point out that, while this was tasty, you might want to think twice about eating smoked salmon before heading into the office, depending on how you feel about your coworkers :)