Here is a little story to this recipe: My mum wanting to feed me a wholesome and nutritious breakfast wanted me to eat egg (especially egg whites being so rich in protein). As a stubborn child, I disliked the smell and taste of egg. However mum was even more stubborn and decided that she will dress up the egg in such a way that I will soon develop a taste for it. So she made a normal omelette (with egg, green chilli, salt and onions) but also added a base of homemade French fries, mushrooms, bell peppers, peas, carrots, French beans and garnished it with freshly ground black pepper and finely chopped coriander leaves. The way the egg lost much of its smell with all the flavours of the veggies getting infused within the egg was terrific. I starting eating a little piece of this egg sandwiched between 2 toasted slices of bread. Slowly I could eat it even without any bread. Mum felt “Mission Accomplished” and was happy 🙂
So here goes the epic recipe, perhaps one of the few things I learnt to cook as a child as well:
Ingredients (For 2):
4 free range egg whites whisked until they are light and fluffy
1 green chilli chopped
1 big pink onion finely chopped
200 grams of white button mushrooms chopped
A handful of frozen green peas (Use fresh if you have available)
1 bell pepper diced (whichever colour you like)
1 carrot diced into small cubes
A handful of French beans chopped
1 medium sized potato cut into the shape of French fries
A few cherry tomatoes cut into half
1 spoon of extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
To garnish:
Freshly ground black pepper
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Heat a non-stick frying pan and add one spoon of olive oil in it. Add the cut potatoes and cover the lid of the pan and let them semi-cook in the heat and oil. After 5 min, remove the lid and pass a fork through one of them. If they are half-cooked then add the chopped onions and sauté until the onions start turning trans-lucent. Then add the chopped mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, French beans, peas and green chilli in that order (After putting in each ingredient sauté for about a minute before adding in the second one and so on). Sprinkle salt as per your taste over the veggies now. Cover the pan with a lid – the veggies will cook in the steam generated by the heat and oil. After 5 -7 min once the veggies start browning, spread them evenly using a spatula over the pan as if making a bed at the bottom of the pan. Pour the beaten egg whites until they cover the bed of veggies (As if icing the top of a cake). Garnish freshly ground pepper, chopped coriander leaves and halved cherry tomatoes. Cover the lid again and cook the egg. Eggs normally cook within a minute and so will this omelette. Cut into square or triangular pieces. Serve with toasted bread and ketchup.
This one I made recently was without potatoes. I know kids loves French fries and it is always good to serve it for breakfast in this manner, i.e. not exactly deep frying the potatoes in oil. Like I said most of it cooks in the heat of the pan once you cover the lid and hence end up using very less oil.
After all we have the good proteins (egg whites), good carbs (veggies) and fats (olive oil) in this dish that definitely makes it a good option for breakfast to kick start your day. What say?
Did you know?
The egg yolk is considered the capsule of cholesterol and should not be eaten especially if you are fighting a cholesterol problem. The egg whites are a very good source of protein and are low in calories.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/252979-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-egg-whites/