Some people have shoe fetishes. I have a cookbook fetish. Last week I passed by my favorite shop in Salt Lake for satisfying my on-again, off-again clothing fetish. As I walked by, I noticed that this wonderful purveyor of children’s books, and women’s and children’s clothing had some vegan cookbooks on display in their window.
This seemed like a legitimate excuse to duck into the shop—not that I’ve ever needed an excuse. I mentioned my love of cookbooks to the owner and she promptly brought me two of her favorites to peruse: Meatless, published by Martha Stewart Living, and The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson. I sat on their comfy sofa and checked them both out. Both feature simple, everyday vegetarian recipes, which I love. But the kicker was that both feature beautiful, tempting photos.
That was enough for me to justify buying both of them. So far, I’ve only had time to try one recipe, but there are lots of them on my list to try in the future. (Standing up long enough to cook has been a bit of a challenge since I had my right hip replaced three weeks ago!)
Anyway, as I ruminated on what I would have for breakfast yesterday, I came upon an omelet recipe in Meatless. Since I had all the ingredients on hand I decided to try it. It was very quick, tasty and sustained me for the rest of a long day at the Sundance Film Festival!
Meatless Monday Broccoli and Cheese Over-Easy Omelet
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups thinly sliced broccoli florets
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced on the bias
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (1/4 ounce) I used Midnight Moon goat gouda instead, but if you don’t do any type of dairy, you can skip the cheese altogether. A sprinkling of nutritional yeast can add a cheesy flavor.
- 1 large egg, plus 2 large egg whites
- Crushed red-pepper flakes, for garnish
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Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook broccoli and scallion covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Season with 1/8 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Transfer to a plate.
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Add cheese to skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until melted and golden, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add egg and egg whites. Keeping egg yolk intact, drag a spatula through the whites to spread them evenly in the pan. Cook, covered, until whites are set and yolk is still runny, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Top with broccoli-scallion mixture, and fold omelet over. Sprinkle with a pinch of red-pepper flakes.