Zucchini scrambled eggs with feta cheese

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A few years ago I realized that if I eat vegetables for breakfast, I'm more likely to satisfy my daily vegetable requirement.

My personal goal is "5 by 5" - that is, five servings of fruits or vegetables by 5pm.

Why 5pm? Because I'm often so tired by the end of the day that all I want is a bowl of cereal.

To that end, I have come up with a million ways to include veggies in my morning meal. This simple scramble uses up a lot of zucchini - a note for those of you with enthusiastic gardens.

Click here for more about "5 by 5"

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Zucchini scrambled eggs with feta

by Erika Kerekes June-25-2013

This vegetarian scramble gets your day off to a healthy start. My version goes heavy on the zucchini and light on the cheese, but feel free to add more cheese if you prefer.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups fresh zucchini, grated
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, zucchini, and green onions, and cook about 10 minutes, until the zucchini is soft, has released its water, and is starting to brown. If there is still excess liquid in the zucchini, pour it off before the next step.Add the garlic to the zucchini mixture and cook another 2 minutes. Pour in the eggs and cook, scrambling the mixture in the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon. When the eggs are almost set, add the feta cheese and cook until the cheese is melting and the eggs are cooked to your liking. Remember that the moisture in the zucchini will keep the eggs looking somewhat wet even after they're actually done.Tip the scramble onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 1 serving

Chinese cabbage and onion omelet

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I am on a mission to eat more vegetables for breakfast.

The fact is, I don't always feel like eating vegetables at dinnertime. By then I'm tired and crabby and often a nice bowl of Cheerios will do me just fine. I have more discipline in the morning. And more energy.

Plus, the earlier in the day I start eating vegetables, the more likely I am to meet my "five servings a day" requirement. I strive for 5 by 5 - that is, five servings of fruits and vegetables by 5pm. That way, even if I end up eating cereal for dinner, I know I've gotten the healthy stuff in.

I took this simple breakfast omelet with cabbage and onions a little Asian by adding soy sauce. Bean sprouts would be a nice addition, although I never seem to have them when I want them.

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Chinese omelet with cabbage and onion

by Erika Kerekes October-19-2012

Get your veggies at breakfast with this Asian-inspired omelet. Use green or Napa cabbage, and don't skip the soy sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp grapeseed or canola oil
• 2 cups green or Napa cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce

Instructions

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, cabbage and onion. Saute the vegetables about 5 minutes, stirring often, until they are wilted but still crunchy and you see brown around the edges. Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds.While the vegetables are cooking, crack the eggs into a bowl, add the soy sauce, and whisk with a fork.Flatten the vegetable mixture and spread it around the skillet so it is evenly distributed. Pour the eggs over the vegetable mixture, then tilt the pan to make sure the eggs go all the way around the vegetables. Cook about 3 minutes, until the eggs are mostly set and the bottom of the omelet is brown. Use a spatula to cut the omelet into quarters right in the pan, then carefully flip each wedge. (As you can see from the photo above, my cutting and flipping did not go exactly as planned.) Cook another 1 minute on the second side. Slide the omelet wedges onto a serving plate. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 2 servings

Recipe: Scrambled eggs with kale and provolone

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I am one of those unfortunate people who has struggled with her weight since the dawn of time.

I am not a woman of excess. I have friends (you know who you are) who make resolutions to eat 28 desserts in 28 hours. I have non-blood relatives (you know who you are, too) who believe that pate is a food group and no meal, including breakfast, is truly over without something sweet, and I don't mean fruit.

Of these extremes I fall far short. I like vegetables. I'm not much for dessert. Balance in all things, that's my mantra.

Unfortunately, some idiot invented french fries. And bread. And polenta, and pasta, and pretty much any other starchy, salty, fiberless fare you can imagine. These are my binge foods, my comfort foods, my one-bite-and-I-gain-10-pounds foods. I'll never give them up. But I'm constantly looking for ways to trick myself into forgetting, however temporarily, that they exist.

Thus was born my current experiment, which I'm calling 5 by 5. Simply put, I am trying to get five servings of fruit and vegetables in before 5pm. I see lots of potential benefits:

1. It's simple.
2. It keeps me focused on eating the "right" things instead of denying myself the "wrong" things.
3. It's good for me.
4. It distracts me through the witching hours, which for me are 2pm to 5pm, the long afternoons at my desk at work, a little sleepy, a little cranky, and jonesing for a carb fix.
5. My cravings may not be gone, but my stomach is just too full for anything else.
6. If I feel like having cereal or pasta for dinner, when I'm even more tired and cranky and craving, at least I feel less guilty about it. And I eat less, because I'm still full of vegetables.

Am I doing this to lose weight? Maybe. But if I don't lose weight and still end up eating more fruits and vegetables and fewer starches, I'll end up healthier, and I'll consider that a positive outcome.

One key to success in getting in five servings: Breakfast. Which is how I ended up with this delicious, healthy scramble. One serving of veg down, four more to go  by 5pm.

Scrambled eggs with kale and provolone

• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 8 leaves kale, washed, de-stemmed, and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 slice provolone cheese, torn into small pieces (or cheese of your choice)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the kale and garlic and saute about 2 minutes, until the kale is wilted but not limp. Pour the eggs over the kale and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Scramble with a spatula until the eggs are cooked through and the cheese is melted. Turn the eggs onto a plate, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.