Which came first...

the chicken or the egg?

It is an age-old argument. On this blog, the chicken did. But the egg is not far behind. The egg is a perfect package, a biodegradable container of 5 grams of high-quality protein for a very small cost. Women need 46 grams of protein per day, men need 56 grams for nearly every function in the body and for maintaining muscle mass. Whether you are spending $5.00 a dozen on farm-raised eggs or $1.50 a dozen on less well-bred eggs, they are still a bargain and the foundation of many different recipes. All of the protein in the egg is in the white—the albumin. That stringy thing that you see in the egg white is the chalaza, a strand of protein that keeps the egg yolk in the center of the egg white. Keep in mind that one whole medium egg also contains about 240 mg of cholesterol and the RDA is 300 so two eggs per day puts you way over the limit. The typical diner 3 egg omelet (720 mg of cholesterol!) will clog your arteries if you do it on a daily basis. Get around that by removing one or more of the yolks. Try a simple experiment at home.

A Healthy Omelet for One Person

• Crack two eggs and place them in a small bowl.

The best way to do it to avoid shell fragments is crack it on a flat surface. But don’t take my word for it! Try it yourself. Much less chance of broken shell in your egg mixture and nobody likes bits of egg shell in their scrambled eggs or omelet.

• Use your clean fingers to remove one of the yolks.

I always put it on the dog’s food and now that the dog is gone—hope it wasn’t all those egg yolks-- I throw it away.

• Whip the whole egg and egg white together and season with a tiny sprinkle of salt. Heat a small saute pan on low and when it is hot, spray it with vegetable or olive oil spray and pour in the egg mixture. Keep the heat low so the delicate egg proteins don’t over-coagulate—that means get tough—you just want to heat the mixture gently.

• If you want to put something in your omelet, add it now—some shreds of cheese, bits of ham or cooked bacon, sautéed onion/potato, or leftover cooked vegetables like broccoli or mushrooms, or spinach. The choices are endless.

• When the egg mixture seems set, tilt the pan and fold one side on top. Give it another minute or so to come together.

• Serve on a warmed plate with parsley sprinkled on top if you want to be good and fancy. Serve with hot toast or a grilled corn tortilla