Omelets are surely nice and easy to make, but for some variation in your breakfast meals, you may consider cooking something else at times. For example, another quick breakfast recipe that can’t go wrong are scrambled eggs. Some say that they are even easier than omelettes, because you don’t have to worry about making the perfect omelet, folding it evenly, filling it nicely and so on. You just throw all ingredients in the pan, cook them for one-two minutes and the breakfast is served. If you have a big family, this can save you a lot of time, because you cook for all people at once, while if you make omelets, you have to cook them one by one, so it’s the time multiplied by the number of people you cook for. Here’s how to cook scrambled eggs with bacon and red peppers.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

• 4 slices of bacon (choose nice ones, which have both some fat and some lean meat, and leave out the pork skin)
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped small
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serves 2

Cooking method:

Cut the bacon slices in thin stripes, then cook them in a frying pan, at medium temperature. You don’t need to add any oil, because the bacon will generate the cooking liquid from the melting fat. Stir often until you see that most of the fat has gone and the bacon pieces start to get a crispy, yellow look. Beat the eggs in a bowl together with the salt and pour the mixture over the hot bacon pieces. Cook the food at medium fire until you see the egg mixture starts to harden. This could take about two minutes. Then add the chopped red pepper in the pan and continue cooking and stirring until eggs are well done. With a large spoon, make portions and put them on two plates, then sprinkle oregano and freshly ground black pepper over them. Serve hot, with cherry tomatoes.

We call it Turkish omelet, but only try to say this to Turkish people, and they’d instantly reply that it’s not an omelet, it’s Menemen. Although made with the same basic ingredients as a common omelet, Menemen has a completely different, non-compact texture because of the way it is cooked and because of the bigger proportion of its main ingredients other than eggs. You can as well call this dish scrambled eggs with vegetables. Either way you may be calling it, it’s really delicious. Give it a try with our recipe here and come back to tell us how it was.

Ingredients for one omelet:

• 2 eggs
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped, seeded
• 1 big tomato, diced (if you want, you can peel it, but it’s fine even if you don’t)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or butter)
• Black pepper, ground
• Red pepper, ground
• Dried oregano
• Dried mint
• Salt to taste

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Cooking procedure:

Saute the chopped onions with olive oil or butter. When they soften and become slightly transparent, add the peppers, then the diced tomatoes. After these soften too and their color starts to change, add the eggs and the spices and mix everything while the food gets cooked at low to medium temperature. Stir from time to time. In about 10-15 minutes, the omelet should be done. If you want, you can add some finely chopped parsley just one minute before the cooking finishes. Depending on your personal preferences, you can add chopped black olives, feta cheese, or anything else you find suitable for an omelet. Serve it hot with toasted bread and garlic butter.

Eggs contain fat, so you may think it’s impossible to have a low-fat omelet. Yet, as the fat in the egg is mainly contained in the yolk, you can use only the whites, then add some veggies and spices to your omelet to give it more taste. Indeed, out of the 5g of fat in an egg, maybe 0.2g only are in the white. This is a basic recipe for low-fat omelets, which you can tweak by using different vegetables each time.

Ingredients for one omelet:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped small
• 1 average sized mushroom, finely cut
• 1/2 small onion, cut small
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or other herbs of your choice)

Preparation time: 3-4 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Cooking procedure:

Coat a frying pan with cooking spray, then put the onions inside, together with the mushrooms. Cook them for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, then add the bell pepper and let it cook for 1 minute. Mix the egg whites with salt and pepper and pour them over the vegetables. Cook them for 3-4 minutes, then flip the omelet on the other side and keep it two more minutes on the fire. If you want to make the classic, folded-style omelet, take the vegetables out of the pan, then make the plain omelet as usual and at the end put the veggies back on half of it and fold the other half on top of them. When ready, put the dried oregano on top of it and serve it hot with tomatoes or with salsa.

Omelet is a meal that can help you reuse many food leftovers. Parties and holidays are usually followed by a kind of competition of trying all kind of leftover recipes. That’s common, as nobody wants to cook less for their dinner guests, so this is how they end up by cooking too much. Ham is one of these dishes people cook for Christmas or other holidays, then they put their creativity at work to incorporate the leftover ham into other tasty meals. Here’s an idea of what you can do with ham, cheese and some eggs:

Ingredients for a one-person omelet:

• 2-3 eggs
• 2 slices of ham, cut in small pieces
• 2 slices of cheese
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Salt, pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Cooking the omelet:

Break the eggs and mix them with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the ham and cook it for one minute, stirring continuously. The smaller you cut it, the less it takes you to cook it. When ready, put it aside in a dish and pour the eggs mixture into the pan. With a wooden spatula, move the edges of the omelet in such a way as to allow the top layer which is not cooked yet to penetrate below and get in touch with the pan bottom. After two minutes, flip the omelet, so it gets cooked on the other side as well. Keep it like that for one minute, then put the ham and the cheese on half of the omelet surface, then fold the other half on top of it. Cook it for about one minute or until you start smelling the cheese melting. Serve it hot with dried oregano sprinkled on it and with salsa or with sour cream.