An Easy Weeknight Dinner: Omelettes!

Living in a city, many friends (and myself) turn to take-out, delivery, even pre-made foods easily available at the market for a weeknight meal. After a day staring at computer screens and in meetings, who wants to make a meal when they get home at 8 or 9 p.m.? Often, not me. But, I've learned not to fall into the take-out trap. Yes, it's easy (and when I'm craving sushi, it happens sometimes), but over time, it's expensive.

To solve this problem, I've adopted two new practices: 1. Making a couple of things over the weekend that I can freeze in the freezer (lamb curry or soup) or that I can reheat and eat all week (this is one of my favorites). 2. Always having the ingredients for an omelette on hand.

I think omelettes are nearly a complete meal on a plate (with a side of toast or another grain, of course). Protein and fat from two eggs, and (for me), green vegetables in the filling. They're also completely adaptable to your preferences. I've made bacon and fontina omelettes (post 10-mile run) and ratatouille omelettes. Omelettes with spinach, or simply plain, with cheese. They're hard to beat.

So the next time you're wondering what to make for dinner, don't over look this classic French dish. They're not just for breakfast anymore.

Classic Spinach and Gruyere Omelette

As published on The Daily Meal

Olive oil

3 scallions, whites and most of the greens thinly sliced

1 cup baby spinach

1 whole egg

1 egg white

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 thin slices Gruyere cheese

Heat an 8–inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the scallions and cook about 30 seconds. Lower the heat to medium, then add the spinach. Cook until it is wilted, about a minute or two.

Meanwhile, mix the whole egg and egg white together well, seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the spinach, immediately stirring the egg and spinach together with a wooden fork. 

Once the egg mixture is in the pan, continue to gently stir the egg while shaking the pan, so as to gently combine the egg with spinach and to scramble most of the egg mixture (rather than letting the liquid pool). Add the cheese down the middle and cook until most of the eggs are set.

With a rubber spatula, lift the edges of the omelette to make sure it is not sticking. With the handle toward you, flip the far edge of the omelette towards the middle. Then, with your plate readied in front of you, and the pan in your right hand, flip the omelette onto the plate, rolling it into a log. 

Serves 1

Summer Spinach

I love spinach. Preferably baby spinach, as it is tender and more sweet (I think) than the older, wrinkly spinach leaves one finds near chard and collards in the market. It is also quite good for you, with ample amounts of fiber, iron, folic acid, vitamins K and C, carotenoids, flavonoids, and lutein. It is also quite versatile, as you can serve it raw, either whole (baby leaves) or julienned/chopped (larger leaves) in salads or pestos of all kind. You can also cook it, whether sauteed, steamed, fried (yes, I've had this at a restaurant named Baang in Cos Cob, CT. Amazing), or dehydrated.

So, luck be have that Martha Rose Shulman recently wrote about quick and light summer dishes using fresh greens readily available at grocery stores and greenmarkets. After spending the greater half of my weekend last weekend playing in Fairfield County, CT with my good friend Amanda, I was exhausted and in need of some food for the refrigerator for dinner Sunday night, and the coming week. Luckily, I have a bunch of fresh spinach from my absolutely favorite health food store, other than Whole Foods, in New York: Lifethyme.

My plan for dinner that night? A little breakfast. Gently saute the spinach with a bit of olive oil and set aside. Blend two eggs and pour into my omelette pan, add the spinach, a healthy grating of gruyere cheese, and a couple of finely chopped scallions, and give it a gentle stir before letting the omelette set. Serve with a piece of whole grain toast smeared with homemade muhammara, a roasted red pepper/walnut/pomegranate molasses dip, and I've got a very healthy, and tasty, balanced meal.

What are some of your favorite dishes to make with spinach?

Quick and Easy Dinner

What to have for dinner on those nights that you just don't feel like turning on the stove, or - as in my case - don't want to lift a pan? No, not something that I pulled from the freezer in a paper box! You know me - I try to choose only whole foods and as few processed ingredients as possible.

Here are three of my favorite go-to solutions - the first of which is the meal I prepared for myself tonight after coming home tired and later than usual from spinning. Topped off with a nice glass of local apple cider from Lyman Orchards. Yum!

1. Harvest Salad: local greens with a apple cider vinaigrette. Served with crumbled blue cheese (love Roaring 40's!), sliced comice pear, and a handful of spiced nuts. I added some yellow beet I had on hand for some extra veggie power!

2. Soup and bread: Tomato soup, Butternut Squash soup, Pumpkin soup...I love them all! A piping hot bowl of soup and a piece of crusty bread (with some peanut or almond butter, or melted cheese, for oomph). Mmm...

3. Omelette and green salad: This was my go to quicky meal when I was working in NYC. I could whip up a nice cheese omelette with some greens and a bit of peach mango salsa in 10-15 minutes flat!

Okay...so I'm going to add a 4th...since I have made a meal out of this -- for dinner, not just breakfast -- many times! Peanut butter and jam on toast. The ultimate comfort food. If you don't have jam (I'm partial to my raspberry jam), try sliced banana, or dried cherries or raisins. I have many friends who turn to this solution when it comes to dining at home, alone, late!

What quick and easy dinner solutions to you turn to in a pinch? Share your ideas with me!