Try this at home

When a dish at a restaurant inspires me to try it at home, it’s GOTTA be good!  Well, that’s the case here with this special omelette.  While vacationing at the beach recently, I accompanied friends on a breakfast excursion to a quaint coffee shop they had frequented in years past.  While the shop itself wasn’t expansive, the menu options were endless.  Even selecting from just the omelette section was a challenge.

I decided I would try something unique, something a little different than I would normally find on other breakfast menus.  There was no shortage of those options either.  I finally settled on one that included spinach, tomatoes, pesto, and fresh mozzarella.  I assumed the filling would be cooked with the egg, but oh what a pleasant surprise to discover EVERYTHING fresh and beautifully laid in the centerfold of a light, fluffy omelette.

I could not believe the flavor when I took my first bite!  AH  MAAY  ZING!  Definitely worth of trying at home.  And so I did.  In fact, this was the first time I was inspired to make my own pesto.  I had heard it was easy and that you could pretty much use whatever greenery and nuts you want (or happen to have on hand).  I had spinach and almonds on hands so I used those instead of fresh basil and pinenuts.  DELISH!  No loss here!  And who knew it was so easy?!  OK, apparently a LOT of people knew when I browsed for recipes and healthy versions...  I also picked up a tip to use an ice cube tray to portion-freeze the pesto you make.  You rarely need more than a cube or two for a recipe anyway since it’s so packed with flavor.  [My head is spinning with new menu options now…]

So this evening I decided to try my own version of this omelette.  I intended to use egg whites or egg substitute but I forgot.  No big deal.  And I didn’t have fresh mozzarella but I did have reduced-fat, shredded mozzarella.  While the beaten eggs were cooking and setting in the pan, I diced up ½ tomato, opened a bag of baby spinach, and heated one cube of frozen pesto.  Once the eggs were done, I lightly sprinkled some cheese on one side, laid a bed of spinach and tomatoes, and drizzled the pesto on top.  Then I folded over the other side of egg and slid the omelette onto a plate.  I added a few strawberries to the plate for color and diversity of food groups.  :-)

Of course it didn’t look quite as fluffy and attractive as at the restaurant, but hey, they’ve had a lot more practice.  And people are paying them for it.  Since that’s not the case here, all I needed to worry about was getting a fork.  I took my first bite and what was my response?  OH YES!  Again, not 100% the same, but delicious nonetheless!  Oh, happy am I!!