Breakfast - It's What's for Dinner

I don't think I am alone in loving the whole breakfast for dinner thing when I am feeling too lazy to make dinner.  Breakfasts are usually lighter and quicker to prepare than making dinner.  Often cooking is a two day process for me that starts with defrosting a protein, marinating, roasting, preparing some sort of side, etc.  And sometimes, I just don't have the energy.  

After a long weekend of gorging myself I really wanted something light to eat.  I was thinking vegetarian, but my husband is a huge lover of all things pork so I decided to throw some prosciutto in what was supposed to be an omelet.  He doesn't particularly love mushrooms so I thought that would be a fair trade.  Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of either overstuffing my omelets until they explode, or trying to make omelets that are too big for me to flip successfully so that I end up with a saute pan full of eggy mess.  Tonight I ran into the latter problem.  Oops.  No matter, this dinner works equally well as an eggy mess topped with the sauteed mushrooms and arugula!  An omelet looks prettier, but as far as taste is concerned it makes absolutely no difference.  Alex keeps telling me that I should just make smaller individual sized omelets rather than trying to make 1 bigger omelet for two and I know I should, but I keep trying anyway.

Anyway, my favorite endorsement from Alex (or from myself for that matter) is that a dish restaurant-worthy and I truly think this one is.  I would order this dish for brunch and pay a good $12 for it and be very happy.  Those oyster mushrooms from the Greenmarket were really the star - lightly sauteed with shallots, garlic, fresh thyme and lemon zest.  After this meal Alex might even be a mushroom convert!

Recipe after the jump!

Oyster Mushroom and Arugula Omelet

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups oyster mushrooms, wiped clean with a kitchen towel, sliced and stems discarded
1/4 cup shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp evoo
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 cups baby arugula
2 oz prosciutto di parma, sliced
3 eggs, lightly beaten with 3 egg whites
1 tbsp milk or cold tap water 
2 tbsp fresh goat cheese
3 tbsp Pecorino-Romano, freshly grated
s&p

Heat a 10-inch saute pan over medium heat.  Add butter and evoo.  Once pan is hot, garlic and shallots.  Saute for 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, until golden.  Add 1 tsp kosher salt and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper.  Stir to mix.  Add lemon zest and thyme.  Stir, remove pan from heat.  Add arugula and allow to wilt.

Heat an 8-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 tbsp evoo.  Swirl pan to coat with oil.  Lightly beat eggs, egg whites, and milk in a bowl.  Once the pan is warm, add 1/2 of the egg mixture.  Allow to cook until the eggs are set, about 4 minutes, occasionally pushing up edges of eggs with a silicone spatula to allow uncooked egg to run underneath.  Once the eggs are almost set, flip over in pan.  Add 1 tbsp of the goat cheese, and 1 1/2 tbsp of Pecorino to one side of the omelet.  Top with arugula and mushroom mixture, and then 1/2 of the prosciutto.  Allow to cook an additional 1-2 minutes until eggs are fully cooked, then flip the egg over the filling and slide omelet onto a plate.

Serve garnished with additional Pecorino, if desired.


Tomato and Basil Salad

INGREDIENTS:
5 Campari tomatoes, stemmed, cut in 1/2 and then each 1/2 cut into 3 wedges
1 tbsp fresh basil, julienned 
1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
1 tsp high-quality evoo
grey sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Remove some of the seeds from the tomatoes to cut down on the amount of liquid.  Place tomatoes in a medium bowl.  Toss with basil, balsamic vinegar, evoo and black pepper.  Allow to marinate in bowl at room temperature for 5 minutes.  Serve sprinkled with grey sea salt.