One of my favorite treats as a kid was having breakfast for dinner. I was introduced to such a notion by my childhood babysitter, Phyllis. She made the *best* pancakes and would bake up some crispy hash browns, like the ones at McDonald's, and serve them to me and her kids for dinner. We never did this at my house, so I always looked forward to BFD nights at Phyllis'. As fate would have it, my boyfriend also has fond memories of breakfast for dinner nights at his house growing up. When I want to do something special for both of us, breakfast for dinner always comes to mind.
With my new healthful eating regimen, I wanted to find a way to do BFD in a healthy way. To me - oatmeal & smoothies are morning food (unless you're drinking a dessert smoothie!), and while those are definitely healthy versions of breakfast, I wanted to do something more traditional and hardy, that would be in line with what I would usually make for BFD night. Usually I make home fries, scrambled eggs, bacon (fakon for moi), and French toast. I used those dishes for the basis of my brainstorming and came up with a fresh, healthy way to do Breakfast for Dinner.
I substituted sweet potatoes for red potatoes in my home fries because they offer way more health benefits, but kept the other usual suspects: bell peppers. Sweet potatoes tend to be a little... well... sweet. I still wanted that savory taste so I decided to kick up the flavor by adding some hot sauce. I put hot sauce on my home fries before I eat them anyways, so why not add it to the cooking process?
Instead of scrambled eggs, I did an omelet. An all egg whites omelet, so it would be healthier. I'm not a huge fan of eggs in general so I always have to do something extra special to them that masks the flavor of the actual eggs. (Yes, I am one of *those* people who puts ketchup on my eggs. Oh the shame!) One of my favorite omelets is the Spanish omelet, so I decided that would be the perfect recipe to make for BFD. I used light oil to cook the potatoes, and sliced those babies thin so I would have the flavor and texture of a Spanish omelet, with minimum starch. This omelet turned out SO well, I didn't add even a drop of ketchup! Now that is saying something...
As usual I had my little sous-sous chef in the kitchen with me. Do you like her new, warm weather haircut?
Since I knew I would be cooking with sweet potatoes, I couldn't resist whipping something up to satisfy her little sweet tooth. I picked up a small sweet potato just for Milli and made her some puppy dessert. The recipe is at the end of the post :-)
Let's get cookin'!
Sweet Potato Home Fries
Servings: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, skinned and chopped into cubes1 teaspoon light extra virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 teaspoons tobasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (FCBP)
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the sweet potato cubes on a nonstick baking sheet. Drizzle them with the light olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Toss to coat the potatoes in the oil & salt. Arrange them so they are in an even layer on the baking sheet.
After ten minutes, remove the potatoes from the oven.
Place the peppers and sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Pour the hot sauce, the remainder of salt, and the FCBP over the veggies and toss.
Spread the veggies onto your baking sheet in an even layer. Place in the oven to bake.
Cook them until all of the veggies are soft and the potatoes are crispy, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Serve immediately.
Spanish White Omelet
Servings: 1-2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 white potato, sliced thin
1/2 yellow onion, sliced into quarter inch rings
1 teaspoon light extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (FCBP)
6 eggs, whites only
1 teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard
1 cup baby arugula leaves
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the potato slices.
Remove the potato slices from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion rings to the pan and sauté until slightly softened, about five minutes.
While the onions are softening, prepare your egg mixture.
Place six egg whites in a small bowl. Add in the mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon FCBP.
Whisk with a fork to combine all of the ingredients.
Pour the egg white mixture on top of the onion and potatoes.
Cook for about five minutes, allowing the eggs to set up.
Use a spatula to gently lift the corner of the omelet, slide the spatula under the edge to the center of the omelet, and quickly flip over the omelet..
(So proud of myself that I did this without breaking the omelet or creating a mess!)
Cook the second side only three minutes.
Remove the omelet from the pan by using a spatula to gently slide it out and onto a cutting board.
The bottom will be slightly browned, as you can see.If you're sharing this omelet with someone, cut it in half down the center. If you're not sharing, you can leave it whole.
Place the arugula leaves in a small bowl and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Toss.
Place the omelet on your serving dish and top with a fork full of arugula. Serve alongside your sweet potato hash and a small bowl of fresh berries drizzled with honey, and you have the perfect, healthful breakfast for dinner! Salute!
Milli's Mash
Servings: A lot! for a puppy or 2 for humans
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 small sweet potato, skinned & cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon honey
Place a medium sized sauce pan filled 3/4 of the way with water on the stove. Add the sweet potato cubes.
Bring the water to a boil and let the sweet potatoes cook until softened, about 15 minutes.
Drain the water from the sweet potatoes and let them cool for about five minutes.
Place the potatoes in a small bowl and mash them with the back of a fork.
Drizzle in the honey and stir to mix.
Feed it to your puppy by the spoonful! And you will have one happy, satisfied pup :-)
(She always looks so sad in pics! But trust me, she was thrilled after eating this haha)
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