Like Breakfast For Dinner

Usually when I think about eating breakfast for dinner, I picture long interstate road trips and truck stops that are open all night and advertise "breakfast served all day". Well, why not? I've certainly consumed my share of breakfast combo plates in the middle of the night and in the middle of nowhere. 

Breakfast-for-dinner can also be a way to stretch the food budget out when the cupboard is dangerously close to being bare. A couple eggs and a little cheese are all you need for the most rudimentary of omelets. It's a simple and filling meal, if a little bit boring. Poke around in the fridge and pantry though and see what else is hanging around that might wake that omelet up. After all, it's like a blank canvas. Create something unique with it.

I started with some chard that needed using up, added some bacon (we had splurged on it a couple weeks ago), a little fresh sage and finished with the last of the shredded mozzarella (an odd choice of cheese perhaps for an omelet, but it's what we had). It all went together fast and tasted fantastic. Definitely one of those "more than the sum of it's parts" type dishes. I just love those. All that was missing was a glass of chilled Rosé and it would've been the perfect late summer dinner on the patio. Without the Rosé... it was still pretty much perfect. 

 

Omelet with Ruby Chard, Bacon and Mozzarella

Serves: 2

2 slices bacon

2-4 chard leaves

3 eggs

Splash of milk or cream

1-2 fresh sage leaves, chopped

Salt & pepper

1/4 cup mozzarella or other mild shredded cheese

1. Wash and dry chard. Remove the spine and stem and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Set aside.
2. Cook bacon on medium-low until done but not crispy. Set on paper towel until cool enough to handle. Turn stove to low. Stack bacon and cut into pieces. Set aside.
3. Pour off all but a tablespoon of the bacon fat. Sauté chard in the same pan on low for 4-5 minutes, or until wilted, stirring often. Set aside.
4. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the milk, the sage and a big pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Pour egg mixture into (yep) the same pan. After about one minute, scatter the chard and bacon evenly across the eggs. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Put a lid over the pan and check progress of omelet every minute or so until it's as cooked as you like. Shake pan every once and a while to make sure omelet is not sticking.
6. When omelet is ready, shake it down to one side and ease it onto a serving plate, flipping the pan over at the half-way point, folding the omelet in half.
7. Cut into portions, and serve.

Notes: I served this with sourdough toast and a (pitifully small) handful of our Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. I used a 10 inch cast iron pan (different pans may cook slower or faster). With eggs, I always cook them low and slow. That way the outsides never overcook before the insides are done.