Egg

In this frittata, pasta plays a supporting rather than starring role, giving the eggs a little body. It makes a very pretty, satisfying lunch served with a simple side salad.

Here’s a fun way to use up leftover pasta. When I was young, my mother would throw leftovers of any kind of pasta—red-sauced, white-sauced, whatever—into her frittata mixture for a quick snack for us kids. She generally made one large frittata, but I like to make them in individual servings; that way you can keep them in the fridge and grab one for a quick, nutritious snack, hot or cold.

There are some mornings—and they usually come after a long night—when all I can think about is a breakfast sandwich piled high with eggs, bacon, and cheese. Add a side of hash browns and I might as well be in heaven. Given my love of a good breakfast sandwich, it was only a matter of time before I decided to move that sandwich out of breakfast-only terrain and into a burger. Breakfast, lunch, dinner . . . now I can get my fix any time. I prefer my egg cooked over easy because I love how the yolk runs out and saturates the burger after the first bite, but if that’s not your thing, you should of course cook the eggs according to your preference.

Choose fresh fruit salad or cold soup, such as Chilled Strawberry-Orange Soup (page 51), to complement this quichelike dish.

This mildly seasoned frittata—basically an omelet without the work—is a different way to use leftover pasta.

Nutritious brown rice enhances the flavor and texture of this scrumptious two-cheese pie. Try it for dinner or brunch.

Capture the traditional flavors of huevos rancheros with this any-time-of-day casserole. You can make it and bake it right away or prepare it ahead of time and bake it the next day.

I love to have egg whites on hand at all times. A whole large egg white has only 17 calories and no fat, so they’re great right out the refrigerator any time of day, whether as part of a meal or for the munchies. I just sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper or one of my favorite rubs, and they’re good to go.

When I was a kid, we always vacationed at the Jersey shore. Every summer we’d go to a fantastic little Italian restaurant. Not only did they have the most incredible rolls and meatballs, they had a fettuccine dish that was out of this world. Now I realize it was probably just pasta with tons of butter and tons of melted cheese. I loved it so much, but it probably contributed significantly to my weight gain. When I threw this breakfast together one morning as I was running out the door, the gooey cheese surrounding the fluffy eggs reminded me of that fave from my past. But the good news is that this version won’t cause nearly the damage.

I love omelets, and this is one of my all-time favorites. Feel free to use any variety of olives here. No matter which you pick, you’ll have a great result.

These frittatas are ridiculously easy, especially if you consider how elegant they look. I’ve served them numerous times to last-minute brunch guests . . . and on those mornings where I just needed a hot, high-protein breakfast without any fuss. Do note it’s important to let the frittatas rest a couple of minutes before serving. You need to give the egg a chance to set a bit before eating. Also, when crumbling goat cheese, it’s best that it’s cold (it’s not a bad idea to freeze it slightly). When goat cheese is room temperature or only slightly chilled, it’s softer and thus tends not to crumble well. Also, 16 large egg whites or 2 cups 100% liquid egg whites can be swapped in for the egg substitute if preferred. Add 2 large egg whites or 1/4 cup 100% liquid egg whites to each cup of the muffin tin, and then follow the instructions below.

If you time this so the eggs are cooked just as the toast is done, the cheese should melt, eliminating the need to microwave the whole sandwich. Do note that if you’re watching your sodium, you might want to indulge in this sandwich only on occasion. It is on the higher side, but still has only a fraction of the sodium you’d find in a similar restaurant sandwich.

I love changing this wrap by purchasing an assortment of tortillas; La Tortilla Factory makes excellent pumpernickel tortillas, while Tumaro’s makes jalapeño and cilantro and even pesto varieties. Just be sure to read the labels. You don’t want to accidentally grab one with an exorbitant amount of calories or fat.

This sandwich is a convenient, even leaner twist on a more traditional Canadian bacon and egg breakfast sandwich I love. Feel free to swap in Canadian bacon, extra-lean smoked ham, or even light salami—it’s delicious with any of them. If you time it just right, the cheese will melt between the hot muffin and the hot egg. If that’s too precise for you, you can wrap the sandwich in a paper towel and microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds on low power to melt the cheese completely. Just be careful not to overmicro-wave it, or the English muffin will become chewy.

I love eating quesadillas for breakfast. They’re a snap to throw together, yet they’re a hot comfort food and a great start to your morning. The egg whites add plenty of lean protein to help keep you full and satisfied. For variety, I like to vary the kind of cheese I use.

Instead of slaving over a stove in the morning, buy packaged 50% reduced-fat bacon pieces. You’ll save tons of time, and you’ll be less likely to overindulge because you won’t have the smell of bacon wafting through the house for hours. Look for the bacon pieces near the croutons and other salad ingredients in your favorite grocery store. Or, if you love them as much as I do, head to Costco and buy them in a big bag. They keep fresh in the refrigerator for a long time.

Pat: My kitchen sinker—also known as the omelet with everything—includes bacon, ham, two kinds of cheese, and anything else I find lying around in the fridge. When my girls get involved, I need to change it up a bit by adding vegetables to the mix, so I sauté up a mixture of onion, tomato, pepper, and scallion. But if you ask me, they just get in the way of the meat and cheese, and since I’m always the first one up, I make it my way! With my omelets, there is no flipping or flapping—I just bake them in the oven.

Pat: A breakfast sandwich should be a thing of beauty, a stackable, delectable, calorie-laden gut-buster of a meal. This one is all those things. I usually have this sandwich on a warm buttermilk biscuit, but you can also split a glazed doughnut in half and use it as the “bread” (you’re already down the rabbit hole with the bacon, sausage, and cheese, so you might as well go whole hog with the biscuit or doughnut). Butter and hot sauce are the only condiments that I need, but feel free to add a slather of mayo, mustard, or ketchup, if you like. Have a fresh pot of coffee ready when you prepare this one.