Breakfast for dinner is always a fun treat.  Not only are breakfast foods pretty easy to fix, but in the evening you have time to enjoy them.  Mornings are often hectic, and if you’re anything like my family, you scarf down your food because no matter how early you get up, you’re always running late.

This past week I’ve made a lot of flour-y foods:  burritos, fettuccine, quesadillas, and lasagne.  I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner last night that didn’t use flour.  It had to be fairly quick and something I wouldn’t have to run to the store for.  (Oooo – sentence ending with a preposition.  Sorry!)   Omelettes are often my go-to food to meet that criteria.  Fine with me (and my husband) –  eggs actually sounded really good.

There are all kinds of tips floating around out there to make fluffy omelettes – use water, use milk, separate the yolks and white, put a little baking soda in them.  Fugedaboudet! (that’s ‘forget about it’ for those of you whose name doesn’t end in a vowel).  I’m going to tell you how to make a fluffy omelette that’s easy as pie. (And, pie really is very easy to make, btw.)

When I make an omelette for just my husband and myself, I make one large one and split it (actually, my husband gets 2/3 and I get 1/3 – that’s how we roll!)  Gather up your fillings – I always use some kind of cheese, then a few other things that sound good.  Last night I used feta cheese (I needed to use it up), kalamata olives, capers, and mashed avocado.  Omelettes are great for finishing up those bits and pieces you saved because you just couldn’t bear to throw them out.

FETA/OLIVE/AVOCADO/CAPERS OMELETTE – serves 2 (unless you’re training for the NHL)

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 T butter (or more, but NOT less)
• fillings:  anything you fancy (cheese is a nice ‘glue’ so I always include it)

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them well with a fork.  All the yolks should be broken up.  Now prepare all your fillings and have them ready to go.  You’ll need a 10″ skillet with a lid.  Melt the butter in the skillet using a medium flame.  Spread it evenly around the bottom.  When it’s completely melted and just starting to brown, pour in the eggs.  Let them cook undisturbed for about a minute.  Lower the flame just a little.  Add your fillings to one half of the eggs.  Cover and let cook maybe a couple of minutes.  The goal is to get the uncooked eggs on top to cook.  Once most of the eggs on top are cooked, take a spatula and gently lift an edge on the half where there is no filling.  Tilt the skillet so the uncooked egg runs underneath the lifted part.  Remove the spatula – the eggs that just ran down there will now cook. Turn down the heat, cover, and cook maybe 30 more seconds.  Remove the lid and check – if the eggs are mostly cooked, fold the unfilled half onto the filled half.  Turn off flame.  Cover again and let sit for another minute or so to finish cooking and set.

This isn’t rocket science.  I think the key to a fluffy omelette is to pour the beaten eggs on a hot, buttered skillet and let it cook undisturbed until it begins puffing up. And leave the bottom alone (except when you lift up the edge to let the uncooked egg run down there).  Don’t run the spatula along the bottom to check what it looks like – it’s fine.   I’ve tried all the experts’ methods.  Then one day I was in a hurry (or maybe just lazy) so I just threw the eggs onto the hot skillet and left it pretty much alone.  Sometimes, simplicity is best.

From the picture above you’ll see I also made ‘bacon’.  Remember, the quotation marks mean what’s in the quote marks is fake.  I LOVE Morningstar fake bacon.  I actually prefer it to the real thing – it’s got the crispiness and bacon flavor without the greasy fat.  I always used to pick off the fat on real bacon when I was a kid.  There wasn’t much left after that.  With the fake stuff, you can eat the whole thing.  Even my husband (a die-hard carnivore) loves the Morningstar bacon.  He even made extra last night because the 2 I served him wasn’t enough.  I haven’t tried any other brands so I don’t know if there’s something as good or better.  Let me know what you’ve found!