ArcaMax

The Incredible Edible Egg

When I was a little kid I came down to breakfast each morning and witnessed my dad eating two poached eggs. I marveled at how he ate the same thing every day.

I started Catholic school in the days when all the students attended Mass every morning. Every grade had their section in the Church. Starting in 2nd grade we were allowed to take Communion so that meant we had to fast for three hours in advance. Those were the rules in the 60s. As a result, I had to take my breakfast with me on the bus. When I got to school, we went to Mass and then ate breakfast at our desks. My mom would take one of those little aluminum foil pie pans and put a freshly poached egg in there for me. She’d cover it with aluminum foil and my egg would still be warm when I went to eat it after Church. I liked it so much I had the same thing every day for breakfast too; just like my dad. My fellow students were eating cereal out of those little boxes. I had an egg. I felt very special.

Starting in the 70s my father was advised by his doctor to stop eating eggs. He switched to cereal. At his doctor’s advice he switched to eating carbohydrates for breakfast. Bad idea.

Eggs have lots of vitamins. They are rich in the B vitamin family, and also contribute vitamins A and D. In particular, egg yolks are one of the greatest sources of riboflavin, B12, and choline, which not only help developing brains in utero, but may protect us from age-related memory loss. In the mineral department, eggs are especially rich in selenium. Eggs are also abundant in lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids which protect our eyes from macular degeneration, among other benefits. And the lutein in eggs seems to be better absorbed than when it comes from vegetable sources.

Almost all these nutrients are in the yolk of the egg. Ads are coming out now for fast-food breakfast sandwiches that are made with egg whites; like that’s something to celebrate. This is just another example of dumb diet advice coupled with mass marketing. Why would you take the egg yolk out of the breakfast sandwich and call it healthier?

The argument is that eating egg yolks will raise your cholesterol, which in time would clog your arteries and give you a heart attack. That’s the same bad advice my father got.

So what about the cholesterol? Eggs have a lot of cholesterol, so for a long time it was considered unhealthy to eat too many. The advice on this is changing as more research comes out. Eggs aren’t harmful to our health. In fact, some studies show an improvement in blood lipids from eating eggs. It seems that this high-cholesterol food raises our "good" cholesterol rather than the "bad." The research is showing it’s the inflammation from consuming too many carbohydrates that will set you up for clogged arteries. Eat the eggs. Skip the ‘sandwich’ in the breakfast sandwich.

My dad had it right in the first place.

Spring Oven-Baked Omelet

Daniel Boulud is one of my favorite chefs on the planet. I celebrated my 40th birthday at his restaurant Daniel in New York City. This is a Plan Z diet version of his spring omelet.

Serves 4

For the omelet:
8 large eggs
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 large shallot, minced
1 cup of pencil-thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup of red bell pepper pieces, diced

For the salad:
4 cups of arugula
Lemon juice (optional)
Grated sea salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spray an 8 to 10-inch OVENPROOF skillet lightly with olive oil spray. The skillet needs to be made of cast iron so it can handle the heat of the oven. Put in the minced shallot, red pepper and asparagus pieces. Sauté on medium until the veggies are crisp and tender. This should take about five minutes. Stir often. While this is sautéing, whisk the eggs and cream together in a bowl until the mixture is smooth.

If using a cast iron skillet:

When the veggies are tender, spray the pan again with more olive oil spray (leaving veggies in there). Add the egg mixture. The eggs will begin to cook on the bottom. Tilt the pan and put your spatula under the eggs mixture to open up a little room so the runny egg can distribute. Once the eggs look half-cooked, turn off the heat. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Put the cast iron pan in the oven and let it cook for three to five minutes until the omelet is baked and a light golden brown.

If you don’t have a cast iron (ovenproof) skillet:

Transfer the veggies into a lightly oiled 9-by-9-inch Pyrex pan and then pour the egg mixture over the veggies and bake it. This will take longer, approximately 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it since the oven is so hot!

When the omelet is a light golden brown, remove the pan from the oven and cut it into four sections. Serve each section on a plate with the arugula salad. The salad can be dressed with a bit of lemon juice and grated sea salt and pepper.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola