Oh, how I love thee, let me count the Eggs.

There's a lot of misconception out there about the humble egg. While the American Heart Association still recommends  no more than two whole eggs a week for people with heart disease, the real culpret for raising blood cholesterol levels is saturated fat, which eggs are quite low in.

True, an egg yolk has more calories than the whites, but low and behold the yolk has been racking up kudos from recent research. "Besides offering up a host of nutrients such as calcium, zinc, selenium, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin A and the essential fatty acid DHA, egg yolks are a primary source of choline." Don't throw away that egg yolk, Marsha Hudnall, MS, RD, CD.

Plus, it just tastes so darn tasty. So when I have eggs, I usually have two, tossing only one of the yolks.

More impressive to me is the new research that suggests eggs can widdle your middle.
"Louisiana State University system researchers found that obese people who ate a two-egg breakfast at least five times a week lost 65 percent more weight and had more energy than women who breakfasted on bagels. 'Eggs are more satisfying than carbs, making you feel full longer,' says Kristine Clark, Ph.D., R.D., assistant professor of nutrition at Penn State."  http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/benefits-of-eggs Further, if your doing some strength training, eggs are ideal muscle-repair chow with their one-two punch of amino acids and and protein. Id.

Treating yourself to a breakfast of eggs doesn't take much extra time, but it seems like a nice break from routine. I always feel famished by 9 if I have only simple carbs before leaving the house, so this is a perfect replacement. And if you do your exercising within an hour before or after of your egg nomming, hello efficient muscle building! I know a few fellas that take advantage of the nutrition and convienence of eggs by hard boiling a bunch at the begining of the week and then they're set.

Lastly, they're so inexpensive! If you've gone on a health-driven grocery store trip recently you might have noticed your dollar stretching shorter. It's true that "value-added" foods, i.e. processed foods, are often cheaper than their fresher counterparts (don't get me started).  The egg is an exception; it's good to you and your pocket book at around 15 cents per egg.

So here are some tasty ways to serve up these om-noms apart from fried and hard-boiled.

Juevos Rancheros

fun to say and munch:

This was my breakfast at least twice last week: easy scrambled eggs with homemade salsa. The salsa starring black beans, corn, and cilantro was already made, so preparation was a breeze.

Coddler

My all time favorite method uses the old-school Coddler. My grandmother used to make these for me when I would stay with her and it seemed so special to have my own little porcilen and silver capped breakfast. Now she's gifted two of her coddlers to me and I love to enjoy a coddled egg with wheat toast on the rare morning I have a few minutes to spare and take in the morning.

If you get a handle on this piece of equipment and learn how long your stovetop takes, you can throw it together, set a timer, and then finish getting ready. You can also make this without a coddler, though I just call that soft boiled.

1. place your coddler(s) a pan and add up to just below the lid of the dishes; remove your coddler, bring the water to a gentle boil.

2. grease the inside of your coddler with butter.(Don't stress out, it's just a little bit.) 

3. Crack one or two eggs into your coddler depending on its size. Add salt and pepper.  

4. Screw on the lids and place inside the pan of gentling boiling water. 

5. Cook the eggs for six to ten minutes, depending on the desired firmness of the yolks. Use an oven mitt and kitchen towel to handle the coddler. 

Soft Boiled

Soft boiled, in my mind, is a step easier than poaching, which I've never even attempted. Any success stories out there?

1. Cover eggs in a saucepan with water. Turn the stove onto medium heat.

Soft yolk: 4 to 6 minutes

Medium yolk: 6 to 8 minutes

Hard yolk: 20 to 25 minutes

2. Run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process. Peel and om nom.

Oh man, this was a gift from my friends when I was going on and on about how I wanted to learn how to soft boil an egg after having it on a Nicoise Salad at a resturant. And it works pretty well. If you don't have one, you can just play around with these instructions as loose guidelines.

 

Quiche

Traditional quiche is chock-full of cheese, cream, and pie crust. However by swapping these high-calorie, fatty ingredients for lower calorie ingredients and filling it out with some veggies, you can make a healthier and quite lovely quiche! For example, you can cut calories by using mostly egg whites and throwing in a few yolks for flavor. Instead of using gobs of bacon, you can add a little ham, or better yet veggies like potatoes and chicken. Try using more pungent cheeses that will enable you to use less like feta or goat cheese over cheddar.

I'm planning on making a quiche this weekend. I'm thinking I'll make the "crust" out of thinly sliced potatoes layed on the bottom and then fill it up with onion, poblano, goat cheese and maybe just a little spicy italian sausage. I'll post pictures and a recipe if it suceeds! In the mean time, here are some tasty looking recipes.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-green-onion-smoked-gouda-quiche-10000002001882/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/crustless-smoked-turkey-spinach-quiche-10000001809150/

I'll also be trying

Eggs' n' Greens

and will let you know how it goes!

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-garlic-g-24051

How do you like your eggs?