Recipe: Egg White Omelet with Chacon

After feeling incredibly unsatisfied with my carb-a-licious menu yesterday, I decided to start today off right: with protein! So I got out my good ol' carton of eggs and looked through the fridge for some mix-ins. I didn't want it to be the same thing I had on Tuesday, even though I didn't really have anything else to put in. So I pulled out the sliced chicken, mushrooms, and spinach. I cut up a slice of chicken and used some olive oil baking spray to crisp it up. I honestly wasn't sure what it would turn into, and it first all it did was get warm. Then I started seeing this beautiful caramelization, and the pieces actually began popping out of the pan. Once they looked nice and crispy, and tested a piece. While it could never fool anyone into thinking it was real bacon, it was about as good of a substitute as I've ever had. It reminded me a lot of the turkey bacon I've spent lots of money on (I don't know why this surprised me), but cost way, way less. And I think if you cut it up even smaller and got a nice, even caramelization all over, you could definitely use it as bacon crumbles. Anyway, I decided to call my invention "chacon." You know, "chicken bacon" minus "icken b." I'm only half serious about that. It sounds ridiculous. But it's not like I'm actually trying to market it to anyone under that name. Here is a picture of my beautiful, crispy chacon.

Well, I set that aside, then used half a teaspoon of unsalted butter to saute 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms, sprinkled with some ground red pepper. As the mushrooms were starting to look good and cooked, I tossed in about a cup of fresh spinach and kept stirring things around until the spinach was wilty, then I set it all aside. Then I used some more olive oil cooking spray in my perfect little pan, and made an egg white omelet from three eggs. I've never had much success making a pretty omelet -- it always falls apart on me. But I did it today! I couldn't fit all my chacon pieces into the omelet (no such thing as too much bacon -- or chacon if you're trying to be healthy -- but definitely such a thing as an omelet too small to hold all the glory). So I sprinkled the leftover chacon on top, then added some salsa and a dollop of sour cream. I made a very, very conscious decision not to use the Tillamook cheddar tempting me in the fridge (I was so excited to see it on sale, since we usually just buy the store brand, which just isn't quite as good). Anyway, the sour cream was my consolation, to add a little more richness to the dish. I wish my blue plates hadn't been dirty. I love using them for pictures because they contrast the food so much more. The salsa and chacon kind of blend in with this one. Anyway, at 155 calories, this breakfast was delicious, filling, AND totally in line with my health goals.