Denver Omelet |Cooking With Amanda

Now that school is back in session I'm finding I really need to up my breakfast game. No, not for the kids — for myself!

During the summer my kids are at camp, which means I have plenty of time to get myself ready for a day of tasks at home. This tends to mean I bake up a batch of whatever recipe I'm testing and end up eating a carb-heavy breakfast of muffins or pancakes around 10 AM. Considering I now have to pick up my eldest from school at 2:45, this barely leaves time for lunch, not to mention the actual work portion of the day.

I'm also working out a lot more, which means I'm hungry basically all the time! All of this points to needing a quick, easy, protein-rich breakfast.

Now, surely you've heard of the Denver omelet. It's one of those classic dishes that seems to be on basically every restaurant breakfast menu. When I go out for breakfast, I always love the idea of ordering an omelet, but most restaurants in the United States are still hooked on that "portion size = value" thing, and the omelets come out with a chicken's weekly output, half a pig, and a pound of cheese.

Happily, omelets are crazy easy to make at home. They're possibly even easier to make than other kinds of eggy breakfasts, because you don't need to worry about perfect curd formation or keeping the yolk intact. Even if you have trouble flipping your omelet and it breaks, it's still going to be completely delicious and satisfying.

Some people like to roll their omelet around the fillings, but I like to sauté the fillings and then cook the egg with them. This ensures I get bits of pepper or ham in every bite, and saves me the trouble of getting more dishes dirty.

I used a mix of purple bell peppers and green chiles from my garden, but use any of your favorite peppers. Chopped roasted Hatch peppers would be excellent here, or you can spice things up with your favorite hot sauce.

This Denver omelet can also be adapted for an on-the-go breakfast sandwich: just cook as directed, then cut into 2-4 sections and put between an English muffin. You'll be ready power through any task ahead.

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Denver Omelet Recipe

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Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup bell peppers, diced
1/4 cup diced ham, cooked
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
hot sauce, optional

Directions

Pour olive oil into a nonstick skillet and heat over medium.
Once the oil is warm, add onion and peppers and sauté about 2 minutes. Add the ham and cook for 2 more minutes.
Whisk together the eggs and milk, then pour into the skillet. Cook about 3 minutes, until edges are dry and the top is no longer runny.
Gently slide a spatula under the omelet and flip one side onto the other. Cook 1 minute, flip omelet, then cook 1 more minute.
Slide or flip the omelet onto a plate. Drizzle with hot sauce, if desired.