Green Eggs with Shrimp

Last week I wrote on my menu plan “something with egg whites” because I kept meaning to use up the carton in my fridge but somehow couldn’t possibly remember to do it without a note.

Like whipping up a quick omelette or something might have been soooo hard. Geeze.

Instead I had to leave myself that little guilt note and drag it along to the supermarket with me so it could find some inspiration and create a meal.  Fortunately I’d left a few dollars in my grocery budget for one or two impromptu items and when I wandered by the seafood counter I found that inspiration in the form of fresh hand peeled West Coast shrimp.

Back at home I got to thinking about what to do to make egg whites and shrimp special and immediately knew it needed pesto.  And a pie crust.  And romano cheese.  And a little TLC.  A quiche was born!

I blasted up a wee batch of quickie pesto (spinach, garlic, salt, parmesan, red pepper flakes, and olive oil) and made short work of this recipe.  Easy peasy!

Shrimp and Pesto Quiche

Yields 4 wedges

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen pie crust
• 1/2 cup fresh pesto of choice
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 150 grams fresh shrimp meat (cooked)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 10-12 grape tomatoes, halved
• grated Romano, Asiago or parmesan cheese (enough to cover quiche)
• avocado for garnish

Directions:

1. Thaw pie crust according to package instructions.  Preheat oven to 375.  If necessary, prepare pesto and set aside.
2. Arrange tomatoes, shrimp and green onions in crust.  Whisk together egg, egg whites, milk and pesto and poor mixture over fillings in crust.
3. Grate cheese over fillings, ensuring some coverage of crust as well.
4. Place pie crust (still in foil tray) on a baking tray and bake quiche for 20-25 minutes.  Egg mixture should be springy but not hard if lightly shaken (a little moisture is expected).  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.
5. Garnish with avocado slices and serve immediately.

Made with skim milk and my quickie pesto MyFitnessPal has this ringing in at only 335 calories per wedge.  Yum!

Served with salad a wedge of this made a lovely supper.  Served with hashbrowns and bacon the leftovers made an even better weekend brunch. 

Those are some happy egg whites! :)

Egg Whites for the Win

Hello healthy friends!  Thanks for all of the support on Friday’s January Joiner post…hope it was a little motivation for a few of you, because it was for me.  I see some serious treadmill time on my schedule today.  My lululemon pants are happy to do something other than walk the dog or sit at my desk!

Eats this week have been really quite deeeelish and healthy, a few meals thanks to this bad boy…

Remember those egg whites that were hurting my head? Turns out I had about a bazillion recipe ideas for them… once the sweet and tart Citrus Curd haze cleared from my brain that is.

Keeping true to form I had to make sure I was keeping the meal budget-friendly and went shopping in my freezer for items to bring my ideas to fruition.

Leftover smoked salmon? Well all right then. Now we’re cooking! Literally.

Egg White Frittata with Smoked Salmon and Capers

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 egg whites
• 1/3 cup cottage cheese (I use 1%)
• 1/4 skim milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1/4 cup onions, chopped
• 1 cup smoked salmon, flaked (not lox)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp capers
• salt, pepper and dill to taste
• fresh grated parmesan

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Whisk together egg whites, cottage cheese, milk, green onions, salt, pepper and dill.  Set aside.
3. Liberally spray an oven-proof skillet with non-stick spray.  Heat skillet to medium on stovetop, add onions and sauté until transparent (might need a little water to help them along).  Add salmon, stir and cook until warmed through.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add egg mixture and gently mix to distribute salmon mixture evenly through eggs.  Sprinkle with capers.
5. As eggs begin to cook use spatula to gently ‘drag’ edges of eggs to create space for uncooked mixture to fill. 
6. When mixture is approximately 3/4 cooked through, sprinkle fresh parmesan over entire dish, then place skillet under broiler.  Cook 4-6 minutes, watching carefully, until cheese begins to brown and eggs no longer jiggle.
7. Let stand 2 minutes before cutting and serving.  Sprinkle with more parmesan to serve.

This turned out better than I had expected.  The cottage cheese worked perfectly as a binder and the capers gave an excellent zing and saltiness.

According to MyFitnessPal this works out to a measly 115 calories per serving.  Served with a salad it made a perfect lunch and the next night a delicious light dinner.