Quick and Easy Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Whites with Broccoli, Red Bell Peppers, and Thyme

When I was a child, I used to love eggs. I’m not entirely sure when all of that changed, but I went from loving eggs to detesting eggs.  I still can’t really take the smell and if I make them, I have to open all of the windows to make sure it doesn’t hang around, long after I’m done eating. But sometime during high school, I decided to try an omelette, and just like that, my egg disgust came to an end.  Now I can eat omelettes and scrambled eggs but keep the fried, poached, and sunnyside up away from me. Please.

I decided to give vegetarianism a try a couple months ago, and as a result, I started cooking for myself more often. Considering that I did that just about never, I started to feel like a big deal. There was a period where I was eating eggs semi-regularly for breakfast, so in order to avoid consuming large amounts of cholesterol, I decided to make my breakfast with egg whites. However, it turns out that egg yolks won’t drive up your cholesterol! Diets high in saturated fat drive up cholesterol and egg yolks actually have more heart-friendly monosaturated fats than saturated fats. #themoreyouknow Good thing this easy breakfast can be made with egg yolks!

You know what stinks? When you’re excited to eat something but of course, you’re all out. Ughhhh. Normally I like to throw a lot of things into my scrambled egg whites: asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and shallots (or fancy onions as my friend Carnelia calls them). Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I ate all of the asparagus and the shallots. No clue who ate the tomatoes though. At least I had thyme. By including thyme in your eggs, you elevate them to a place of awesome tastiness. Trust me.

So this is a simpler version of my go-to egg breakfast, the one that I often made these past couple of months. It’s a great way of getting the flavors of an omelette without all of the patience and technique needed to make an omelette (since I have never managed to successfully make one, the requirements are more than I can handle). Also, if you chop up large amounts of your vegetables, you can store the leftovers and use them for dinner or another meal.

The best part about this dish is that it cooks so quickly making it easy to have a healthy start to your morning. If you chop your vegetables the night before, it can be ready within ten minutes max.  With broccoli and red bell peppers in the mix, you can have beta-carotene, fiber, lycopene, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E before you even leave your house!

Do you make eggs for breakfast before heading to work? What do you put in them?