Easy Egg Recipes In a Rush

Are you in a hurry, running from work to pick up kids at school, driving them to sport or extra-school activities? Are you one of those many persons who run all the time from one place to another and have almost no time to spend cooking healthy meals?

There is a quick, easy and effective alternative to pizzas and deep-frozen dishes for you to prepare when you get back home, tired: eggs.

Eggs are not just food reserved for breakfast; instead, they are excellent meals to be taken during the day especially if you have little time to pass in the kitchen.

Eggs provide proteins and therefore can replace meat and fish; their white contain very little fat; which makes them perfect aliments when one is on a diet. Eggs can be prepared in many different ways, whether boiled, fried, scrambled, as omelet and one can even consume them raw (for people who are not subject to salmonella). 

Here are a few excellent egg recipes for persons in a rush.

Photo: M. Chambers (Wikimedia Commons) 

The very first recipe we are going to review here is the one of fried eggs. This is the most simple egg recipe; which might look a bit insipid - particularly if you eat fried eggs for breakfast. However, with some creativeness you can make a tasteful meal with this basic recipe.

Ingredients for two persons:

• 4 eggs,
• 1 teaspoon butter or margarine,
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

• Melt the butter in a pan and warm until it crackles,
• Break the eggs and overturn into the warm butter,
• Add salt and pepper to taste,
• When the white of eggs is cooked, remove from the fire and serve with French loaf. 

Improve your fried eggs:

• If you like, you can fry garlic before pouring the eggs in the pan, this will give them a Mediterranean taste.
• Another idea would be to prepare fried potatoes: they are excellent dipped into the egg yolk.
• Add some vegetables such as pickled cauliflower, onions, cucumber as well as sliced tomatoes.
• Cut a heart, a circle or some original shape in sliced bread, deep-fry slices in melted butter and insert an egg into each slice, add salt and pepper to taste and remove from fire when cooked (see picture below - photo courtesy of Scott D. Feldstein).

Another very original way to cook eggs is the Spanish potato omelet (tortilla de patatas). This quick and easy egg recipe can make a fantastic dinner.

Ingredients for 4 person:

• 2 lbs sliced potatoes
• 1 chopped onion 
• 4 beaten eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Pour sliced potatoes and chopped onion in a non-stick pan, cover with olive oil, cover the pan and cook until potatoes are soft inside and crusty outside.
• When potatoes are cooked, remove oil and pour potatoes and onion in a salad bowl.
• Pour beaten eggs, salt, pepper and mix - make sure you don't crush potatoes.
• Warm 1 teaspoon olive oil in the pan and pour the mixture,
• When the first face of your omelet is cooked, remove it from the pan, use a big plate or the lid of a pan to turn it so that you can cook the other side.

That's it.

Serve with a salad made out of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers flavoured with vinaigrette. Optional: toasted or French bread.

Belgians do not eat eggs for breakfast, however, they enjoy eating eggs for lunch and/or dinner. One of my favourite omelets is one to which I prepare with tomatoes and cheese. I savour a tomato-cheese omelet with some warm and crunchy French baguette.

Ingredients for 1 person:

• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1/4 cup grated Gruyere
• Salt, pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon butter (or margarine)

Directions:

• Pour the chopped tomato in 1 teaspoon hot butter or margarine, cook for 1 or 2 minutes,
• Add beaten eggs and cook for 2 minutes
• Add grated Gruyere and softly mix all ingredients
• Salt and pepper to taste
• When omelet is entirely cooked, serve*.

* Depending on your personal taste, you will cook the omelet more or less - personally I like when my omelet is light brown.

Alternative:

If you cannot find Gruyere in your area or for some other reason - I know that Gruyere is quite expensive in non European countries - a good alternative is to replace it with grated Emmenthal or even with Cheddar.

Photo: Niroopreddy at en.wikipedia 

Still in the collection of quick and easy egg recipes for the rushing person is another favourite egg recipe of mine: scrambled eggs with ham and green asparagus. 

Ingredients for 1 person:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 can green asparagus or fresh green steamed asparagus
• 1/4 cup diced ham
• 1 teaspoon butter (or margarine)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Warm butter in a non-stick pan,
• Add ham and cook it for 1 or 2 minutes,
• Add beaten eggs, salt and pepper and let cook for 2 or 3 minutes on just one side
• Add asparagus cut into dices and slowly cook,
• Serve with some bread or potato salad when eggs are entirely cooked. 

There is a large number of ways to accommodate eggs. Obviously, most egg recipes include omelets and scrambled eggs:

• Peasant omelet (bacon, potatoes and leeks)
• Forest omelet (mushrooms)
• Rustic omelet (tomatoes, zucchinis, onions)
• Spinach omelet (spinach and bacon)
• Basic omelet
• Ham omelet (ham and cheese or mushrooms) 
• Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
• Lumpfish roe and scrambled eggs
• Scrambled eggs with truffle 

And many more.

Obviously, you can always get inventive and create your own egg recipes. The possibilities are endless and you are only limited by your imagination.