Recipes for Pleasure: Egg Edition

posted by Connie Sobczak / August 8, 2016

This morning, I am inspired by my breakfast to talk about pleasure! I just finished eating and can still taste the subtle flavors of my egg concoction lingering on my taste buds. My coffee is sitting on my desk, but I’m not ready to take a sip yet because I want the savory deliciousness of my breakfast to linger a bit longer. I have a morning egg routine. Once I find a flavor I like, I tend to eat it over and over again until it’s time to move on. I enjoy all meals, but there’s something about breakfast that makes me almost giddy with pleasure. Confession: I am in love with my egg breakfasts. They vary slightly each day, but they have a common theme: egg, veggies, and cheese. Today, I would like to share my egg-making process with you.

Note: Whenever I write about food, I’m sharing what works for me only. You will want to listen to your own body to know what is right for you. I meet many people who don’t like to eat when they first wake up, or have certain dietary restrictions for different reasons. Your best guide to self-care is listening closely to your own innate body wisdom.

Ingredients:

– 1 egg, beaten

– Lots of veggies: The main veggies that I add to my egg dish are mushrooms, greens, and avocado. Sometimes I add leeks and zucchini, or asparagus when it is in season. Sometimes a red bell pepper, but that can overpower the other flavors so I really have to be in the mood. How do I know how much to add? Through trial and error – the very best way to become an intuitive eater! I’ve learned that when I’m cooking for me only, this is a combo that gets me going:

– 1 big shitake mushroom or 2 smaller criminis

– 3-4  thin slices of leeks

– 3 slices of zucchini cut into slivers or 2 sliced stalks of asparagus

Directions:

1. Sauté the veggies in olive oil (I don’t measure the amount. My friend told me a few years ago about research that said olive oil is good for aging bodies, which confirmed my own body’s wisdom because each year I had been craving more olive oil.)
2. Add a big handful of spinach or arugula and sauté it until it is soft and all the veggies are combined. Too big a handful makes it hard to set the egg, too little and my body feels cheated.
3. Add the beaten egg and set it with the veggies. I add avocado cubes to one side and fold it in half, allowing the cold avocado to heat up.
4. Tortilla or toast? At this stage I cook the tortilla or bread that will support my beautiful egg concoction. Right now I’m into small flour tortillas, but I sometimes use spelt or corn tortillas, and sometimes I crave seed bread or baguette toast. I heat up the tortilla (or toast) in the broiler and then smear a small amount of cream cheese down the middle. If on hand, I add slivers of cucumber on top of the cream cheese before lovingly placing my egg in its nest. I grate a bit of white cheddar cheese on top to add a tangy flavor, and a dollop of green salsa if we’ve got it.

Enjoy!

I fold the tortilla in half, pick it up with both my hands, and take my first bite. I love eating this dish with my hands because there is something about having the whole thing under my nose where I can smell all of the blended flavors that accentuates the taste.

Even on days when I have to get out of the house early, I wake up with enough time to make my egg breakfast, because I know I’ll be grumpy without it. And if it’s a day when I’m working at home, I try to remember to stay tuned in to the flavors of my food, even if I’m eating at my computer. Over the years I’ve learned that giving myself time each morning to experience the pleasure of my breakfast is key to my success. I live what I teach!

Final thoughts:

I get disturbed when I read weight loss or nutrition tips about measuring the amount of vegetables one eats; cups of this, grams of that. I can’t go there. I am reminded of when my sister Stephanie (who died from the consequences of hating her body) went to a diet program in her teens and used a scale to weigh out every morsel of food she was allowed to eat. I’ve learned that looking at food before I start cooking and imagining it in my stomach at the end of my meal is a great guide for me to determine the right amount. And if I get it wrong, that’s okay, because it’s simply a learning experience and I have my next meal to try again.

When I healed from a distorted relationship with food in my early twenties, I made a vow to myself that I would fill as many of my meals as possible with pleasure. It changed my life and I’ve had countless great moments with food over the past 35 years. Stephanie never got over her eating issues in her short life. It’s sad, because she loved delicious flavors so much. To honor my own life, and the memory of my sister, I have allowed pleasure to be one of the primary guiding principles to my health, happiness, and emotional wellbeing.

Check out Embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and quiet that critical voice!) to read my story of healing, and to learn more about Practice Intuitive Self-Care and the other four Competencies of our Be Body Positive Model.

Additional resources:

Intuitiveeating.com

Lindabacon.org

Connie Sobczak

Connie Sobczak

Connie Sobczak, author of Embody and Co-Founder of The Body Positive, loves to watch the light and power that emerge when people recognize and embrace their magnificent, authentic selves. Her favorite pleasure activities include eating delicious meals, rock climbing, and running as fast as she can down mountains with her daughter Carmen. She gets true rest by getting lost in a good book. She is currently in love with The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich, and The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri.