Floptimism goes South of the Border (Omelet, that is)!

There’s a reason I couldn’t pass up telling you about what I named the South of the Border Egg White Omelet on this wonderful, wonderful fall day. (How often is it that I use “wonderful” to describe gloomy, rainy weather?) You see, as I’m writing this entry about this fiesta-worthy breakfast (or lunch or dinner), I’m also packing to go South of the Border myself! Yes, that’s right - tomorrow bright and early I will be boarding a plane to Cancun, and I’m both excited and nervous (excited for obvious reasons, nervous because I spent just a little too long on the CDC website in preparation for the trip). I thought that I’d be able to be a little bit more smug about this trip – you’d think that with December rolling in, the weather here would be cold enough to make most people bright green with envy. And true, I’m still smiling a little obnoxiously when I tell people where I’m going, but it certainly doesn’t have the same edge. Which is probably a good thing.

In any event, this trip means a few things for Floptimism: (1) You won’t be hearing from me for a while. I’ll have limited internet access, so I doubt I’ll be writing any updates. You may see me on Twitter now and then – maybe even some pictures of the foods I encounter (do I smell another Food Diary post a-brewing?), but until Monday I’ll be more or less MIA (2) I’ll be missing yet another Thirty Minute Thursday post. I chose not to write one last week on Thanksgiving, and will be skipping out again. The good news is that the post I have planned for next Thursday features two recipes, so that almost makes up for it, right?

Now back to this omelet. It wasn’t spicy despite the jalapeno (don’t remove the seeds if you like it really hot), but it was still incredibly good. Don’t be afraid of the pepper like I was! The omelet is creamy, satisfying, and bursting with fresh cilantro flavor – ironic, since my cilantro came from a little tube. Plus, it shares this one, beautiful characteristic of pretty much any egg dish – it’s easy and perfect for any time of day. In fact, I rarely eat eggs in the morning, but I probably have them for lunch at least a few times each week. This is one of the ways I get creative with my meals – I love finding new and interesting additions to eggs, especially omelets. I’ve done everything from savory veggies to sweet fruit, added a nut coating, eating as a low carb meal or wrapping it all up in a flatbread. There’s not much that you can’t do with eggs, so use this recipe as a guideline and adjust it however you see fit. Feel free to use whole eggs or a combination if you prefer – I chose all egg whites this time, but will often mix 1 whole egg with some liquid egg whites, and just recently made a fantastic omelet with two bright yellow, almost orange fresh local eggs. (As a side note, if you haven’t yet experienced the magic of really local, well-raised eggs…save up $4 and give them a shot because they are worth it, down to the very last penny.)

So go ahead and make this! It’s not quite the same as going to Cancun, but hey – at least you don’t have to worry about the state of the drinking water in your kitchen, right? (Oh, the horror stories that have found their way into my impressionable little brain…)