With the end of winter come the first of the new year’s sun-fortified flavors, and what better way to showcase them than with that deconstructed designer dish, the omelet? They’re easy, quick, and low-carb/low-fat. No need for a recipe here (although I included one below anyway), just a few tips to help get the best effect out of your eggs and spring ingredients with notes.

Act 1: Mis en place. Meaning, prep everything you will need for the omelet. Once the eggs go into the pan things move pretty fast so advance prep is key. Your tasks include: beat together eggs and milk or cream. Notes: Beat thoroughly for fluffier omelets. And, don’t add salt yet – it makes the eggs chewy. Chop vegetables into a small dice. Grate the cheese. Slice fish if you are using any. Assemble tools: two sauté pans (or one and a steamer), a sharp knife, a cutting board, and a heat-resistant rubber spatula.

Act 2: Steam or sauté your veggies. While steaming, also include your choice of fresh herbs, salt and fresh ground pepper. If you are incorporating fresh fish, let the other ingredients cook half way before introducing it to heat, since it will cook very fast. If you are using mushrooms (which I happen to love), go ahead and sauté them thoroughly to really bring out their distinct flavors. If you are using spinach, wait until the last second to add it in with your other vegetables. Leave avocados raw.

Act 3: Build an omelet. First, drop some extra virgin olive oil into a small sauté pan over medium heat, making sure it gets spread evenly across the whole pan. Ladle in some of the egg batter, depending on how large you want the omelet to be (less is more). Carefully tilt the pan into circles over the flame so that the eggs spread and cook evenly and slowly. Using a rubber spatula, you can poke the egg so that runny parts cook faster or to pull the egg from the sides of the pan. Gently lift slower cooking bits of egg to ensure it all cooks evenly. Your omelet is ready for the additional ingredients when the egg still appears liquid on the top of the omelet.

Sprinkle grated cheese over one half of the eggs, following with the still-warm spring vegetables, just enough to cover one half side of the omelet. Note: if you are using fish you may not want to use cheese. Using your spatula, carefully fold the empty half of the omelet over the over vegetable side. Heat through and plate it up! Garnish your dish with fresh herbs, tomatoes, pepper flakes, grated or crumbled cheese, cucumbers, melon, scallions or chives, sour cream, and/or hot sauce.

Other choice spring omelet ingredients include: most fresh herbs, mushrooms, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, avocados, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, corn, eggplant, green onions, leeks, peas, zucchini, summer squash, spinach, mussels, oysters, cod, flounder, halibut, salmon, sole, and trout.

Chef Adam’s Salmon Omelet Recipe:

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/8 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces fresh salmon
1/4 cup chopped morel mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Thoroughly whisk the eggs, sour cream, tarragon and a little pepper (no salt yet).
Sprinkle the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan over high heat and add a little olive oil. When the oil starts to smoke a little, add the salmon and let sear for about two minutes on each side. Remove from heat and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and add a little more oil and the morels, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushroom aroma becomes pronounced (other mushrooms ought to be more well-done to bring out their flavor, but morels are delicate and can burn fairly easily). The mushrooms and salmon can be done ahead, so that the omelet is much easier, quicker and more convenient to make for brunch.

Preheat a new saute pan over medium heat (a clean pan will prevent the eggs from sticking), add the butter, and spread it around with a spatula (I like to use a heat-resistant rubber spatula) for an even coating. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and, holding the pan over the flame, tilt the pan in circles to cook the eggs evenly. You can move the uncooked portions of egg around with the spatula to help them cook evenly. Add the salmon and mushrooms, positioning them over one half of the eggs. Carefully fold the other side over and turn the omelet out onto a plate. Garnish with sour cream and chives.

Most of us are economizing this fall, and maybe you’re hoping to reduce the cost of Thanksgiving. Fortunately, most of the traditional T’day foods are fairly inexpensive to begin with. Turkey is one of the cheapest meats available – at least if you avoid free-range or organic birds – and neither white potatoes nor sweet potatoes cost much. Here are a few ideas for keeping costs down.

• Do a pot-luck where everyone contributes to the menu. You’ll need to give some thought to people’s skill sets and assign dishes based on their abilities (and you will want to assign dishes so you don’t end up with three sweet potato casseroles). You’ll also want to make sure everything can be made in advance so you don’t end up with half a dozen people trying to cook at once. Most side dishes can be pre-cooked and then warmed up in the microwave just before dinner.
• Avoid over-buying your turkey. Figure you’ll need about a pound of bird per person. So if you’re feeding eight all you need is an 8 pound turkey, and if your family only likes white meat then just buy a breast and avoid leftover dark meat which may get thrown away. Also, if you buy the turkey early you’ll have a much better chance of finding the size you need.
• If you’re hosting or preparing a big meal ~ call our cooking hotline at 1-800-977-1224! Seriously, for just $4.95, you will have access to our entire team of chefs who will make sure you feel confident and have the ingredients, recipes, and skills you need to pull off a great meal – with no costly mistakes. Sign up for your insurance policy here >>>
• And on the subject of portion size, keep the whole meal in proportion. You’ll need about 2 cups total of side-dishes per person. That would work out to 1/2 cup each of mashed potatoes, stuffing, candied yams, and green beans. And as for the green beans, frequently the frozen supermarket brand is cheaper than fresh or canned beans. Visit our Thanksgiving Guide for unique menus and recipes developed by our chefs for our members and that fit lots of family styles.
• Make as much from scratch as possible. For example, it’s not hard to make your own bread stuffing/dressing (see our Thanksgiving Recipes page for some terrific ideas) and homemade piecrust is cheaper than store-bought. As an added benefit, both the stuffing and the pies will be far better if made from scratch.
• A lot of people invest in expensive items for holidays that they almost never use. The truth is an aluminum roasting pan from the supermarket works fine, and if you want to splurge a little bit those cheap enameled roasting pans. Gravy can be served in a bowl with a large spoon and you can find plastic, disposable platters at Target. The only investment we recommend is an instant-read thermometer, something you can buy for as little as $12 and use year-round.

Please share your ideas and suggestions for saving some dough so we can truly have a stress-free Thanksgiving Dinner this year.

Kitchen Guy’s Provolone & Olive Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe

Ingredients
1/4 cup Provolone cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons olives, ripe, chopped
4 chicken breasts, skinless
1 large egg white
1/2 cup bread crumbs, plain, dry
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil, extra virgin

Method
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the Provolone, olives and pepper in a small bowl. Lightly beat the egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Mix the breadcrumbs and salt in a shallow dish. Cut a horizontal slit along the thin long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one-fourth of the cheese filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts and filling. Hold each chicken breast together and dip in egg white, then dredge in bread crumbs. In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to the prepared baking sheet, browned side up, and bake until it is no longer pink in the center or until an instant read thermometer registers 165, about 20 minutes.

I noticed another post on the site about cooking this type of roast in a slow cooker, but it didn’t say exactly how much time to allow. Also it said to use red wine or beer in the cooking liquid, how much of either should I use? thanks for your help!

I have left over rare roast beef. How can I warm it up without drying it out or making it too well done?