Breakfast of Champions

Ahhh breakfast- the most important (and my personal favorite) meal of the day. The benefits of breakfast are far and wide with many studies coming to show the value of this day starting meal. Benefits of breakfast include (but are not limited to); metabolism boosting, cognitive function aid, and increased alertness. In any sound diet, breakfast is a key ingredient.

Weeknights out on the town are not uncommon for the residents of NYC. Drink, dance, bar hop; yah know the usual routine. The caveat? Morning wake up for work. Consider yourself a champion if you make it through. Even if you stayed in, let's face it waking up early every day could kind of suck. Your gold medal? A Mediterranean breakfast that is sure to make any day a little brighter.

Ingredients:

For the egg(s):

1 (or 2) eggs

1/4 cup water

For the Isreali salad;

1 small persian cucumber

1 small tomato

1/6 red onion

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon orange vinegar

1 tsp. mint leaves (dried, use more if fresh is available)

Dash of garlic powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. fresh pepper

For the Lebneh;

2 tablespoons low-fat lebneh

1 tsp. za'atar spice

1/2 tsp. dried mint leaves

1/2 tsp. olive oil

small whole wheat pita

Procedure:

If your pressed for time in the morning (who isn't these days? well, besides my unemployed self) consider prepping the veggies the night before and then it will take about 7 minutes to throw this breakfast together.

Wash all the veggies well. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then in half again lengthwise, and then cut small pieces widthwise. Take the onion and do a large dice, we only need about 1/6 of the onion for this recipe. Then cut the tomato into small chunks, similar in size to the cucumber pieces. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, orange vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and mint (fresh is tastier but no worries if you do not have it on hand- I didn't when I made my breakfast this morning). Set aside (I put it in the refrigerator while I finish the rest of my breakfast to keep it cold).

Take labneh and mix in dried mint and za'atar, put it on your final plate and make a dip in the center, add olive oil. Sprinkle a little extra za'atar on top.

Cut the pita in half and toast it in the oven.

Now, for the "fried eggs"- I learned this technique watching a cooking network show one day (side note: has anyone else realized Giada's cleavage situation? Every single episode without fail. It's out of control!). Cooking spray a pan, heat it on high, once the pan is hot crack an egg (or two) straight onto the pan, pour the water next to the egg and cover the pot. This helps cook the egg white while the yolk takes longer to cook through. Now if you like your eggs over-easy it should take about two minutes for the egg to be done. Uncover, place the egg on top of the Israeli salad, sprinkle some salt and pepper on the egg. Have fun with the array of ingredients. Serves one. Enjoy champ!