3.20.2011

The Art of Scrambled Eggs



I am super happy that eggs are making a come-back. They were getting such a bad rap for quite some time! Once the subject of such great scrutiny, under the mantra "bad for your heart," eggs are no longer taking a beating (pun intended.) The biggest culprit for being so berated was the fat content in the yolk which does contain cholesterol. However, we are beginning to understand that there is indeed a distinction between dietary cholesterol, found in our friend the egg, and blood cholesterol, found in foods that contain saturated fat.

So why eat up your eggs? Did you know that eggs contain the highest quantity of pure-protein and that nutritionist actually use this as a comparison to measure the protein content of other whole-foods? Aside from protein, eggs contain an array of other good-for-you benefits, including vitamins A,D and E, a slew of B-vitamins (all found in the yolk), and iron, choline, potassium and calcium. Not to mention, that two eggs contain only 120 calories and close to 15 grams of protein!


For how easy scrambled eggs are to make, it is amazing how many people don't get them right. There are two secrets to perfectly fluffy eggs: milk and leaving them be while they cook! People tend to pour the eggs into a hot pan and start scrambling away as they cook, but that beats out all the fluff. You must leave the egg and then slowly, and gently, "move it around" the pan.

Now, a plea for organic cage-free eggs! Caged chickens live out their entire lives on less than a sheet of paper, making these animals the MOST confined animals in agriculture. This confinement deprives these sweet creatures of many of their natural behaviors, like nesting, and furthermore, this confinement, turns these docile creatures into hostile ones, that succumb to high levels of stress, causing them to attack (or peck) their roommate. For just a dollar more, you can support organic, cage-free farms that offer their chickens a standard of living that allows them to roam freely, spread their wings and lay eggs in nests. All this, equates to a better tasting egg with less cholesterol, less saturated fat, twice the omega-3, 3 times the vitamin E, 7 times more beta carotene and 4-6 times the vitamin D!. Unfortunately, this does not mean cruelty-free but organic, cage-free varieties are your best best.


Perfect Scrambled Eggs

2 eggs
3-4 tbspn of low-fat milk
salt and pepper
1 tbspn of butter

In a bowl whisk together the first three ingredients.

In a small skillet, non-stick if you have one, melt the butter. Pour the egg mixture and let it sit for a few seconds (this is key!) until the edges begin to cook. Use a spatula, scrape the cooked edges very gently, essentially moving them from the outer edge of the skillet to the center and letting the uncooked edge fill the pan. Do this 2 or 3 times until the eggs are cooked. You might have to flip the eggs once or twice. Just make sure to NOT OVERWORK THE EGGS!

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