Salmon For Breakfast? The Perfect Healthy Breakfast- Smoked Salmon Omelette

In the Caribbean, the word smoked salmon almost intuitively comes with the thought of dollar signs. #ching The imported item certainly costs a pretty penny here and is usually only on the palettes of most at fancy dinner parties. So you must be wondering.. SURE! Yep, you must be crazy. Smoked Salmon for breakfast. Yep that’s a once in a blue treat. Don’t worry, I thought so too, until I found Rainforest Seafood’s Smoked Salmon fillet. Best part is, you don’t need much of it and you can easily have this at least twice a week. It’s super delish!

Who Does Meal Planning in The Supermarket?….. Uhhhh.. Me!

I happened upon concocting this recipe one day I was at the supermarket in a frenzy, Googling, Pinteresting my daylights out to figure out what the hell I was going to get for breakfast meal prep. Usually I do this at home but I ended up in the supermarket way earlier than initially planned that day. I was so tired of eating sausage and crackers for breakfast, primarily because I knew it wasn’t good for me in the long run. (I’ve been earnestly trying to reduce my pork consumption overall. It’s my #meatweakness.) Worse, it just wasn’t sustainable for my waistline. (tears) Lo and behold I butt into one of my close girlfriends Krystal. Half hour plus into the conversation (why didn’t we just go for tea or brunch damn it!) I shared with her my frustrations. I was tired of my almond, banana/green plantain, dark chocolate meal replacement smoothie for breakfast and I wanted something hot I could sink my teeth into. She shared and truthfully nothing she said sounded appealing to me…. egg whites, protein shakes … you should see my face. I expressed to her, “I absolutely wish I could have the salmon I made for her in Christmas every morning.” Oh I LOVE some good salmon! But let’s face it, my current income and my salmon taste buds don’t corroborate. #caselost As we laughed at how absurd that was to our pockets, I secretly wished it was true.

We wrapped our conversation about an hour later and I went hunting again, searching for something ‘healthy-ish’ that could spark my interest and my creativity in the kitchen. So I lingered, lingered way too long by the salmon and my eyes spotted it.  Amongst the  fish aisle was a new (to me) product,  Rainforest Seafood had a Smoked Salmon. I grumbled under my breath as my eyes searched out the price. I could swear it was more than JMD$2000 and that just doesn’t come close to fitting in my budget. Suprisingly, the price was just over JMD$1000 (US$8) before tax. Smoked Salmon for less than$2000!! Despite the thinness of the package my brain started churning as I tried to figure how to add it to a meal sparingly. As a self professed #omeletteQueen, I jumped at the idea of a salmon omelette. My only worry was the real quantity. I was dubious about the salmon being of a good portion (aka nuff).  At home, well my doubts kind of rang true. It’s not really that much. It’s the feeling you always get after you open the bacon package. BUT really now Kerin, what do you expect for JMD$1500 of smoked salmon?!!!! I sooooooo wanted smoked salmon in my every week palette though!!! #foodieplight. With hard work and perseverance, well you know who was going to figure something out.

After months of experimenting, I have the recipe that you will die for!!!! (If you are a foodie. If not, it’ll be just great.) A recipe with real value for money. What’s so impressive is the simplicity of it. Well… my partner always says,  my simplicity in the kitchen is complexity to him so you can try it and give your feedback. Let’s jump straight in.

Recipe Notes a la How NOT To Spoil It

• I usually mix the omelette the night before  and leave overnight in the fridge to let the ingredients marinate and get the flavours fusing. Note: Do not let marinate for more than 12 hours or freeze,  otherwise the ingredients will soak up all the egg and you’ll be left with soggy ingredients and still have to add more egg.

  

• The real super healthy heroes among us can use this recipe with only egg whites.

• Feel free to half ingredients for a serving that can satiate the long belly (Bajan, meaning  greedy) or craven (Jamaican, meaning greedy) among us.

• I prefer Anchor New Zealand Cheddar Cheese with almost everything in life, because I’m a Bajan. The cheddar cheese flavour goes well with the salmon, however for the more authentic or adventurous foodies, you can try cream cheese, herbed cheese or a smoked gouda.

  

• No salt is needed for this recipe as the cheese and smoked salmon supply that.

• I love the colour from a red onion so, if I can find them at a reasonable price I use them instead of normal onions.

• It’s better to have oversized chunks of salmon as opposed to tiny string like pieces that will disappear into omelette.

• I don’t actually turn my omelette because it can be drama sometimes based on the weight.

Ingredients

7 eggs/ 12 egg whites (serves 3 normal persons or 2 ‘wanga gut’ persons)

half pack of Rainforest Seafood Smoked Salmon fillet, shredded by hand into dime size chunks

half of a small onion, chopped finely

2 stalks of chives/scallion, chopped

2 chopped tomatoes

one third cup of cheese of choice. Mine is Anchor New Zealand Cheddar Cheese

2 tablespoons of capers

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Optional Ingredients:

4 tablespooons of chopped jalapenos

one third scotch bonnet pepper (for those that love spice)

dollop of pepper jelly to serve

4 tablespooons of chopped dills

dusting of paprika

Directions (How To Mek It)

 Whisk eggs in a large mixing bowl. Clean, chop and prep all ingredients.  Add onion, chives, tomatoes, capers, smoked salmon, cheese  and any other ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir. Cover and let sit overnight in the fridge.

The next morning, take a large nonstick frying pan and set over a low heat. Add butter to pan and melt. Swirl butter around the entire pan. Add egg mix to pan and gently shake pan back and forth to evenly settle all ingredients. Cover pan and wait until the edges turn golden brown and the middle appears cooked. This usually takes around 7 minutes on a low heat. Test to ensure middle is cooked, then slide omelette from pan onto a plate. add pepper jelly to serve and viola!

I enjoy this omelette with Excelsior Water Crackers on days when I’m especially hungry. On normal days, I find this omelette quite filling by itself. On wanga gut days I eat half this recipe plus 2 slices of bread.  (Don’t judge me.) The best part is, I get a nutritious and tasty breakfast omelette that is healthy  and sets me well on my day. Oh yes tastebuds! And guess what? One pack of Rainforest Seafood Smoked Salmon fillet lasts for 2 recipes (that’s 4 – 6 servings). Fantastic value for money for smoked salmon!

If you ever get to try this recipe, leave a comment below and share with your friends and fam!