Let’s Eat — A Writer’s Guide to Cooking

Feeling lazy but still want a good nourishing meal? Look no further than scrambled eggs. You can have them at any meal, and there is almost nothing you can do wrong. And if your kids are just learning to cook, scrambled eggs are a great place for them to start.

Here’s a scrambled egg recipe that’s popular at our house:

Pour a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil into a large frying pan and put on low heat. When the oil is warm, add a finely chopped clove of garlic. While this is simmering, chop some green bell pepper (or most any other kind of pepper) and some green onion, then throw it in with the garlic. The amount depends on your taste, and on the number of eggs you plan to use. Move the stuff around in the pan every couple of minutes so it cooks evenly. Next, chop or slice several mushrooms. When the pepper, onion, and garlic have softened (but not disintegrated), add the mushrooms. Stir them in so they get a good coating of oil. Now add a little salt and pepper. While the mushrooms are breaking down, beat several eggs (at the moment I’m thinking six or seven), then add a few shakes of tabasco sauce, a little seasoned salt (we use Lawry’s), some dried purple or green basil, and a little flat-leafed parsley. Mix together. Then grate in some medium cheddar cheese or jack cheese, or both, and mix again. By now, the mushrooms and other stuff should be ready. If you didn’t start with enough oil, the mushrooms will have absorbed it all. Go ahead and add a little more. Then raise the heat to medium and dump in the eggs. Move the mixture occasionally with a spatula, bringing it toward the center of the pan. Don’t rough it up too much; as it cooks, just fold the eggs over. The result will be more appealing. For health reasons, it’s important not to undercook the eggs. At the same time, don’t be tempted to overcook them, because they’ll be too dry.

To go along with your feast, try sliced tomato and cucumber, or most any kind of melon. If you’re really hungry, bread is a good way to round things out.