What a great way to start a brand new year!  Of course, fine traditions like this one can begin on day two, too…or day three, four or five.  And why wait until morning to enjoy a good breakfast dish?  Here’s a little something that can be whipped up anytime.

2012 Scramble

I put this together in one of my favorite ways – by cleaning out the fridge.  First, I found I had just two eggs left.  At least they were the extra large brown variety and from a dozen brought home very recently for lots of holiday baking.  Next, I noticed three nice baby bella mushrooms and half a container of cherry tomatoes, some of which were just stating to wrinkle.  I sorted out the good ones and went to work.  Placing a little extra virgin olive oil in my saute pan, I waited until that got nice and hot then added the portabellas.  Back inside the fridge I found a handful of baby spinach leaves, just the green and iron needed to rev up this dish.  On another shelf, a jar with just a few pitted Kalamata olives left – perfect for the single serving I was whipping up.  When the bellas began to soften, I threw in the spinach and stirred just until it stated to wilt. About that time, I tossed in the toms and olives that I had sliced lengthwise in halves and sauteed this mix over low heat, just until the tomatoes were warmed through.  At that point I cracked the eggs right into the pan where I gently scrambled this all together. You can mix the eggs up separately in a separate dish if you want, but I’m a big fan of one dish dinners.  This whole mix takes just a few minutes to blend and cook with near constant stirring.  I use a stiff rubber spatula that helps remove all the egg from the pan which eases cleaning.  At the very end, I stirred in some leftover farmer’s cheese from our appetizer plate the night before.  Feta is a great low-fat, high-flavor option, too.  Just minutes after I started, I slid the 2012 Scramble onto a plate, garnished it with a slice of orange and some blueberries and served it to my husband with his mom’s recipe homemade Polish Platzek on the side, a gift of bread and memories from his cousin Laurie’s kitchen.   And 2012 is off to a good start.