Caprese Egg Sandwich.

While studying in Italy, my friends and I noticed that eggs were rarely on the menu. Other than spaghetti carbonara, which I can't exactly condone as breakfast food in the interest of health, we rarely encountered egg dishes. This, of course, was a big problem for our American hungover selves, who all should have been gifted one of these Kate Spade bags as we walked around Bologna on weekend mornings:

We finally found an adorable restaurant, Ca'Pelletti, that served eggs in all their glorious forms, from omlettes to hard-boiled to poached and beyond. Annoyingly, we didn't realize there was an English menu until the fourth month of our stay, so many a headache was worsened by our desperate attempts to translate words on our phones as we sat in front of an impatient waitress who was probably confused as to why we didn't just order pasta and get on with our days.

Since being back in America, I have whined and griped about missing all things Italian except the lack of breakfast eggs. Even in that department, though, I have missed Italian flavors. Thus, I decided to experiment with the classic BEC (bacon egg and cheese) that Americans are so obsessed with, and even add some healthy twists. Say buongiorno to the Caprese Egg Sandwich!

This bad boy is easy and delicious, and a welcome break from the boring BEC's so common in college life. The spicy red pepper jam adds a depth of flavor, while the cool tomatoes and salty pesto get nice and cozy with a blankie of melted provolone. As chewy and delicious as everything bagels are, the bread can drown out the other flavors and make the sandwich bland. A toasted, whole wheat English muffin has the perfect amount of crunch without making you too full or taking away from the taste-bud extravaganza taking place between the muff. Additionally, swapping a half of a grapefruit in as a side instead of fries or chips lightens the calorie load and leaves you feeling refreshed instead of entering into a sodium-and-grease coma which becomes a food hangover in its own right.
Ingredients
-1 Egg, over easy (a little runny yolk never hurt nobody)
-1 Whole Wheat English Muffin, toasted and halved.
-1 Slice Provolone Cheese
-1/2 Grapefruit
-1 tbsp. Red Pepper Jelly (I used this)
-1 tbsp. Pesto
-2 Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
Instructions
-Fry an egg over easy on a small frying pan.
-While the egg fries, halve your cherry tomatoes and the grapefruit, and toast the English Muffin.
-Once the egg looks about ready, place the cheese on top for a little under a minute.
-While the cheese melts, spread the red pepper jelly on the bottom half of the English Muffin.
-Remove the egg and cheese from the pan carefully with a spatula, and place on the bottom half of the English Muffin.
-Place the pesto in the middle of the egg, and arrange your tomatoes around it.
-Add some salt and pepper to taste!

What other non-traditional egg sandwiches have you come across??

Egg in a Hole: Avocado Breakfast Bowl

There's something so incredibly satisfying about avocados. Maybe it's the color, or the smoothness, or the way they can be turned into something as amazing and near holiness as guac. I love them in nearly everything, particularly anything with bacon, like this salad from one of my favorite food blogs, and I would love to try it on something a little more dressed up for dinnertime, like this amazing looking pizza (adobe...? cilantro...? shredded roasted chicken...? greek yogurt...? HI). Although it's filling and somewhat of a dominating texture on foods, avocado also makes a great accent in that it's flavor is not overwhelming, and it compliments other stronger tastes like citrus, smoky, salty...you name it. Since the versatility of this fun little guy can work at almost any meal, I decided to try it for breakfast. Here at college, I am probably malnourished most of the time (do cheezits and Franzia have protein...?) so working healthy foods into my diet is imperative. I made this all the time while I was abroad in our tiny third world-esque kitchen in Bologna, and I'm dying to try it here too. It's the perfect mix of warm runny egg and cool, refreshing avocado, and I put a bunch of black pepper on it and a bit of sea salt to spice it up. You could also try red pepper flakes, or throw in some chunks of toasted bread. My sad, limp, cold cinnamon raisin bagel from this morning is green with envy.

Ingredients

• 1 egg fried over easy (still runny but with a golden brown crust)
• 1 whole avocado, halved. Keep one of the halves intact and place the egg directly over it, and chop the other half up for extra bite sized chunks on the side.
• salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste.