Scrambled Eggs Let You Take It Easy

It’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Major cooking is out of the way for a few days and you just want to crash. The family must be fed, however, and an easy dinner of scrambled eggs, with a twist, fits the bill.

Although eggs have their share of fat - 5.6 grams, making an egg 64 percent fat - there are people who swear by them. I found the following interesting tale in Irene Chalmers “The Great Food Almanac” about a gentleman who loved his eggs:

“Not long ago, researchers discovered an 88-year-old man in a Colorado retirement home who had eaten 25 soft-boiled eggs a day for well over 15 years as part of an otherwise sensible diet. In all this time he had maintained good health and a normal cholesterol level.

“Gerontologist Fred Kern Jr. of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, said that his patient had ‘extremely efficient compensatory mechanisms.’ His intestines were absorbing only 18 percent of the cholesterol he ingested, compared with a normal 50 to 60 percent; also, his liver manufactured double the normal levels of bile acids that break down cholesterol.

“After eating something like 131,400 eggs in getting on for two decades, the old guy complained only of loneliness since his wife’s death - and before too long he had joined her.”

There are a few things to notice about this little story, as it relates to most of us. A large egg yolk contains about 213 milligrams cholesterol, which is pretty close to the recommended limit of 300 milligrams per day. Your body absorbs a certain percentage of this, and most of us will not have the efficiency of 18 percent absorption, as this man did.

A lot of cholesterol impacts on the liver, which must produce bile acids to help process it. That can overload the system as well as result in a cholesterol level that will send you to a cardiologist.

All that said, here’s a recipe that uses both whole eggs and egg whites for a meal with flavor.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Spanish-Style Scrambled Eggs

Adapted from “Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook” (American Heart Association).

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 green onions, finely chopped

2 small ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

3 large eggs

3 large egg whites

2 tablespoons prepared salsa or picante sauce

Freshly round black pepper to taste

1-2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley

In nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and tomato; saute until onions are soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

In a bowl, combine eggs and egg whites, salsa or picante sauce, and pepper; beat until frothy. Add to the skillet. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until almost set. Add cilantro or parsley and stir until eggs are fully set.

Yield: 4 servings.

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