How many times have you heard breakfast is the most important meal?

Don’t start counting. We all have. Countless times.

You will not appreciate a good breakfast until you’ve had one. I’m not talking about those breakfast buffet where I go and fill my tummy until I can barely move and be able to skip lunch. I’m talking about a breakfast you make and eat at home before going to work that will keep you full, or at least managing, until lunch time. I’m starting to discover some.

I’m the type of person who, as long as I have the chance, would sleep till noon with no problems. Even if I sleep early, I would always want more sleep in the morning. Raise your hand if you feel me.

My internal clock is messed up. I can sleep from 8pm till 7am the day after and still have a problem waking up. But on the other hand, I can stay up if I’m occupied and busy doing something for a long time. But the moment I give up to sleep you can tear down the walls or move the house and I’d still be asleep.

This hasn’t been the case lately. For the past 6 months, I have been making an extra effort to be punctual at work and arrive exactly on time. Whenever I’m home, I have to move 20-30 mins before 8, while when I’m in Beirut, I should be in the bus at least 20 mins earlier than that. Staying in Beirut would make me wake up an hour earlier to get ready, make coffee and have breakfast with Mike, pet and feed Mel, the new cat in the house, and get going. Because I have someone to wake me up, and make sure I don’t go back to bed —as I usually do— I have some extra time to make a good breakfast that doesn’t involve pouring cereal and milk in a bowl.

I came up with, yes because it takes a lot of thinking and effort early in the morning to decide what to eat, a couple of interesting sandwiches that are simple and doable with even one eye open. One involves, brace yourselves, A FRIED EGG. The other is a mix of cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, fresh thyme and balsamic vinegar. With enough bread, veggies and proteins, this will keep you managing in anticipation for the next meal. Eggs are appetite suppressant, veggies and (if) multi-grain bread are high in fibers, and coffee is good company. You’re ready to go.

It’s so simple and tasty. The way I do it, I boil water for coffee, heat some oil in a frying pan, and wash some cherry tomatoes. I crack 2 eggs in the pan and reduce the heat and start to cut the mushrooms and half the tomatoes. By the time the water boils, I add the coffee to my french press cafetière and pour the hot water right before popping the bread in the toaster. I flip the egg and mix some thyme leaves with the tomatoes and mushrooms and drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of salt. Either spread some cheese or labneh on the bread, or just spoon the mix over the bread directly. I spread some mustard over other slices of bread and lay the fried egg over it. I press the cafetière and pour the coffee in our cup. 

Sometimes we end the breakfast with something sweet. Peanut butter and jam on bread do the trick.

Et viola, kick-ass breakfast in 10-15 min from start to finish. You don’t need much preparation ahead, just make sure you have these ingredients in your refrigerator.

Open Breakfast Sandwiches

For 2 persons

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread (toast or slices from a large round loaf)
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup diced fresh white mushrooms
• 1/4 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 3 sprigs of fresh green thyme
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• Labneh or spreadable cheese (optional)

Procedure

• Heat some olive oil to coat the bottom of a frying pan
• Crack the eggs slowly in the pan so that they don’t expand a lot
• Sprinkle some salt and pepper
• Reduce heat
• When the bottom is done, flip until the other side is golden. I like it when the yolk is set
• Toast the bread and spread some mustard
• Lay the egg on the toast and serve

• Mix the tomatoes, mushrooms and thyme with the balsamic, oil and salt in a small bowl
• Toast the bread and spread some labneh or cheese at the bottom (optional)
• Spoon the mixture over the bread and serve

For the quick arranged instructions, with a cup of coffee, read the paragraph above the ingredients.