The Payoff

Of the many rewards of a strenuous early-morning hike is that when you return home, you’ve earned a big breakfast. Here’s a favorite:

I soft scramble five egg whites with the addition of one whole egg. I find that single yolk adds enough flavor and texture to justify the extra calories and fat. I always add some protein: frequently it’s a few turkey mini-meatballs I like to have on hand. Or maybe a chicken breast. But sometimes--like today--I plan ahead and take a couple of salmon fillets out of the freezer, which I grill with a little Mrs. Dash seasoning. While the eggs are cooking I heat up some red beans that I doctor with garlic, pickled jalapeño slices and homemade BBQ sauce, I slice up half an avocado and get out the salsa and sour cream. 

When everything’s cooked you just pile it into a bowl and wolf it down (like I just did.) 

Now, this is a whopper of a meal, in terms of nutritional counts: nearly 800 calories and 30 grams of carbs. But it’s also got over 80 grams of protein and all the calories and fat (except for the sour cream, which, relatively speaking, is negligible) are of the good kind. The salmon, of course, is the real culprit: 350 cals., 20 grams of fat. But we all know salmon is something we should splurge on once in a while. 

I suppose it’s just a breakfast burrito without the tortilla and cheese. But those two items alone would add an additional 500 calories and 60 grams of carbs! So, skip ‘em. 

Besides, along with the rest of my diet today, I’ll still come in under 2000 calories. And I’m now headed to the gym. Would I eat this every day if I weren’t hiking? No. But, dang, if this ain’t incentive enough alone to get up that mountain!