{Recipe} sausage & eggs with spinach, provolone, & basil

This version was modified for Meatless Monday ;)

An on-the-stove, skillet-type egg dish is a healthy "go-to" meal for me because I typically have all the ingredients on hand (or can easily vary the ingredients to suit what I DO have). This dish is quick to prepare (only a little chopping involved), and it is just good, healthy comfort food that hits the spot. 

Recipe
Yield: makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red or yellow onion, chopped or sliced thinly
2 jalepenos or other hot peppers, chopped (use red pepper flakes if you don't have jalepenos)
3 cooked red pepper & asiago chicken sausages, sliced or diced (you can vary the sausage you use--but for this recipe, you want to limit the amount of sausage you put in to about 300 calories)
1 large bag of baby spinach
4 eggs
4 egg whites
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
3 slices of provolone cheese, torn
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

Get all your prep (chopped onion, jalepeno, sausages, torn basil & cheese) done first and set individual ingredients aside--this makes the cooking portion of the recipe a breeze. Combine eggs and egg whites. Stir basil, salt, and pepper into the eggs.

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped/sliced onion and hot peppers. Saute until onion is soft. Add sausage and cook until sausage is just starting to brown. Add baby spinach to skillet, a little at a time, allowing each portion to wilt. Continue stirring to combine.

Once all the spinach has wilted, pour the egg mixture into the skillet, stirring to mix all ingredients. When eggs appear to be mostly set, cover the mixture evenly with provolone slices. Stir cheese into the the mixture as it melts and continue to cook briefly until eggs are fully set.

Nutrition

This dish can be a meal in itself if you like because it takes care of all of your macronutrient needs-- fat, protein, and carbohydrates--AND is packed with one of the healthiest plant foods you can eat: spinach! Because the spinach shrinks down so much when cooked, you end up eating a significant amount without hardly realizing it. The fiber from the spinach and onion, plus the protein and fat from the sausage, cheese, and eggs will keep you satisfied and happy. ;-)

1/4 of this recipe will provide you with approximately 300 calories.

Pro Tips

While the mixture is still in the skillet pan, I divide it into 4 equal "pieces" or portions (kind of like a pizza or pie cut into 4 pieces). This makes plating the 300-calorie portion a cinch! (Although I usually end up eating 2 portions and my husband eats the other 2, anyway).
:-)

Enjoy!