Egg, Bacon, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Having just visited San Diego last fall for our friend Renee’s wedding, I decided to take it easy on the tourist attractions during this trip and instead use my time off from the conference to unwind. I slept in late, ate breakfast while enjoying the amazing views from my hotel balcony, lounged by the pool, did a little shopping in the Gaslamp Quarter, and even caught a movie. But the best part was that I was able to visit with several of my friends who now live in San Diego – Renee, who I’ve known since second grade, and Yaling and Clark, who I went to grad school with in Chicago.

I also had some fabulous food. After my talk on Friday, I went to Osetra Watergrill with several colleagues, where I savored every bite of their tempura-dipped spinach-wrapped tuna. I met Renee and her hubby Max on Saturday at Red Pearl Kitchen, which had excellent cocktails including the Red Pearl, a mix of pomegranate vodka, champagne, cranberry and pineapple juice. We also went to Extraordinary Desserts, which had several cases full of gorgeous treats. I had carrot cake, my absolute favorite (it was one of the cake flavors at our wedding), and it was amazing! Yaling and Clark treated me to dinner at Sushi Ota on Sunday night. Everything was beyond incredible (order the salmon belly!). The right side of my brain is already spinning with new recipe ideas, but today’s recipe is inspired by another place I look forward to going to for breakfast when I travel – McDonald’s.

Yes, McDonald’s! I will admit that I love their Egg and Sausage Biscuit sandwiches but only indulge when I have travel because they have 510 calories and 33g of fat – ouch! I decided to come up with a version I could enjoy anytime that is a bit more nutritious and used some of my favorite ingredients – goat cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon.  Now I can look forward to having a yummy breakfast sandwich every weekend!

Egg, Bacon, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 slices turkey bacon
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce goat cheese
2 whole wheat English muffins, toasted

Directions:
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towel. Cut each strip in half.

Clean out skillet and add olive oil. Saute mushrooms and onions for 5 to 7 minutes over medium high heat or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Spray small skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Whisk eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, and salt, in a small bowl and add to the skillet. Cook until eggs are set on the bottom and bubbly on top. Cut in half and turn eggs over to finish cooking until eggs are set.

Mix remaining 1 tablespoon milk with goat cheese in a small bowl until smooth.

Spread goat cheese mixture on bottom half of the muffins. Top with the mushroom mixture, followed by the eggs and bacon. Cover with top halves of muffins. Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition: 313 calories, 14.4g fat, 5.8g fiber, 19.3g protein per serving
Cost: $1.17 per serving