David - those recipes sound delicious.

David - those recipes sound delicious.

They are, fortunately. Because I eat them so often, I'd get tired of them if they weren't yummy. You can vary the ingredients a lot in the frittata for variety, and also do different side salads.

Also, JZ and I both still do something recommended from the Dukan diet.

Which is we have two tablespoons of oat bran every morning. Which doesn't sound like much but it makes about half mug. The advantage of oat bran over regular oatmeal is that it clears out even more cholesterol (which I need considering how many eggs I'm eating), and also it expands quite a bit in your gut as you drink coffee or water. So...high fiber, lowers cholesterol, fills your gut so you're not hungry. Also, I don't cook it, as such, but just pour boiling water from a kettle over my two tablespoons of bran in a mug. As I recall, shrift, you prefer savory oats. Anyway, y'all know how you like your own oats, but between coffee and our oat bran, we're usually good until noon.

One other tip I'm doing lately...

I get a whole roasted chicken (Gus's Market on Haight has the most flavorful locally). After I eat the thighs and drumsticks for a couple meals, I break the bird down, and make a pot of really flavorful chicken stock, using the bones, carcass, skin etc. so the stock has body and flavor. I make mine with a lot of lemon and garlic.

Anyway, with the stock on hand I can make a quick soup for lunch. I already have the breast meat cut up, so I can just do a meat and broth, and then I can tweak it one way or another. I can add more lemon and Sriracha for a hot and sour flavor. I can add curry and Greek yogurt for another vibe. I can sautee some mushrooms and whatever veg I like, then add the stock and chicken.

The point of this is to have a very easy high protein meal, no noodles or rice in the soup. But by keeping the stock fairly simple, I can flavor it in different ways so it's not the same every day. You can sautee veg, or you can add frozen broccoli or peas. Or corn. You can put baby spinach in the bowl and just pour the hot broth over it. Put green onions on top if you want a ramen vibe. Or a jammy egg, or some porkbelly etc.

Again, it's simple, flavorful, easy to vary it from meal to meal, and very quick to cook. Especially if you use some of those pre-sliced veg sets at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. I get the stir fry with asparagus and put that in my soup instead.

Meaty, no bean chili

Why no beans? I know they're protein-y; are they also carb-y?

sumi, thank you for sharing your good news!

Beans are carby, yes.

Beans are carby, yes.

I honestly never really thought about that. My brain gets as far as "beans = protein and also yum" and then stops. I guess they would be carby. Huh.

It's funny because I've gone from making a vegetarian black bean chili with meatless ground soy for JZ, to flipping around and doing the all meaty chili.

A wreath of beef/pork chili around a fried egg? Superb!

Thank you, David! I do enjoy Greek yogurt, and I appreciate the reminder about eating oat bran in the morning. I'll start experimenting with savory options tomorrow morning.

If you need a bean and are willing to have some carbs, black soy beans are your go-to.