Smoked Gouda, Spinach, & Pepper Omelet Sandwiches

We are doing a kinda "breakfast for dinner" type thing this evening. I found these sandwiches on the Cooking Light (myrecipes.com) website, and I thought they would help fill my vegetarian requirement for the week quite nicely. The original recipe calls for smoked mozzarella, but I don't have any on hand. Instead, I think I will substitute smoked Gouda; which should give me a similar flavor. Steamed veggies and baked potatoes will round out our meal. I love breakfast for dinner, so I am looking forward to these easy and nutritious egg sandwiches.

Smoked Gouda, Spinach, & Pepper Omelet Sandwiches
Adapted From: Michele Powers, Cooking Light, JULY 2005; myrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 large egg whites
3 large eggs
Dash of hot pepper sauce
Cooking spray
1 cup finely diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup onion, diced
4 sourdough English muffins, split
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1 1/2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves

Directions:
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk until combined; set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add bell pepper and onion; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to medium. Pour egg mixture into pan; let egg mixture set slightly. Tilt pan; carefully lift edges of omelet with a spatula to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath cooked portion. Cook 3 minutes. Wrap handle of pan with foil; place pan under broiler. Broil 1 minute or until set and lightly browned.

Arrange muffin halves in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle muffin halves evenly with cheese, and broil 1 minute or until cheese begins to brown.

Divide omelet into 4 portions; place 1 portion on bottom half of each muffin. Top evenly with spinach leaves; top with remaining muffin halves.

Nutritional Information:
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)
Calories:295 (28% from fat)
Fat:9g (sat 3.6g,mono 1.6g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:19g
Carbohydrate:33.8g
Fiber:2.4g
Cholesterol:168mg
Iron:2.7mg
Sodium:686mg
Calcium:173mg





The Result:
These were good, but nothing spectacular. They were filling and yummy, but not anything truly noteworthy...pretty much just an egg and veggie sandwich. They would still make a great breakfast; but I felt these sandwiches were just a little to lackluster to be featured as the star of dinner. The husband did have one good note to mention: the cheese needed to be a little more flavorful. Maybe a smoked provolone would have been a better cheese choice. The Gouda was fine, but just a little too subtle for our taste buds. I think a sharper, more pungent flavor would have amped up these sammies a bit. I don't think I will make them again for our main meal, but they will be appearing on our breakfast table in the future.

UPDATE:
I had the leftover omelet yesterday for lunch on a wheat sandwich thin, with spinach leaves and 2 Tablespoons of red pepper hummus (I skipped the cheese all together). This version was much better than the original, and one I would consider making again for a lunch or dinner. I swear, I think hummus makes everything better!!!