Work It!

Raise your hand if one of your New Year's resolutions involves working out, getting in shape, exercise, or in any way, shape, or form simply moving your butt. OK, let me reword this...if you can lift your arms after all of those butterfly lifts with the dumbbells, raise your hand. :-)

Being physically active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and I am also trying to be more dedicated to a routine. The treadmill isn't really my friend, but I am trying to become reacquainted with it. Hopefully, we can find a way to tolerate each other on a more regular basis because, frankly, I like food. (Shocker, huh?) If I am going to eat all of the wonderful things that tempt my taste buds on a daily basis, and still want to zip my jeans, I need to have a working relationship with some kind of fitness plan.

To fuel my workouts, I love digging into a bowl of Egg Whites with Avocado for breakfast, or even lunch. Yes, avocados are loaded with fat, but it *is* a good fat (monosaturated) and omitting the yolks cuts out the cholesterol. (Although, today, those lonely yolks mocked me until I ate them, too. Oops.) I won't pretend to know all of the nutritional facts for this dish; I will just tell you that if the creamy, buttery-ness of avocado is your thing, you have to try it paired with the lean protein of egg whites.

This is almost a non-recipe recipe. It's just a crack of fresh ground black pepper, a sprinkling of kosher salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon over a bowl of egg white and avocado chunks, but it really satisfies those hunger pangs in an incredibly tasty way. Seriously. Sub a dash of champagne vinegar for the lemon, if you like. The tartness brings something exceptionally bright to the mild, nutty flavors. Egg Whites with Avocado is definitely worth a little treadmill time to land On My Plate.

Egg Whites with Avocado

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

8 eggs

2 avocados

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh squeezed lemon juice

In a large saucepan, boil the eggs. (If you want some tips, check out goodLife {eats}.)
Peel eggs and separate yolks from whites (reserve yolks for another use...but trust me, if you leave them on the cutting board while you eat you lunch, they will mock you until you give in and eat them, too.)
Chop the whites into bite-sized pieces.
Half and pit the avocados; remove from skins.
Chop the avocados into similarly bite-sized pieces.
Divide the egg whites and avocados between 4 bowls.
Sprinkle with salt; season with pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil and top with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. (Serves 4)