Summer Brunchin’

We love slow Saturday mornings in the summer. No rushing through breakfast to get everyone out the door. If all goes well, we sleep in long enough to call it brunch.

A relaxing morning is nice for an easy omelet. Simple recipes place even more importance on using high-quality ingredients, so for this recipe, we recommend exclusively using pastured eggs. Grocery store eggs can’t compete with the rich flavor of pastured eggs. The labels and slogans on supermarket egg cartons are just clever words invented by the corporate marketing department; they don’t reflect the reality of the corporate farm. Pastured eggs from a local farm (or your own backyard!) don’t require these labels, because you can look across the fields and see the happy animals for yourself. You can’t help but taste the difference. 

Let the eggs reach room temperature before cooking. Cold eggs straight out of the fridge take longer to cook in the pan, which makes for a tougher omelet. Whisk the eggs with a fork just until the colors combine and no more. Add a teaspoon of water before whisking to help the egg whites and yolks come together. The water will steam out in the pan and help the omelet cook a little faster.

For this recipe, we used jalapeño peppers, gorgeous tomatoes, and fragrant summer herbs as toppings simply because they were in season. Let your preference and what’s growing in the garden guide your toppings.   

We should tell you that this three-egg omelet recipe makes a huge serving! You could easily split this omelet with the one you love to save room for the melons. And be sure to save room – these irresistible melons, harvested at the peak of ripeness, are the essence of summer sweetness.

Easy Vegetable Omelet

Makes 1 large omelet for sharing
Prep time: 7 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
4-6 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup arugula or spinach
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 eggs, brought to room temperature
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Place an 8” non-stick pan over medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil. Add peppers to the oil once it begins to shimmer. Sauté onion and pepper slices for 3-4 minutes until beginning to become translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 additional minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture to a clean plate. 
Melt butter in the same pan. Meanwhile, beat eggs in a medium-sized bowl until they begin to froth. Add eggs to the butter once it has just started to become fragrant, before it turns brown. Rotate the pan in either direction until egg is evenly coating the bottom. Remove the omelet from heat. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the eggs. Sprinkle arugula/spinach over 2/3 of the egg, leaving 1/3 exposed. Immediately transfer reserved vegetables onto tender greens to finish cooking them. Using a rubber spatula, carefully loosen the edges of the egg. Tilting the pan over the serving plate, gently slide the omelet onto the plate, folding the exposed third over the vegetables. Garnish omelet with fresh vegetables and sliced avocado, salsa, or cilantro sour cream. 

Melon with Mint Salad

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
3 lb seedless watermelon, halved
1 cantaloupe, halved
1 honeydew melon, halved
1 bunch fresh mint 
(rec: pineapple or peppermint varieties)
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp local honey

Directions: 
Using a melon baller, scoop out the three melons until little to no flesh remains on the rind. Combine freshly squeezed lime juice and honey, whisking well to disperse the honey. Pour honey-lime mixture over melon, stirring to distribute evenly. Sprinkle finely chopped mint throughout and stir a final time before serving.

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In this pizza recipe, the basil pesto brings an unexpected wave of freshness to the savory sausage. We like a thin crust so the resulting dish doesn’t become too heavy. Be ready for this brunch pizza to disappear fast.

We purchased the pan sausage from Turkey Hollow Farm of Cuero. They also offer spicy pan sausage, and even Italian sausage for different pizza occasions. The pork, pastured eggs, and every other ingredient for these recipes can be found at the Corpus Christi Downtown Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m.

Summer mornings are meant to be savored. These rich, savory, spicy, and sweet flavors of the farm are also meant to be savored. Shop ahead of time for excellent ingredients, and let your slow weekend morning begin with brunch perfection!