A Recipe from "Say Yes"

Since moving in with Fran, Sylvia's cooking philosophy has changed just a little. Sylvia says, "It has to taste good and it has to be fast." Fran says, "I'm an old woman; we have to keep the fat and salt down or we turn into a nuclear incident." So this is Saturday lunch.

Directions:

A bowl and a wire whisk

• A frying pan and a spatula
• 4 plates - 1 for each person
• 1 small red pepper
• 1 cup of frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
• One half cup of frozen sliced yellow squash, thawed and drained
• One half cup frozen corn, thawed and drained-the one with onions and red pepper is great
• Two to four ounces lean cooked ham-this comes in thin slices for sandwiches and you can slice it again to get long thin strips. Fran and Sylvia like to use pastrami.
• One half cup egg substitute
• One quarter cup buttermilk
• One teaspoon freeze-dried chives
• One quarter teaspoon dried dill weed
• One half teaspoon of salt
• A shake of Tobasco sauce
• One quarter cup shredded Swiss cheese

Coat a heavy frying pan with a little vegetable oil.

Very carefully slice a red bell pepper into rings. Remove all the seeds and then fry the rings over low to medium heat for about three or four minutes. They ought to get a little bit cooked, but still have some crunch.

When you take the peppers out, the skillet should have a little oil left in it because peppers can make oil too. If it looks too dry, add a little more oil so the eggs won't stick.

Sprinkle the drained veggies over the bottom of the frying pan. Then the ham or pastrami strips.

Mix the egg substitute and buttermilk together. Put the seasoning in and whisk them together. Pour slowly over the veggies in the pan (slowly so all the veggies don't end up on one side).

Cover the frying pan and cook over the same low to medium heat for about seven minutes or until eggs are almost set.

Sprinkle the cheese over the eggs and cover the pan again. Let it cook another two or three minutes, then take the pan off the heat and let it stand for five minutes more.

Top with the bell pepper rings. Cut into 4 wedges.

Each wedge has about 150 calories, maybe less, depending on whether you choose low-fat ham. About 11 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, 10 or 11 grams of carbohydrate. These are the kinds of things Fran thinks about.