The Athlete's Omelet

Updated OnAugust 11, 2014
Written by
Gale Bernhardt

One of my favorite recipes is what I call the athlete's omelet. It's a colorful meal, rich in vitamins and minerals, and it's versatile. Best of all, it tastes great.

Before you dive into the omelet recipe, you'll need to cook brown rice ahead of time and then chill it in the refrigerator. You'll get the best results if you use a rice steamer, but you can cook the rice in a regular pot. 

I keep a plastic container of cooked brown rice in the fridge most of the time. Because the rice is chilled, it makes the grains firm and chewy in the omelet making for nice flavor and texture. The brown rice is the ingredient that makes this omelet special.

The Omelet Recipe

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup of brown rice (chilled and pre-cooked in a rice steamer)
  • 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes or cherub tomatoes cut in half
  • 1/2 cup of fresh spinach
  • 1/4 cup of sweet yellow bell pepper

Lightly coat the bottom of a small skillet with the olive oil. Stir the egg and egg whites together and set them aside. On medium heat, lightly cook the vegetables so they remain crispy. Add the egg mixture and the rice at the same time. Cook the mixture until the eggs are firm and moist, but not hard. You're using just the right amount of heat to cook the eggs and heat the rice.

As listed, the omelet is about 240 calories with 30 percent of the calories coming from protein, 49 percent from carbohydrates and 21 percent from fat.

It packs 3908 IUs of vitamin A with 85 percent of that coming from the spinach and pepper. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin A is approximately 3,000 IU. Know that the recommended values change for men and women, but this gets you within range.

Modify the omelet to suit your needs:

  • If you need to increase the entire recipe you can scale all the ingredients up, or add extra ingredients or side dishes.
  • If you want to bump up the carbohydrates, you can add more rice or a side dish of fresh fruit.
  • You can add more good fats by increasing the amount of olive oil used.
  • The protein content can be increased by adding more eggs, egg whites or lean meat. For those of you watching cholesterol know that the entire 213 grams comes from the egg yolk. That written, there are plenty of other valuable nutrients in the yolk so don't be too quick to throw away all of your egg yolks.
  • Athletes can use the omelet for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and it makes the base for a good recovery meal as well.