Green eggs and ham: part of this complete breakfast

I just noticed that the colors in this breakfast are those traditionally used in Mardi Gras decoration: yellow, green, and purple. Also topical because Dr. Seuss' birthday is tomorrow.

This is the kind of breakfast I make for myself on a weekday, when I've got the whole morning to get ready for work, I'm full of energy, and don't have any chores waiting for me. Every morning, I share a pot of coffee with Kevin, and we both have fruit smoothies. Weekdays, he leaves for work with a container of oatmeal or some peanut butter toast to eat at mid-morning, and I'll often have the same, instead of or in addition to a couple of scrambled eggs. Not long ago, I put some herb butter in my morning scramble, and was so amused to have made green eggs that I bought some ham so I could make Green Eggs and Ham. I like them, Sam-I-Am.

The herb butter is a simple blend of equal parts parsley and cilantro, with a little garlic, salt, and pepper. Use two cups of fresh herbs like these, or a lot less of more potent herbs like rosemary, fresh citrus zest, or anything dried, with two cups of butter, blended in the food processor. If it's not moving smoothly in the food processor, add a little olive oil until it does. It keeps beautifully in the fridge, for more than a month, and goes on all kinds of things: plain rice or steamed vegetables, on chicken or fish, in eggs.

When my bananas get ripe, I peel the whole bunch and freeze them, for use in smoothies and baking. I use vanilla soymilk because we get it cheap in shelf-stable quart packages. Do not follow my poor environmental example on this. Use any kind of milk, but if it's unsweetened soymilk, add a teaspoon or more of sweetener, like maple syrup.

Smoothie

Serves 2

2 bananas, frozen
11 strawberries, hulled and frozen
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 cup yogurt
Cold milk to measure (about 2 cups)

Put the fruit and yogurt into a 5 cup capacity blender. Pour milk to the 16 oz line on the blender. Blend on the highest setting until the particles of blueberries are the size of coarsely ground pepper. Serve right away.

Green Eggs and Ham

Serves 2

4 eggs
2 oz diced ham
2 T herb butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat an iron skillet on high. Add the diced ham and toss while the skillet heats.
Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper. When the skillet is hot, add the eggs, then the herb butter. Toss the eggs with the ham and herb butter gently until they are firm.