One of the many benefits of traveling and eating the local favorites is you have the opportunity to get ideas for meals you can make at home. That’s exactly what happened when we were in Del Mar, California for our anniversary.

San Diego County is an easy place to stay active. With miles of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and sun almost every day of the year, it’s easy to stay outdoors. Most of the year you can be comfortable in shorts, swimsuits, sun dresses and sunscreen. Along with all that great weather are hundreds of restaurants that take advantage of healthy options, many which are grown and sourced locally.

For our anniversary trip, we woke up to a beautiful morning and did a cool, easy run on the beach in the shadows of the California cliffs. Afterwards, it was off to the Americana Café which had some of the best coffee I’ve tasted as well as Green Eggs and Ham in honor of their local celebrity, Dr. Seuss.

I chose Casey’s Call which is eggs on toast with a little goat cheese, spinach and protein-packed quinoa. It looked great, but as I tasted it I couldn’t help but think it was missing “something.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure what that something was but decided to do a little experimenting at home to see how I could make some improvements to this delicious breakfast.

What I ended up with was a similar breakfast with a little bit of “pop” added to it from a slice of smoked salmon. If you love to cook, and eat, then keep a look out for great meals you can replicate at home. I’ve been known to even ask for recipes and venture in to the kitchen to talk with the chef…and of course, thank them for preparing such a beautiful meal!

Here is the revised recipe inspired by Americana Restaurant in Del Mar, California:

Ingredients (serves 1)

  • Slice of good quality wheat bread
  • Goat cheese
  • Fresh Spinach (chopped)
  • 2 slices Tomatoes
  • 1-2 slices Smoked Salmon (this is salty, so you really only need 1)
  • ¼ cup Quinoa – cooked
  • 1 egg (poached or over easy)

Directions:

  1. Toast the bread
  2. Cook the egg. If you want to poach it, bring water to boil in a pan which you have added 1 tsp of vinegar to. The vinegar helps the egg whites stick together. Boil the egg until the whites are white (should take less than a minute or so)
  3. Layer the meal in the order listed above
  4. Top with freshly ground pepper (no salt needed)

Enjoy!