We just got back from visiting my family out in California.  Such a beautiful (albeit busy) place.  And sooo many choices in terms of fresh cuisine.  My husband and I were able to get away for a late anniversary trip and choose Santa Monica as our destination.  There are so many great things about Santa Monica (3rd street promenade, the beach, the resturants), but one of my favorite moments was the next morning when we found a small, unassuming diner called Kafe K.  If you’re ever there, I’d highly recommend it.  Don’t expect anything grand in terms of surroundings, but it was clean and had really cute decor.  There are no more than 8-10 seats in the whole place, but the food was really good!  I love finding places like this because it feels like discovering a hidden treasure and brings out a kid-like giddiness in me.  When it turns out to be an amazing find – that’s even better!

I had their Organic Poached Eggs.  Which was 2 eggs, provolone cheese on multigrain bread, tomato, avocado, pesto sauce, red onion.  It came with a side of salad.  I also had their Chi Tea Latte.  It was such a great combo of flavors and fresh food!  Since I’ve been home I’ve tried to recreate it twice, but I use Udi bread instead of multigrain bread and I left off the provolone (mainly because I didn’t have any, but it also cuts calories).

Here’s my version:

Avocado is your healthy fat (instead of adding, let’s say, bacon) and the tomatoes and onions make it so fresh tasting.  I am a big fan of pesto and could eat it on about anything, so that’s probably my favorite part.  I just spread a teaspoon of pre-made pesto on the Udi bread before adding the egg.  If you are looking to cut the calories even more you can do it with egg whites instead of a whole egg.  You can even leave out the bread all together, but the crunch adds a lot of substance to this knife n’ fork breakfast.

I am not a huge fan of tomatoes (though I’m trying to be because they add such a pretty color to dishes), but this combination just works!  It’s fresh, filling and keeps me full for much longer than a piece of toast and peanut butter.

Enjoy!