Healthy Breakfast Ideas Using Tomatoes & Green Peppers

If you garden at home, you've probably planted tomatoes. They're the most common home garden crop. They're also plentiful in supermarkets, as are green peppers. Tomatoes supply you with about 20 percent of your daily vitamin C intake, but green peppers take up the slack -- a serving of peppers gives you your full complement of ascorbic acid for the day. Along with their impressive health benefits, they taste delicious with breakfast.

OMELETS

By themselves, egg dishes have a fairly bland taste. Their mildness makes them an excellent vehicle for other flavors. Stuffing an omelet with diced green peppers and tomatoes turns a protein-rich but simple dish into a flavorful breakfast. Add ham with the diced peppers and tomatoes for a variation on a Denver omelet or combine the two vegetables with onions and cilantro for a salsa fresca filling. You can also spice up your omelet with the addition of a jalapeno pepper with the mild, sweet bell pepper.

BREAKFAST BURRITOS

A warm tortilla and a pan of lightly cooked peppers and onions becomes the foundation for building your own breakfast burritos. If you enjoy eggs, scramble whole eggs or egg whites and add them to fresh tomatoes and sauteed peppers and onions, then wrap the meal as you would fold a burrito. If you're following a vegan diet or want to boost your fiber intake, replace the egg with black beans and brown rice. Other possibilities include shredded chicken or lean pork, salsa and fresh red onions.

FRITTATAS

A frittata may contain the same ingredients as an omelet, but the cooking technique differs. When you cook a frittata, you pour the egg mixture and seasonings on the sauteed ingredients; it resembles a crustless quiche. Saute peppers, onions, diced lean ham or other ingredients you enjoy, then pour eggs beaten with a small amount of milk over the sauteed ingredients. Stir in fresh tomatoes, let the bottom of the frittata cook for a few minutes to set, and move the pan to the broiler to finish cooking the top. Slice the finished frittata like a pie to serve it.

BREAKFAST BRUSCHETTA

If your usual breakfast consists of toast, you'll enjoy a savory and nutritious variation -- breakfast bruschetta. Bruschetta, a light Italian dish consisting of bread topped with olive oil, tomatoes, onions and basil, gets a lift from adding diced peppers to the mixture. Prepare the diced vegetables and marinate them with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, herbs and a dash of vinegar the night before so they'll be full of flavor when you use them to top your morning toast.