Speedy Breakfast Sandwich

As a full-time student and part-time employee, I have a busy schedule, and am always looking for simple, healthy, easy-to-make dishes that I can eat on the go. This simple egg sandwich is a reliable fallback when I need a protein packed breakfast on my way out the door in the morning, or as part of a quick lunch to throw in my bag for later. It has few and flexible ingredients, is easy to put together, and can be made extremely quickly (faster than hitting the drive-through!) with some practice.

You can just pull these out as you go, but I gathered them all in one place to show what you'll need. This is a simple sandwich, with only five ingredients:

• One egg
• One bagel (can substitute with english muffin, two slices of bread, or bun of choice)
• Lunch meat
• Sliced cheese
• Cooking spray

You'll also want a shallow, microwave-safe bowl, a fork, and a plate to put it on when done.

Take your bagel, english muffin, or other bread of choice, and put it in the toaster. I like to toast mine crisp, but not crunchy. While that's toasting, you can move on to the egg.

This is probably the most difficult step in the sandwich- thankfully that's not saying much. Get your bowl and coat it in non-stick cooking spray. You can also use butter or oil, we just want to keep things quick and easy to clean up. Take your egg and crack it, emptying it directly into the bowl. Be careful not to miss any bits of eggshell. Then whisk the egg with the fork until the yolk and whites are well mixed.

Place the prepared egg in the microwave, and set it for as long as needed to thoroughly cook the egg. With my microwave this is usually about 45 seconds, but it'll vary depending on egg size and microwave wattage. The bagel should be done toasting, so put it on the plate while the egg cooks. When it's done, take it out of the microwave, set the bottom of the bagel on it, and flip it over onto the plate. It should come right out. If it looks wet or runny like the picture above, flip it back into the bowl and microwave it longer until it looks done like the last picture.

Place your cheese of choice onto the hot egg, and the meat on top of that. I like to use ham and swiss, though today I only had chicken. When you're done, put the other side of the bagel back on top and you're good to go- or if you have time, I like to stick it back in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Now you have an easy-to-make, easy-to-carry, high protein meal with only a few minutes of prep!