Cheese

Buy preshaped burger patties to save time. If your favorite supermarket doesn’t stock the 96% lean patties in the fresh meat case, check the freezer section; they’re often found there. If you still can’t find them, don’t cheat—just shape the 96% lean beef yourself. You’ll save about 30 calories and 4 grams of fat per 4-ounce burger over 93% lean meat and even more over buying a fattier ground beef.

Yes, a bacon cheeseburger. If you buy 96% lean beef and reduced-fat bacon pieces, you’re good to go! Do note, if you’re a fan of BBQ bacon cheeseburgers, just swap out the ketchup in this recipe for your favorite barbecue sauce. It will add about 10 calories but save you around 15 mg sodium. Look for the bacon pieces near the croutons and other salad ingredients in your favorite grocery store. Or, if you love them as much as I do, head to Costco and buy them in a big bag. Just store them in your refrigerator and you’ll have them on hand to curb a bacon craving with less guilt.

I love omelets, and this is one of my all-time favorites. Feel free to use any variety of olives here. No matter which you pick, you’ll have a great result.

These frittatas are ridiculously easy, especially if you consider how elegant they look. I’ve served them numerous times to last-minute brunch guests . . . and on those mornings where I just needed a hot, high-protein breakfast without any fuss. Do note it’s important to let the frittatas rest a couple of minutes before serving. You need to give the egg a chance to set a bit before eating. Also, when crumbling goat cheese, it’s best that it’s cold (it’s not a bad idea to freeze it slightly). When goat cheese is room temperature or only slightly chilled, it’s softer and thus tends not to crumble well. Also, 16 large egg whites or 2 cups 100% liquid egg whites can be swapped in for the egg substitute if preferred. Add 2 large egg whites or 1/4 cup 100% liquid egg whites to each cup of the muffin tin, and then follow the instructions below.

If you time this so the eggs are cooked just as the toast is done, the cheese should melt, eliminating the need to microwave the whole sandwich. Do note that if you’re watching your sodium, you might want to indulge in this sandwich only on occasion. It is on the higher side, but still has only a fraction of the sodium you’d find in a similar restaurant sandwich.

I love changing this wrap by purchasing an assortment of tortillas; La Tortilla Factory makes excellent pumpernickel tortillas, while Tumaro’s makes jalapeño and cilantro and even pesto varieties. Just be sure to read the labels. You don’t want to accidentally grab one with an exorbitant amount of calories or fat.

This sandwich is a convenient, even leaner twist on a more traditional Canadian bacon and egg breakfast sandwich I love. Feel free to swap in Canadian bacon, extra-lean smoked ham, or even light salami—it’s delicious with any of them. If you time it just right, the cheese will melt between the hot muffin and the hot egg. If that’s too precise for you, you can wrap the sandwich in a paper towel and microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds on low power to melt the cheese completely. Just be careful not to overmicro-wave it, or the English muffin will become chewy.

I love eating quesadillas for breakfast. They’re a snap to throw together, yet they’re a hot comfort food and a great start to your morning. The egg whites add plenty of lean protein to help keep you full and satisfied. For variety, I like to vary the kind of cheese I use.

Instead of slaving over a stove in the morning, buy packaged 50% reduced-fat bacon pieces. You’ll save tons of time, and you’ll be less likely to overindulge because you won’t have the smell of bacon wafting through the house for hours. Look for the bacon pieces near the croutons and other salad ingredients in your favorite grocery store. Or, if you love them as much as I do, head to Costco and buy them in a big bag. They keep fresh in the refrigerator for a long time.

Gina: Feeding a crowd for brunch—no problem (and welcome to my life with the Neely boys!). Assemble this casserole the night before you plan to serve it. Sautéed onion, red bell pepper, and kale make this dish beautiful and good for you, too.

Pat: My kitchen sinker—also known as the omelet with everything—includes bacon, ham, two kinds of cheese, and anything else I find lying around in the fridge. When my girls get involved, I need to change it up a bit by adding vegetables to the mix, so I sauté up a mixture of onion, tomato, pepper, and scallion. But if you ask me, they just get in the way of the meat and cheese, and since I’m always the first one up, I make it my way! With my omelets, there is no flipping or flapping—I just bake them in the oven.

Pat: A breakfast sandwich should be a thing of beauty, a stackable, delectable, calorie-laden gut-buster of a meal. This one is all those things. I usually have this sandwich on a warm buttermilk biscuit, but you can also split a glazed doughnut in half and use it as the “bread” (you’re already down the rabbit hole with the bacon, sausage, and cheese, so you might as well go whole hog with the biscuit or doughnut). Butter and hot sauce are the only condiments that I need, but feel free to add a slather of mayo, mustard, or ketchup, if you like. Have a fresh pot of coffee ready when you prepare this one.

Gina: Red Velvet Cake is beloved throughout the South. It’s sweet and moist, with a deep-crimson hue that comes from the addition of red food coloring to the cake batter. In the old days, folks used beets or red cabbage to dye their cakes! Red Velvet is a buttermilk cake, which is one of the reasons it’s so moist; there’s also cocoa in the batter, which is one of the reasons it’s popular with children (that, and the traditional cream-cheese frosting). It’s red and white, but it tastes black and white, and it’s always a stunner when you cut into one. Making someone a layer cake is an investment. It takes time, hon. But it’s also a beautiful, loving gesture, and nicer than any present you can buy. This sexy cake is easier than you might think to assemble, and the results are sure to steal the show at any party.

Pat: Cupcakes bring out the kid in everyone. They certainly bring out the kid in me, and my girls will tell you that I love these cupcakes as much as they do. Who can blame me? They are impossible to resist. The combination of cake flour and buttermilk gives them a tender crumb and a slightly tangy flavor, and the thick, rich cream-cheese frosting—made with melted chocolate chips—puts them over the top. These cupcakes starred in the “If Pat’s a Good Boy” episode of our show. Talk about inspiration to behave! Gina often doubles this recipe so we have enough around to feed a crowd for a party or picnic, because even when folks are on their best behavior these have a way of vanishing. . . .

Pat: Let’s face it, one of the great joys of roasting a big ole turkey or ham is the leftovers. Can you imagine what the day after Thanksgiving would be like without a big turkey sandwich? Anytime we have leftover ham, I dream of ham sandwiches on a soft roll with a little dollop of Miracle Whip. When it comes right down to it, I think I prefer the sandwiches to the actual meal. What follows are two of our favorite ways to dress up leftovers. The Turkey, Brie, and Cranberry Panini are crisp and cheesy and have become a year-round lunch staple.

Pat: The Monte Cristo is a coffee-shop staple, a sandwich made with ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese, dipped in batter, and fried until golden. It appears in different guises across the country, and, depending on where you order one, it can also be served grilled, deep-fried, or open-faced. We’ve given this sandwich a Neely spin, layering ham, smoked turkey, and Muenster cheese on white sandwich bread and adding hot-pepper jelly as a finish. We fry ours, then dust it with confectioners’ sugar, creating a delicious play of salty and sweet flavors and crispy and gooey textures. A spoonful of fresh peach preserves is a delicious condiment for this sandwich.

New Orleans is one of our favorite “kick back” vacation destinations. We go there for the people, the food, the music, and the overall vibe. New Orleans is second only to Memphis in vibeness. We also go there for the sandwiches, and always make a point of digging into one of their most famous, the muffuletta, every time we visit. It’s a killer sandwich, made with spicy Italian meats, cheeses, and a knockout marinated olive salad, the aroma of which is so powerful that when you’re waiting in line it’ll cause you to salivate! Our Memphis Muffuletta has bayou roots for sure. We start with a large round Italian loaf with a sturdy texture, so it can hold up to the delicious mix of ingredients. The meats and cheeses vary, but our favorite is a muffuletta with salami, hot soppressata, mortadella, smoked turkey, Swiss, and aged provolone. Our Memphis kicker is the addition of smoky piquillo peppers from Spain. They infuse the piquant olive salad with an incredible flavor. When it comes to cheese, we go for two flavorful varieties—an imported Swiss and an aged provolone. We call this our backyard sandwich, because it’s actually best if you assemble it in advance and allow it to marinate for about 30 minutes on the cutting board. Then you can cut the big loaf into eight wedges and have dinner on the patio. In New Orleans tradition, serve this sandwich with a cold Abita beer and some spicy Zapp’s potato chips.