My Love of Ricotta: The Strawberry Ricotta Almond Breakfast Sandwich

So those of you who know me, know that I have a never ending, sick obsessive, ridiculous relationship with ricotta.  Call it a genetic Italian trait, or what you will, but I will find any possible way to fit ricotta into breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Luckily for me, ricotta's natural whey makes it something I am able to fit into much of my cooking, and thanks to The Abs Diet Cookbook this recipe was one of the first breakfast ricotta recipes I tried.  

Many people have some crazy carb-obsessed fear, that makes them avoid bread (thanks Dr. Atkins, you douche!), and I myself have fallen victim to the belief that "bread is bad".  However, after years of struggle with this, and a large amount of reading, I am happy to say that I have a healthy relationship with carbs, and more importantly, have found a product that I don't mind eating when I do feel like a sandwich, be it breakfast or lunch.  

Ingredients

2 slices of bread

2 tbsp. Fat Free Ricotta

1 tbsp. honey

Strawberries

Sliced almonds

Cinnamon

1 egg

3 tbsp. Unsweetened Soy Milk

I start with two slices of Food For Life 7 Sprouted Grains Bread and put a tablespoon of Fat Free Ricotta on each slice.  I then top the ricotta with cinnamon, a drizzle of honey on each, and then lay on some sliced almonds.  After that, (I know, you're wondering how much better this can get), I top each slice with sliced strawberries.  How many I use depends on the size of the strawberries.  

This is where it gets really out of control, and where I diverted from the recipe in the Abs Diet Cookbook.  Rather that just stop there, I took one egg, three tablespoons of WestSoy Unsweetened Milk, some cinnamon, and a titch of Stevia, and scrambled it all together in a square container (much like you would if you were going to make french toast).  I then dipped the sandwich in the egg batter, sprayed some Non-stick spray in a heated pan, and cooked both sides (again, exactly how you would cook french toast).  The result is AMAZING.  

I have had people ask me how many calories this breakfast sandwich has, and I'll be entirely honest.  It probably has more than I need, but I'll exit by saying two things.  One, I don't count calories, I merely pay attention to what it is that I put into my body.  Is there anything in here I shouldn't be eating?  NO.  Two, I work out six days a week.  I strength train, I do Bikram Yoga, and I Interval run.  So, long story short, I am pretty sure that every couple of weeks, I deserve my Strawberry Ricotta Almond Breakfast Sandwich, high caloric intake or not!

To conclude, this recipe doesn't stop at ricotta, strawberries, or almonds.  I make one for my husband and swap in peanut butter, and bananas, and then dip it and pan sear it.  Both are DELICIOUS!