I hadn’t realized I forgot about it.
Nope. Not until I was reminded of it.
I was just casually picking up a few groceries when something caught my eye. There it was in all it’s glory – Taylor pork roll, aka Taylor ham, aka processed meat made of pork and spices, aka delicious.
Yup, you heard me – delicious. Breakfast sandwich memories of crispy fried ham, gooey cheese and egg on an oversized bagel, kaiser roll or English muffin. Oh that was good stuff! Yeah, I know – not exactly the most healthiest of breakfasts but hey, not really the absolute worst either.
Are you familiar with it? You may not be depending where you live. I never realized it before but it’s a regional thing. If you live in Jersey or the Philly area, you certainly are familiar with this stuff – it’s sort like the breakfast of champions. It’s pretty much a staple in many households and any diner. But travel outside this area and it’s virtually nonexistent. Which is why I forgot about it – being gone for 11 years I never saw this product in the midwest.
But now I’m back, and I couldn’t help myself, I had to buy some. I know, I know – it’s processed, and for goodness sake it’s pretty high in sodium what was I doing? I was going to make myself the best breakfast sandwich ever and enjoy every single bite of it.
But wait. Let’s get this out of the way. I’ve talked about it before – just like bacon, pork roll falls under the processed meat category. And basically, this means it’s carcinogenic to humans according to WHO. But remember this means limiting your intake of these products not necessarily eliminating these foods. Okay, let’s move on.
So, I’m not going to lie – this wasn’t going to be like breakfast sandwiches of the past. While they were tasty at the time, things have changed – I’ve changed. Come on – you know – I gotta have my veggies. And I’ll admit – it sorta goes against everything in me to not take the opportunity to fill that sandwich with the goodness of those veggies.
I hope I didn’t lose you. Trust me this is still one delicious breakfast sandwich, it’s just grown up a bit. Hear me out – lightly pan fried egg and slices of pork roll sandwiched between two pieces of whole grain bread slathered with horseradish topped off with romaine lettuce and slices of red onion and zucchini. So yeah – there may be some processed meat in there, but now you’re getting the benefit of fiber and vitamins and minerals from the whole grains and veggies. See – breakfast of champions. Well, sort of.
Are you familiar with Taylor ham or pork roll?
- 2 slices 100% whole grain bread, toasted
- 2 slices of Taylor pork roll
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon horseradish
- 2 large leaves of romaine lettuce
- few slices thinly sliced red onion
- 6 thin slices of zucchini
- Lightly pan fry the pork roll. It will curl a bit - this is normal.
- Once the pork is cooked, set aside and add the egg to the pan.
- When the egg is almost cooked to your preferred doneness, sprinkle with the cheese and cover for another minute. Covering it allows the cheese to melt.
- Assemble your sandwich: spread the bread with horseradish, top each slice with onion slices and lettuce. Add one slice of pork to each bread slice and then top with zucchini slices.
- Add the egg to one slice, then top with the other slice of bread to make the sandwich.
- Cut and serve!