When anthropologists of the future look back at the last half of the 20th century, they may give credit to McDonald’s for one thing above all else: inventing the breakfast sandwich.

Searching for a way to get customers through the doors in the morning hours, someone at the fast-food giant came up with the perfect solution. They took an English muffin, placed a muffin-shaped egg on top of it along with a slice of Canadian bacon and American cheese, and in a stroke of marketing genius called it an Egg McMuffin.

I hadn’t even heard of Canadian bacon before the Egg McMuffin made it famous.

Not only did McDonald’s profits skyrocket with the new product, but that also forced its competitors to come up with breakfast items of their own.

And thus the breakfast sandwich became a uniquely American tradition.

But you don’t have to go through the drive-thru to get a breakfast sandwich. They are easy to make at home, and relatively fast.

Breakfast sandwiches require a bread product of some kind, an egg, a breakfast meat (or none at all, as you shall see) and a few complementary ingredients for added flavor.

The variations are endless; you are limited only by your imagination.

Unfortunately, my imagination turns out to be rather limited. So I made 5 breakfast sandwiches, all based on familiar flavor combinations and ideas. Maybe I added a twist or two, but these recipes are meant to inspire you to create your own breakfast sandwiches.

Unless, like me, your imagination is running a little low. Then you might want to try some of these recipes, because they are all excellent. That’s what happens when you stick to familiar flavor combinations and ideas.

Perhaps the most familiar is the Sunday-morning standby, bagels and lox. It’s a straightforward bagel-and-lox sandwich, with one of those twists: I added a scrambled egg.

Think of it as an Egg McLox Bagel Sandwich.

There is a trick to making it, though it is easy to master. Ordinary scrambled eggs would be too lumpy; when you pressed down on the top, they would squeeze out of the sides. The trick, then, is to make the egg flat.

It’s simple to do. Pour a beaten egg into a well-buttered, medium-hot skillet. Don’t let the egg spread too far. Cook without touching it until nearly all of the liquid on top is done. Use a spatula to fold the sides over toward the middle, and immediately place this flat egg on your sandwich.

My next breakfast sandwich is an even simpler twist on an equally familiar idea: avocado toast. The twist? Bacon. Remember how, a few years ago, everyone started saying that bacon makes everything better?

Bacon really does make avocado toast taste better.

Omelet Pita

½ tablespoon butter, plus more if needed

½ cup sliced onion

3 large (or 4 small) mushrooms, sliced

2 asparagus spears, bottom few inches discarded and the rest cut into ¼-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

¼ cup shredded cheese

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 pita, cut in half

1. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat, and add onions. Cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and asparagus, and cook until mushrooms lose their moisture, another 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove and keep warm.

2. Add more butter to skillet if needed. Season eggs with salt and pepper, add to pan and cook, pushing eggs to the middle with a spatula and turning and swirling the pan to fill the gaps until almost completely cooked. Add cheese to one half of the eggs and top that half with onion-mushroom-asparagus mixture. Fold the other half of the egg over that half and remove from heat.

3. Cut omelet in half and place each half inside half of the pita.

Per serving: 415 calories; 17 g fat; 7 g saturated fat; 387 mg cholesterol; 22 g protein; 48 g carbohydrate; 8 g sugar; 7 g fiber; 642 mg sodium; 96 mg calcium

Avocado-Bacon Toast

1 slice multigrain toast

½ ripe avocado

1 slice bacon, crumbled

½ tablespoon chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tomato

1 lemon wedge

Salt and pepper

Mash the avocado and spread it onto the toast. Sprinkle with bacon, red onion and tomatoes. Squeeze the lemon wedge over the top and season with plenty of salt — flaky salt, if you have it — and pepper.

Per serving: 400 calories; 29 g fat; 6 g saturated fat; 28 mg cholesterol; 16 g protein; 24 g carbohydrate; 3 g sugar; 10 g fiber; 736 mg sodium; 50 mg calcium

Israeli Salad Sandwich

½ cup chopped tomatoes

½ cup chopped cucumbers

¼ cup chopped red bell pepper

1 scallion, sliced thin

1 hard-cooked egg, chopped

Salt and pepper

½ tablespoon olive oil

1 wedge lemon

2 tablespoons hummus

1 pita

In a bowl, mix together tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, scallion and egg. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Add olive oil and juice from lemon wedge, and mix well. Spread 1 tablespoon of hummus on the inside of each half of the pita, and fill the pita halves with the mixture.

Per serving: 397 calories; 16 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; 187 mg cholesterol; 16 g protein; 51 g carbohydrate; 8 g sugar; 8 g fiber; 635 mg sodium; 74 mg calcium

Egg McLox Bagel

1 bagel, savory flavors only

1 tablespoon cream cheese

2 slices smoked salmon

1 slice red onion

½ teaspoon capers, optional

½ tablespoon butter

1 egg, beaten

1. Toast bagel if desired. Spread cream cheese on both cut sides of bagel, and top one side with smoked salmon, red onion and optional capers.

2. Melt butter in skillet (nonstick is best) over medium heat. Add beaten egg, trying to keep it from spreading too much in the pan. Gently cook without touching until the liquid on top is almost completely cooked. Fold up the sides toward the center until the egg is the approximate size of the bagel. Place egg on top of other ingredients, and top with other half of the bagel.

Breakfast Burrito

2 slices bacon or 2 ounces (scant 1/2 cup) sausage

1 tablespoon butter, divided

1/2 cup potato, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Salt and pepper

¼ of small or medium onion, sliced

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1 flour tortilla

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

¼ cup salsa

Sour cream, optional

1. Cook bacon or sausage. Crumble bacon or cut sausage into small pieces. Clean pan.

2. Melt 1 teaspoon (1/3 tablespoon) butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add cubes of potato, sprinkle liberally with salt, cover and cook, tossing frequently, until potatoes are browned and cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan.

3. Melt remaining 2 teaspoons (2/3 tablespoon) butter in pan and add onions. Cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, beans and cooked potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and scramble until eggs are almost done (they will continue to cook off the heat).

4. Place mixture on tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. Spoon salsa on top and fold tortilla over to form a burrito. Top with sour cream, if desired.

Recipes by Daniel Neman

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