In Which I Finally Make Frittata

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I am a big fan of egg dishes (see here, here, and here). Eggs are easy, healthy, and can be dressed up to taste really delicious with only minor time and effort.

I frequently come across frittata recipes on food blogs, especially on 30 Bucks A Week (they are always whipping up these incredible looking frittatas from random ingredients they have laying around. It's intimidating in a weird foodie way). I never had the oven-safe pan required to make one, though, until I recently bought a cast-iron skillet.

I like making brunch on the weekends, so I decided to try a frittata last Sunday morning and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it actually was. I sort of quickly threw this together after googling a few recipes, and it came out really well. It's easy enough that it doesn't feel like work, but tastes good enough that it feels a bit more festive (special? weekend-worthy? I don't know) for a Sunday brunch. I'm thinking frittatas could also be good for dinner, with a little salad and some some crusty toasted bread.

Spinach, Asparagus, & Feta Frittata

hands-on time: 10 min total time: 20 min

6 eggs (I used 2 eggs, 4 egg whites)

splash of milk

7 or 8 asparagus stalks, woody ends removed, chopped into 1 in pieces

handful of torn baby spinach

2-3 green onions, chopped

feta cheese to your liking (I used an herb blend)

2 glugs olive oil

chopped garlic to taste

an oven safe pan or skillet

1. Preheat oven to 450. 

2. Saute the asparagus with the chopped garlic and olive oil, about 5 minutes, until it turns a bright green.

3. Stir in the spinach and green onions, cook until spinach wilts.

4. Beat eggs thoroughly with just a splash of milk added, then pour into pan, making sure eggs are evenly distributed throughout pan.

5.  Sprinkle about half of the feta on top, then cook eggs and vegetables on low heat for 4-5 minutes.

6. Once the mixture has begun to set (but there is still egg liquid in the pan), add the rest of the feta and transfer to oven for 7-10 minutes.

7. The frittata is ready when the cheese is melted and the egg is set, but not browned; you can try inserting a fork or toothpick to see if it comes out clean. 

The feta that I used was extremely salty, so there was no need to add any more salt to this recipe, even after cooking. I loved this frittata so much I made another one the very next day, with tomatoes, spinach, and shredded Mexican cheese. I think the shredded cheese may have actually turned out better than the feta, and the tomatoes added some necessary juiciness. This would be easy to tweak by using different greens, adding onions or other vegetables, or changing the ratio of egg whites to eggs. 

Baked Eggs

I recently moved, and my new apartment has a teeny tiny refrigerator. Like, teeny tiny--a glorified mini-fridge, in my opinion. Barely room for a Brita filter, some yogurt containers and some vegetables, forget about beer, wine or condiments. I'm trying to get a new one, but in the process, I haven't been able to keep very much food around. I've been hanging around the house today, not doing much, not eating much (because there's not much available), and when I opened the tiny fridge to think of what to make for lunch, the first thing I saw was my dwindling container of eggs.

If you read this blog regularly, you might have realized I'm a pretty big proponent of eggs. I've made baked eggs a few times before, usually when I want some protein/something slightly substantial in my meal but am too lazy to prepare meat. They're super-cheap, easy, relatively quick, and highly customizable. Basically, you just bake an egg until the white sets. Today I made mine with some slices of tomato and a sprinkle of dried basil; I also made it in the toaster over (lazy again, but definitely easy). Here is how I prepared mine this afternoon, although I think baked eggs are really a good, quick, little meal for any time of day:

Baked Eggs
total time: approx 15 min
total hands-on time: approx 4 min

What you need:
eggs (as many as you want, but no more than 2 in a ramekin)
olive oil or butter
1-2 slices of tomato
whatever seasoning you like
a ramekin or small oven-safe bowl

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Oil the ramekin or bowl with butter or olive oil (or even PAM spray)
3. Place tomato slice in bottom of ramekin, sprinkle on seasoning.

4. Break egg into ramekin, on top of tomato.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes (I did 13, but keep checking throughout), until the egg is set.
6. Add salt and pepper to your liking. I also added some parmesan and breadcrumbs (after I took the picture, though).

my two baked eggs, which I ate with toast and a salad

Julia Child recommends using cream in the bottom of the ramekin for baked eggs, but I haven't tried that yet. Mark Bittman, in his in-my-opinion- every-single-person-who-likes-to-eat-food-should-have-this-cookbook* cookbook, says to take the eggs out a little bit before they're completely done, as the excess heat from the ramekin can continue to cook them. He also covered baked eggs in his column in 2007, which is accompanied by an amusing video. Bittman suggests using cooked spinach, chopped meat, herbs, or onions in the bottom of the ramekin. In the video, he uses some big basil leaves that look delicious; I think baked eggs would also be great with fresh dill or tarragon, or maybe with cilantro and a little bit of salsa.

*Seriously, buy that cookbook. You won't be sorry.

Swiss Chard Quiche

My trip to Central America has been significantly delayed due to the eruption of the volcano Pacaya in Guatemala, as well as tropical storm Agatha, so I've been hanging out in Baltimore for a bit longer than I originally planned. Check out the sinkhole caused by the storm in Guatemala City:



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luckily, I anticipate spending most of my time in Guatemala in the city of Antigua, which is (so far) sinkhole-free. Since I've had a longer stay in Baltimore, I've had more time to cook, and I have successfully converted my family to liking swiss chard. Last night, I made an onion-chard quiche for dinner; I'm a big fan of quiches because they're easy and easily customizable. Quiche also seems appropriate at any time of day; it's not at all like eating a hamburger at 9 am, which always feels weird to me. If you eat a quiche at 9 am, it feels like breakfast. If you eat it at 7 pm, it feels like dinner.



Swiss Chard Quiche

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 (to 1.5) cups of grated cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and some weird artisanal sundried tomato cheese I found in the fridge)
1 cup milk
3/4 bunch of swiss chard, chopped
3/4 onion, chopped
1 pie crust
couple tablespoons of olive oil
splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

1. Finely chop the onion and cut the stems off of the chard. Saute in the oil until soft, 5-7 minutes or so.
2. Roughly chop the chard into bite size pieces, add to the pan.
3. Add a splash of lemon juice, cook until chard is fully wilted; it will become much smaller and a much darker green. I added salt, pepper, and garlic powder here, as well.
4. As the chard wilts, blend the milk, eggs and cheese together in a bowl.
5. When the chard is done, stir it into the eggs mixture.
6. Pour mixture into pie crust.
7. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.



8. Let the quiche sit a few minutes before cutting.

We ate the quiche with a tomato, avocado and parmesan salad. This recipe could easily be modified by using spinach in place of chard, leeks in place of onions, adding green onions on top, adding fresh basil, adding tomato, adding green peppers, adding cooked bacon, adding broccoli, you get the picture. Basically, you can modify this recipe to suit your particular tastebuds, using any vegetables you want; just saute them a little before you add them to the egg mixture. I should add I've made basically the exact same quiche without a crust, so if you don't have a pie crust or just want a lighter version of the recipe, it's just as good without. This quiche tastes even better the next day, especially for breakfast.

The Four-Minute Magical Breakfast

This is the breakfast that has changed my mornings. I first read about it in a magazine a couple of months ago, decided to try it, and have been hooked ever since; I eat it a minimum of three times a week. I call it "magical" because it is just so good, so fast, so easy, so basic (4 ingredients!) and so healthy (protein and veggies!!), it seems too good to be true. This little egg dish keeps me full and happy for hours, and it is the perfect morning meal when I have a long day of teaching and class ahead of me.

The Four-Minute Magical Breakfast

Ingredients:

2 or 3 eggs
splash of milk
tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, whatever vegetable(s) your heart desires
small handful of shredded cheese

1. Break the eggs into a fairly deep microwave-safe bowl and add a splash of milk. Whisk with fork.



2. Chop some veggies directly into the bowl. Here I used baby spinach (torn into smaller pieces) and tomatoes. Stir around.



3. Microwave uncovered for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
4. Stir, add small handful of shredded cheese (here I used mozzarella), stir again.
5. Microwave for another 45 seconds to 1 minute depending on your microwave, stir, top with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Eat your scrambled mini-omelet!





Cooking time can vary based on your microwave. You might also want to put a small plate over the top of the bowl to keep the heat in, but this can also affect cooking time. I've heard some people are wary of microwaving eggs, but I love the fact that I don't have to dirty a bowl, a pan, and a cutting board for some good eggs in the morning: as you can see, the whole meal takes place in one little bowl.

One of the best things about this recipe is its versatility. You can make it with egg whites, you can make it with leftover veggies from last night's dinner, you can top it with salsa, you can eat it on toast. Make it spicy with Pepperjack cheese and green chiles, make it Greek with feta. Use more eggs if you're hungrier. Add pre-cooked sausage, add chopped peppers, omit the milk, douse it in hot sauce, use fresh dill or basil---whatever your tastes, you can modify this quick little dish to suit them.

If any of you try this, please let me know what you think. I'm also always open to new suggestions for fast, good and healthy breakfasts, so what do you guys eat in the morning?