COOK: Quick and Easy Frittata

I've been working on eating fewer carbs, and more veggies, and while I love veggies, I was looking for new, or different ways to eat them.  One night laying in bed I was scrolling Pinterest looking for inspiration and saw a post about frittatas, as soon as I got up the next morning I was pulling things out of the fridge to see what I could come up with!   I've had lots of fun playing around with different combinations of veggies, meats, and cheeses, I've decided there really isn't a bad combination.

I think one thing that makes me love frittatas is the ability to throw in different of leftovers you have in the fridge; smoked asparagus, random bits of cheese, chopped up chicken from dinner the night before, herbs you forgot you had...  then simply add eggs.  If you want to take it to another level you can add toppings, pickled red onions, sour cream, everything bagel seasoning, have fun and experiment with different combinations and flavors.

Here are a few of my favorites (so far):

• Spinach, Tomato, and Feta
• Red Onion, Bell Pepper, and Cotija (Add salsa to serve)
• Bacon and Asparagus
• Broccoli and Cheddar 

Frittatas can be filling on their own, but if you want to have a fancier breakfast or brunch, they can be served with muffins (like my Strawberry Muffins or Sausage Cheddar Muffins), fresh fruit, crunchy tortilla chips and salsa, and of course coffee, tea, or juice.

Below is my recipe using a 10 inch cast iron skillet, but you can easily adjust it for a different size.  Also if you are adding less extras, you might want to add an extra egg or two so that you frittata isn't too thin and burns.  Also note that meats and veggies measurement is after cooking, this applies mostly to things like spinach that shrink to about 1 millionth of their size when cooked.

Quick & Easy Frittata

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:

6 Eggs 

2 Cups of Cooked Meats and/or Veggies 

1 Cup Cheese

Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

Wash and cut any veggies you are using, then quickly sauté in the same cast iron pan you will be using for your  Frittata.  

Turn oven on to broil, and move rack to center position.

Quickly scramble eggs with salt and pepper to taste, then add in cheese and give it a bit of a mix.

With burner on medium/medium low heat pour egg and cheese mixture over veggies and let cook for about 5-10 minutes until you can set that the edges have set.  Move  into over and let it finish under the broiler until the middle is completely cooked and edges are a bit golden.  Carefully (the handles on the cast iron get very hot, trust me!) remove pan from over, let cool only a minute or two, then cut and serve.  

Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for a few days, but I prefer to eat it fresh.

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COOK: Chicken Tetrazzini

Last week it was starting to get cooler, YAY! Autumn!  I adore this time of year, the leaves changing, being able to pull out my sweaters and fuzzy socks, cuddling under big blankets with a book and tea (Earl Grey, Hot!)  I know a lot of people are sad to see the hot weather leave, I'm not one of them, I'd be happy if we skipped from Spring to Autumn every year!

Anyway...I was looking for some new recipes for casserole type dishes and came across several for Chicken Tetrazzini.  The only time I'd had tetrazzini of any kind was as a child and it was the Hamburger Helper, or I'm assuming Chicken Helper--although I think my mom always used tuna.  I am not a fan of any type of boxed dinners, I think they are just as easy to make from scratch, and usually are healthier.


This recipe is what Berea would call a "Frankenstein Recipe", I read a bunch of different recipes and then did my own thing using their ratios as a guideline.  I was a little nervous, and wasn't sure what KC would think, we both loved it and he told me I needed to add it into our normal recipe rotation, so I figured I would share it with you!

A few notes: You can use any pasta, most recipes call for angel hair pasta, I used spinach linguine since I had it in the pantry and loved how it came out, I think thinner noodles might get too mushy.  Whatever pasta you use make sure you boil it until it is just done, since it will cook longer in the oven.

I usually don't cook with "cream of" soups, but always have a few in the pantry for quick casseroles when I'm in a hurry, I prefer the Cream of Onion.  I think this recipe could easily be replicated without the "cream of" soup by using more sour cream, some softened cream cheese, and some extra spices, I plan to try next time and I'll update this post if it works.

Since I hadn't made this before I didn't take any pictures, I'll add some the next time I make it!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Ingredients:

1 Pound Chicken Breast (cooked and chopped, or shreaded)
8 Ounces Cooked Pasta
1 Can Cream of Onion Soup
8 Ounces Sour Cream (I always use reduced fat)
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
1/3 Cup Dry White Wine (you can omit this if you want)
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese (grated)
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Butter a 8x8 glass dish.

Put your pasta on to boil, cook until it is just done, it will cook more in the oven and you don't want it to get mushy.

Cook your chicken any way you prefer.  I pounded my chicken breast (I only used one because we've been getting huge breasts at the store.) so that it was an even thickness, sprinkled each side with a bit of garlic powder and black pepper, and then cooked it in my cast iron on to top of the stove for about 5 minutes each side, then removed it and chopped it into pieces about 1 cm, I prefer smaller pieces so there is chicken in every bite.

While the pasta is finishing mix together your soup, sour cream, wine, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and half of the mozzarella cheese.  Add in the chicken, pasta, and butter, the butter should melt while you are mixing as long as your chicken and pasta are still hot.

Dump into your 8x8 pan and flatten out, sprinkle the other half of the mozzarella cheese and all of the Parmesan cheese on top.  Cover with foil.

Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

For us this made about 6 servings, we had a nice side salad with it.

Hope you enjoy!

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