Hi HowDoesShe Pals!

Are you hungry?  I’m hungry. I get hungry a lot… at least 3-5 times a day. It’s an epidemic! I have a fabulous solution for this ever-present plague of hunger that will be kind to your waist line AND your pocket book. Let me introduce you to my little friend…the frittata! It is truly hunger’s best friend…oh, and it also has a huge crush on left overs, too. This scrumptious dish will turn those boring old leftovers into a meal that will make the taste buds sing and dance! Pinky promise 🙂

Frittata Ingredients

The players:
Eggs, and pretty much anything else you can find. I’m kidding, but only slightly. Like I said…this works with almost any combination of left overs you can think of. For this one, I’ll be using some diced cooked ham, some baked potatoes, onion, red pepper (that was forgotten in the fridge…poor thing), some mushrooms, a sad looking tomato, and some cheddar cheese. It’s like a sad middle school dance…everyone hanging out around the edges of the gymnasium…too afraid to get to know each other. I’m the over exuberant teacher that is going to force them to play nicely whether they like it or not 🙂

They just have no idea what sweet music they will make together! It would be tragic to leave them alone like this. But what….WHAT do they have that can possibly bind them all together?

EGGS, of course!

And some sharp cheddar, too. Delicious!

Let’s start dancing!

Dice your veggies (except for the tomato) into large chunks. You want to be able to taste every morsel. This has got to be chunky, baby! Toss those bad boys into a large frying pan with a little cooking spray or cooking oil, and cook on medium-high heat until they are tender. Ooooh, the aroma is to DIE FOR! The amount of veggies will depend on how many you are serving. For our family of six, I used about 2 cups of diced ham, about 6 mushrooms, half of a red pepper, half of an onion, and about 3 baked potatoes. This isn’t an exact science. Just eye ball it, and use what you have.

While those veggies are getting to know each other in the frying pan, you’ll want to beat some eggs! You’ll want between 6-10 eggs.Whip ’em…whip ’em good. Whip ’em REAL good! They like it…trust me.

Now you get to pour those eggies over the veggies in the frying pan. Try to spread the veggies out evenly in the pan, then pour the beaten eggs over the entire thing. The eggs won’t cover the veggies…which is perfect. You don’t want them to. Just be sure there are some eggs in every part of the pan. Make sense? This is the glue that binds it all together! Season lightly with some salt and pepper, and get ready to get hot and steamy!

Okay, a couple of notes here. You are going to be putting the entire frying pan INTO the fire….er….oven. Before you do this, make sure if your handle is not metal, that it is wrapped in some tin foil to avoid that nasty burning plastic thing. That’s a sure way to break up the party! Set your oven to “broil” and pop your frittata in for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set.

When the eggs have set, pop the pan out of the oven and sprinkle generously with shredded cheese and diced tomatoes. Watch that cheese melt and go all gooey and delicious! That means it’s ready, baby! Just slice it up like a pizza and serve with some salad, pita bread, or whatever you have lying around! This really is leftover’s BFF!

Okay, so you don’t have any ham..or potatoes….or red peppers. Now what? Well, you can try any of these substitution ideas, for a start!

Mexican Frittata – Ground Beef, corn, rice, tomatoes, jalapeno cheddar, taco seasoning

Italian Frittata – Chicken, mushrooms, broccoli, Parmesan cheese, italian seasoning

Pizza Frittata – sausage, mushrooms, green pepper, pepperoni, onions

Vegetarian Frittata – Peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, mushrooms

This is just a start! Really, the sky is the limit (and the contents of your fridge). It is nutritious, easy on the pocket book (hello – we’re using left overs!), and super quick to make. It’s like…the ULTIMATE meal! We love it around here, and we hope you’ll love it, too! Happy eating!