Vegetable Frittata & First Harvest

We harvested our first tomatoes of the season. We've already gotten more this year than last (we had a terrible crop last year- totally our fault) and there are a ton left on the vine in various stages of ripeness. These are rambling yellow stripe. They have a mild tartness to them, which I really like. We also have romas and a couple of early girls. I'll probably add an indeterminate variety when the yellow stripes are finished producing. I love a sudden bumper crop, but I want something that will go late into the season.


I think I've been fighting something off the past few days. I've been absolutely exhausted, so not cooking much that required any sort of work. As a result, we had several vegetables that needed to be eaten. My husband had the brilliant idea of a frittata. Perfect!

Frittata is the quintessential use-stuff-up dish. All you need are about 3 eggs per person, whatever fillings you want, and an oven-safe frying pan. You can use anything for fillings, from veggies to meats or even pasta. If the vegetables are raw, it's best to soften them a bit before adding so that they don't take too long in the oven, resulting in overcooked eggs. Start the eggs in the pan (I usually sauté aromatics then add the beaten eggs), add the veggies, par-cook the eggs, then top with cheese (if using) and finish in a 375F oven for about 10-15 minutes (or longer, depending on size of pan and amount of fillings). You could also broil the cheese to finish, if it's not browned enough for your taste.

Tonight's frittata for two was 4 whole eggs, 1/2c of egg whites, low fat cheddar and plenty of veggies. I used green onion, kohlrabi, kakuri (a Japanese salad turnip), broccoli, spinach and tomato. I quickly blanched the turnip, broccoli and kohlrabi. At the same time, I sautéed the spinach in a small amount of olive oil with the green onion and a minced clove of garlic. Along with basic seasoning, I also grabbed some chives, parsley and oregano from the garden. Despite the veggies being chosen more for expiration than complement, I loved this particular mix of textures and flavors. The turnips and kohlrabi added body, while the rest of the vegetables and herbs kept it light, yet satisfying.

Egg Salad

There is little I like more than a creamy egg salad sandwich on grainy bread.

I should note that I like my egg salad very mustardy. Sometimes, I'll admit I just add a spoonful of mustard to the egg, mash it up, give it a crank of the pepper grinder and be done with it. More often, though, I just go a little heavier on the mustard than other additions and stick to savory items. I change it up, based on what I have on-hand and sounds good. If you like sweeter egg salad, for example, you can substitute sweet pickles for dill, etc.

First, of course, I hard-boiled the eggs.

For this batch, I had some open, leftover plain yogurt (Greek). So, instead of just mayo, I did half light olive oil mayo and half yogurt. I used to make my own mayo, but I don't eat it often, so it's easier to use the commercial stuff. It is less fragile than the commercial stuff, so doesn't go bad as quickly. I used deli mustard, but you could use whatever you like (including making your own- also easy). I added a couple twists of pepper, gave a stir and a taste, adjusting accordingly (as usual, my verdict was that it needed more mustard, though I didn't go especially crazy with it). I used 4 eggs, so about 2 Tbl. of dressing (combined).



We still had radishes that needed using (radishes + mustard = perfection, in my book). We also have some amazing dill refrigerator pickles from a local farm, so chopped up a bit of each and added them. They not only add flavor, but extra layers of texture.

I was happy with the taste, so stopped there. Of course, you should add/leave out what you do/don't like.

Sometimes I like to add chopped tomato (or, even better, stuff a big, ripe tomato with the egg salad, forgoing the bread-- soooo good). A dash or two of paprika can be nice, too-- reminiscent of deviled eggs. It should be of no surprise that I'll add pretty much any vegetable I have on-hand to adjust texture/flavor (or just to use them up, if needed).



I kept the sandwich pretty simple, in this case-- just egg salad and a wonderfully-grainy oat bread. It was perfect in its simplicity.

The Incredible Edible...

Four exams down, one more to go. I had a quick snack when I came home from this morning's exam, but it finally dawned on me that I needed to eat something of substance. I've been craving egg salad for a few days, so finally gave in (of course, in the most healthy way possible).

First, I had to hard boil the eggs. If you haven't hard boiled eggs, or if the yolks come out dry, crumbly or with a green sulfurous ring about them, there are better methods out there. If you love your eggs and make them perfectly, feel free to skip this one. I'll walk through the egg salad in the next entry.

Eggs, Part 1 (Hard Boiled: Easy and Foolproof):  



I should point out that just because "boiled" is in the name, this does not mean the eggs need to be boiled! If they are, they're likely going to come out poorly. Fear not! This method is pretty fail safe.

1. Place your eggs in a pot. Careful not to crowd them! They like a little elbow room. That doesn't mean, of course, that you need to place 4 eggs in a big dutch oven, just give them a little room between them so that they don't go crashing into each other and they can be surrounded by a bit of water.

2. Add enough cold water to cover them. You don't need to go much higher than that. Add a pinch of salt. Yes, salty water can raise the boiling temperature, but a pinch isn't going to do a thing other than give the eggs a little seasoning through its porous shell. (If you don't do salt, easy, don't add it.)

3. Cover and bring them to a boil. Don't stick it on "high" and walk away! Depending on the stove, I'd use medium to medium-high heat. Stay close by so that you can hear when the water is boiling.

4. As soon as it boils, turn it off! Leave the cover on to retain the heat. If you have an electric stove, move the pot to another (cool) burner or off the stove completely. If it's gas, you're pretty much done.

5. Start a timer for 15 minutes and walk away. When the timer is done, so are the eggs! (no need to run, an extra minute won't hurt)

6. Place in a bath of ice water to stop the residual cooking.

You will have perfectly creamy yolks and firmly set whites. Enjoy!

Note: If you have older eggs vs. super-fresh, use them. They're easier to peel.