Mini Spinach Frittatas

I saw this recipe the other day and thought it would be a nice change for a weekend breakfast. They were super easy to make and everyone scarfed them down. I’d planned on having some as leftovers for a couple of days but there weren’t any left! Guess next time I’ll be making a double batch!

Ingredients

• 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 Tablespoons sour cream
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon lemon pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix together spinach, ricotta, sour cream, and cheeses.
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, hot sauce, cumin, salt, pepper, and lemon pepper.
4. Add the egg mixture to the spinach mixture.
5. Spray a muffin tin liberally with cooking spray. Evenly divide the mixture into the muffin tins.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until eggs are set and beginning to brown.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tins. Serve with more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Adapted from Baked Bree

Bibimbap

I’d never heard of bibimbap before but it looked so delicious I knew I had to try it. There are a lot of components but none of them are too difficult to put together. This is mainly chopping and cooking glorious amounts of fresh veggies. You really could use just about any kind of veggies you like in here so it’s easily customizable. I would suggest however, that you try to the cucumbers as they added a delightful fresh spiciness to the mix. Have I mentioned I’ve already made this twice?

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Smoked Salmon Frittata with Green Onion Dressing

This was a delicious, fast meal for a busy work night. You may want to double it up if it’s for the whole family and/or serve with a side salad.

 

Green Onion Dressing

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked, drained & rinsed (I usually pour boiling water over mine and soak for about 45 minutes)
• 1 cup coconut milk
  
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped finely
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt & pepper

Instructions:

Add the raw cashews to a blender and process until they are finely ground. Add the coconut milk, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Blend until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides a few times.

Stir through the green onions and season to taste with salt & pepper. Refrigerate to thicken before serving.

Smoked Salmon Frittata

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon oil or butter
• 4 large eggs, beaten with a splash of water
• 3 – 4 oz smoked salmon, sliced

Preheat broiler.

Heat oil or butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet on stove over medium-low heat. Pour in beaten eggs and swirl pan to evenly distribute in a circle. Cook eggs until they are beginning to pull away slightly from the edges of the pan and only the middle is still liquid.

Place the skillet under the broiler and cook until the eggs are just set – they will be firm to the touch, but still spring back to shape. Remove the hot pan from the broiler with oven mitts and slide frittata onto a cutting board or plate.

To serve:

Top frittata with sliced smoked salmon and green onion dressing and garnish with additional green onions if desired.

Adapted from Meatified

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

I don’t know what it was about the bacon and eggs combination of this salad, but when I saw it my mouth immediately started watering. I love me some eggs on salad and bacon is never a bad thing, right? Contrary to the recipe instructions, I cut my bacon up into small pieces before cooking. It always seems to cook more evenly that way and then you don’t get crispy pieces of bacon flying all over the kitchen by trying to chop it up later. Anyway, I think I had this salad on the table in under a half hour. Not much work at all with delightfully tasty results.

*1/4 of the salad & dressing (or a nice plate-full) is 8 WW points.

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Croissant Breakfast Casserole

This was yet another experiment I tried out while Seth’s sister was in town. Breakfast casseroles usually aren’t my favorite, but this one looked promising so I gave it a go. Happily this turned out delicious! Great flavor and a real crowd pleaser. It’s definitely going on my keeper list, especially for company.

Based on some comments from other reviewers, I tweaked the proportions just a bit. Since only 4 croissants will fit in a typical 9×13 casserole dish, I picked up a large disposable roasting pan at the store so I could make a larger batch. My original plan was to double the recipe, but only 6 croissants fit in the larger pan so I kind of doubled the recipe, but not for everything. Some reviewers mentioned there was too much cheese and not enough eggs, so I adjusted things to make a better proportion. Basically, I added 1 extra egg to the original recipe (or 2 eggs for me since I doubled it). I also added some bacon bits (ham would also be great). I used the doubled amount of mushrooms and egg mixture for my 6 croissants, but felt like the doubled amount of cheese was a bit much, so I just did what looked like a reasonable amount. I think because I had more eggs in mine, it took longer to bake, closer to an hour. So, if you do what I did, just know you may have to increase the baking time. As is typical with breakfast casseroles, it’s best to make this the night before and keep it in the fridge until ready to bake.

Now that you’re all thoroughly confused. Here’s the recipe! I’ve included a link to the original in case you want to make it the standard way. You won’t be able to fit 6 croissants in a regular 9×13 pan, so if you want to use my version of the recipe you’ll want to get a larger pan like I did, or divide it between 2 pans. As a precaution, you’ll want to start checking doneness at about 30 minutes.

My Version

• 6 croissants
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced green onion
• 10 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 ½ cups cooked crumbled bacon (or cubed ham)
• 1 ½ cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Split croissants in half and place bottoms cut side up in one layer in a rectangular casserole sprayed with non-stick spray. (I used a 11 x 16 disposable pan).

Melt butter in a large saute pan. Saute mushrooms and green onion until tender and liquid has evaporated. Set aside.

Beat together eggs and milk. Pour half over croissants, layer mushroom mixture and cheeses on top, then pour over remaining liquid. Position croissant tops over the bottoms, cut side down. Cover and let stand overnight in the refrigerator.

Bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until set. Cover with foil if it browns too quickly. (I covered mine after 15 minutes).

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Poached Eggs on Potato, Spinach, and Smoked Salmon Salad with Creamy Caper Dressing

Another Rachael Ray 30-minute Meal

While this salad may sound weird, I thought it was great! This was my first time eating smoked salmon and making poached eggs. While my poached eggs weren’t much to look at, they tasted just fine. Guess I’ll have to practice that technique a little more.

 

• 1 pound small red potatoes, cut into quarters
• Salt
• 4 large handfuls of baby spinach
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 3 or 4 slices smoked salmon, cut into strips

Place the potatoes in a sauce pot, cover them with water, place the pot over high heat, and bring the water to a boil. Once it is boiling, add some salt and cook until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool, about 5 minutes.

When cool, transfer the potatoes to a bowl. Add the spinach, lemon zest, and olives and season them with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, combine the mustard, mayo, capers, dill, lemon juice, and a little splash of cold water to loosen up the dressing– just enough to make it drizzle-able.

Fill a medium skillet with about 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a gentle simmer over high heat. Once the water is at a bubble, turn the heat down to medium low; you need a gentle simmer for poaching eggs. Pour the vinegar into the simmering water. Crack an egg into a small bowl, then gently slide the egg into the simmering water. Repeat this with the remaining 3 eggs. Cook the eggs for about 2 minutes for runny yolks, or about 4 minutes for solid yolks. Do not allow the water to boil. Use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs to a towel-lined plate to drain.

Add the salmon to the potato mixture, and toss to combine and then divide between two plates. Top each serving of salad with two poached eggs and then liberally drizzle each with the caper dressing.

2 servings

From: Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8 Great Meals for Couples or Crowds

 

Farmer Sandwich

If you missed the news, baby Sylvia finally arrived! In honor of her arrival, here’s an easy breakfast you can make with one hand! (you know in case you’re holding a baby).

While we’re partial to breakfast burritos around here, I’ve recently started working “Farmer Sandwiches” into the mix. This idea actually came from Seth who requested one one morning when I asked him what he wanted. He and his friends used to get these things at a fabulous little hole-in-the-wall diner in his hometown of Idaho Falls.

There’s not really a recipe for these things and there’s a lot of room for customization, but this is what I use to make one sandwich:

• 2 slices of bread, toasted (sourdough is really good)
• 2 slices of bacon, cooked
• 2 fried eggs (My fool-proof way to cook fried eggs: Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs into pan; cook 2 minutes. Cover and cook an additional 2 minutes or until whites are set. Remove from heat.)
• 1 slice of cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar)

Layer bacon, eggs, and cheese on the toasted bread and eat!

Blindfolded Eggs Over Cheddar Garlic Grits

This was the perfect dinner for a lazy weeknight. Heck this would be an awesome breakfast for that matter. I’m pretty sure it was on the table in under 10 minutes. I did “fatten” it up a little by adding more cheese than the recipe called for (I couldn’t even taste 2 tbsp. worth of shredded cheese!) but I didn’t change anything other than that. The cooking method for the eggs was very similar to the one I usually use and is virtually fool-proof! Did I mention this meal is also cheap?

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Tomato Frittata

What better way to eat my freshly picked tomatoes and peppers than to put them in a delicious frittata for breakfast? I found this easy little gem of a recipe and knew just by looking at it it would be delicious. I would recommend the suggested broil at the end of cooking to add a little more depth of flavor and improve visual appeal.

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Open-faced Egg Sandwich with Thyme Pesto and Lemon Cream

I know I’ve told you a million times how much I love thyme, but I’m going to tell you again. I LOVE THYME. When I saw this recipe I was like, You can make pesto out of THYME? WHA?! 

I was a little scared of this. The lemon cream was especially scary because I used plain Greek yogurt instead of crème fraîche and 1 tsp. lemon zest (and a tiny bit of lemon juice… probably 1-2 tsp.)  instead of the preserved lemon. I tasted it after it was all blended together and was like, huh. Not sure about this stuff. But I put it in the fridge and finished making the rest of the components. Each thing tasted just ‘OK’ on its own, but when I put all of it together, YUM! This was a super fast meal and was a great option for dinner on a hectic night full of running errands.

p.s. I don’t know what it is about me and my egg sandwiches lately, but there’s something about a fried egg with savory ingredients that makes them taste so much better than they do with pancakes and syrup. In other words, fried eggs for dinner? YEAH! Fried eggs for breakfast? gag

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