Vegetable and Egg White Frittata

Some dishes sound way harder to make than they actually are. Boeuf bourguignon? Meh, it's just beef stew. Risotto? Just rice that you keep on stirring!

Frittatas are basically big omelettes that you bake instead of folding into an omelette. It sounds fancy pants enough to impress your guests, but couldn't be easier. My Vegetable and Egg White Frittata is a protein and nutrient packed powerhouse, and you won't even have to crack a single egg! Cause no one likes that.




The best part is that once you have mastered the basic technique, you can make all sorts of variations. Some other ideas:

• Bacon and Scallion Frittata
• Ham and Potato Frittata
• Spinach and Artichoke Frittata
• Leftovers I Don't Recognize in My Refrigerator Frittata

So go crazy with it!


Ingredients:

• 2 cups liquid egg whites. I just buy this stuff in the carton. WAY easier than cracking a bunch of eggs and trying to separate the whites! You can also make this recipe with whole eggs if you'd like, but this saves tons of cholesterol and tastes delicious.

• 1/4 cup heavy cream. Since you are using egg whites, feel free to indulge your inner (or outer) fat ass here. The cream adds great texture and richness to the frittata, but if you are squeamish about the calories, you could use milk instead I suppose.

• 2 large handfuls shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes in oil. These come in the jar and the oil adds delicious flavor to the whole frittata, as well as beautiful color.

• 1/3 cup diced yellow squash. Had this in the fridge. Feel free to use other leftover veggies.

• 1/3 cup diced button mushrooms. See above.

• 1 large handful fresh spinach leaves, torn up

• 1 tbsp. minced garlic

• 1 tbsp. onion and herb seasoning. I had Mrs. Dash in my pantry, but feel free to use your own seasoning blend of choice.

• Olive oil
  

You can add whatever leftover vegetables you are trying to clear out of the fridge; just make sure you don't have more than about a cup/cup and a half of them diced up so you don't overwhelm the pan.


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and dice up your veggies and sundried tomatoes. Add them to a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and stir to coat in the oil from the tomatoes. If there isn't much oil, drizzle with some olive oil so the veggies have a light coating on them.




Cook the veggies a couple minutes until they are nice and soft. Add the garlic and the handful of spinach, stirring until it wilts down into the mixture.




In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cream, onion and herb seasoning, and one handful of the mozzarella cheese.




Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and reduce the heat to medium low. Stir so the veggies are mixed evenly throughout.




Now, just let the whole thing sit over medium low heat for about 10 minutes until the bottom is set. How to know when it's done? Jiggle the skillet back and forth. The only part that should wiggle should just be in the very middle of the egg mixture.

In the meanwhile, it's time to make your foil condom. That's right: your foil condom. Cause if you are like me, most likely your skillet is not oven proof. Not sure if it's oven proof or not? Make a foil condom anyways. Just tightly wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the handle of your skillet to prevent it from burning. Remember what you learned in health class: don't be a fool, wrap your tool!




Sprinkle the other handful of mozzarella over the top of the frittata and pop the whole skillet into the oven and bake at 450 for about 7 minutes, or until the entire mixture is firm and the cheese on top is toasty brown.




Now comes the bad ass chef part: removing the frittata from the skillet. There is no greater feeling of pride than watching this beautiful egg dish slide out of the skillet and onto a serving plate. Here's how to do it:

Let the frittata cool and set for a couple minutes. Then run a rubber spatula around the edges to loosen it. The combination of the oil and the nonstick skillet surface should help the whole thing to slide right out onto a plate. I promise, it's easy!




Cut the frittata into wedges and serve. This also freezes well, so wrap some wedges up and bank 'em for a quick breakfast on the go! Enjoy :)