Breakfast Frittata

Living on a 'very-tight' budget and trying to stay healthy and eat right is challenging indeed! But...possible with the right recipes and ingredients! 

I am just returning from an incredible conference on cooking for health (Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives) which also addressed practical solutions for many surviving on government dollars and food supplements--I would argue that many college students fall into this quadrant and thought I could share some ideas!! Recipes demonstrated during this conference were meant to be easy, affordable, nutritious, and most importantly, delicious--with the goal of encouraging everyone to cook more not only for savings, but also for nutrition, health and community! 

Over the next few weeks I plan to feature many of these tasty options as well as some of the organizations who developed these recipes purposefully to address a much bigger issue in America: hunger! 

• First up? Frittatas
• Why? Versatile. 
• Base recipe + ingredients to your liking. 
• Mix and match. 
• Make ahead. Freeze and reheat.
• Convenient
• Health? Protein + Veggies. Low-fat.
• Cost? < $ 5-7
• Skill? Easy
• Feeds? 4-6 servings

Anytime Frittata
(Adapted from Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives)

Equipment:
Iron Cast Skillet (or oven-proof skillet and handle up to 400F degrees)
Regular Skillet (for sautéing), or do everything in the cast-iron skillet

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 egg white
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper 
2 Tbls parsley, fresh (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
2 Tbls water

4 Tbls Olive oil
1/2 cup onions, diced
2 Tbls Shallots, minced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 cup zucchini, 1/8" sliced and sautéed
1 cup Great Northern Beans (or cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped (optional)

Parmesan cheese, shredded

Instructions:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. 
3. Beat the eggs, egg whites, salt, pepper, and water until egg whites just incorporated. 

4. Heat olive oil in skillet to saute shallots and onions until translucent. 

5. Add zucchini rounds and saute until golden. 
(If using mushrooms I would saute mushrooms separately to remove the excessive water content first before adding to onion mixture.) 

6. Add drained beans and chopped artichoke hearts (if using these).

7. Add the egg mixture to skillet and stir in the cheese, then let cook over LOW-MED heat for one minute.

8. Bake entire skillet in pre-heated oven x 10-12 minutes until center sets.

9. Allow to cool in skillet and slide a knife around the edges.
10. Use a plate to flip the entire frittata out of the skillet. If it does not separate easily, simply remove individual slices from the skillet.

Add a salsa verde or tomato salsa or hot sauce or ketchup!
Set the rest aside for breakfast or after school snack.