Spring Vegetable Frittata and Whole Wheat Biscuits

It's been ages since I made a frittata. If you're not familiar with them, frittatas are like crustless quiches. Basically, they're composed of eggs and whatever you want to add to flavor them. They're started in a pan and baked in the oven to finish. The end result is an egg dish that looks like a pie and can be served hot, warm, or room temperature.

This time, I decided to load up my frittata with veggies. I used a combination of onions, asparagus, zucchini, spinach, and roasted red peppers. It turned out to be very light on the eggs, which was fine with me. I used only 4 eggs to make this dish, but if you'd prefer to have more eggs to balance the veggies, you could go up to even 6 eggs.

Frittata: (Serves 6-8)



Ingredients:

Eggs - 4
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves, grated
Asparagus - 5-6 spears, cut into 1 inch long pieces
Zucchini - 1 medium, cut into medium dice
Frozen spinach - 1 10 oz package, defrosted and squeezed dry (You could use fresh, if you have it)
Roasted red pepper - 1, coarsely chopped
Salt - to taste
Parmesan cheese - 2 tbsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
Crushed red pepper flakes - to taste
Olive oil

Method:

1. Beat the eggs with milk, Parmesan cheese, salt to taste, and black pepper. Keep aside. Preheat the oven to 425 F

2. Heat oil in a 10 inch skillet. When hot, add the onions and crushed red pepper flakes. Fry until the onions turn translucent.

3. Now, add the asparagus, zucchini, garlic, and a little salt. Fry until the veggies are crisp-tender.

4. Add the frozen spinach and roasted red peppers. Toss for a few seconds.

5. At this stage, add the egg mixture. Stir gently to combine. Allow the whole thing to start to firm up a little around the edges.

6. Now, place the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked and the frittata is solid. You can check for doneness with a toothpick, if you're not sure. The toothpick will come out dry (i.e., no uncooked egg) when it's done.

7. Remove from the oven. Carefully run a spatula around the edges and the bottom of the frittata, being careful not to break it. Gently slide it out onto a serving dish. You could just serve it out of the pan, if you want.

I garnished it with just a little bit of shredded Parmesan, but that's totally optional. Cut into wedges and serve!

Frittata slice!

I served these with whole wheat biscuits, since my husband loves biscuits. The recipe is my modification from one I originally saw on Lisa's blog here. I used garlic and Parmesan to flavor these and boy, were they a hit!!

I love these because they're wheat and they use olive oil instead of butter and/or shortening. You wind up with biscuits that are soft and fluffy as clouds. Truly wonderful!!

Whole Wheat Biscuits:

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 5 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Parmesan Cheese - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves, grated
Black pepper powder - 2 tsp, optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F

2. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking powder).

3. Now, add the olive oil, milk, cheese, and garlic.

4. Stir until just combined. Do not over-stir or the biscuits will be tough!

5. Drop onto a greased baking sheet in 1/4 cup amounts. Sprinkle black pepper on top, if desired.

6. Bake at 450 F for 10-12 minutes until light golden.

Makes about 12 biscuits.


The final resulting breakfast:

Breakfast of Champions!

I am sending these over to my dear girl Mansi, over at Fun and Food. She's hosting this month's WBB, with the theme of balanced breakfasts. I hope she is satisfied with the balance of protein, veggies, and whole grain in this breakfast! :)