Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Potato Spinach Frittata

Cheese and eggs combined with roasted potatoes, spinach and tomatoes make for a fantastic all-in-one meal. It's no beauty but my Grade 7s and is ate it up!

Spinach and Potato Fritatta

Eggs are a tricky sell - to kids and adults. Growing up, I would eat eggs one of three ways: scrambled with gratuitous amounts of cheese, as an omelette with cheese and some kind of meat (chorizo was the bomb) or fried, sunny-side-up style, in butter. Plain scrambled eggs held absolutely zero pull for me (and lets not even get into hard boiled ones - I still can't stand their smell). Nowadays, the only person I know who actually likes eggs without anything but a splash of milk is my sister. Everyone else either won't eat them or has to add tons of ingredients for flavour and texture.

The lesson plans I wrote for my older Home Ec students were intended to teach them how to cook actual meals for themselves and their families, as they'll be off to high school soon. Hedging my bets that I could convert some of the "egg haters" by adding other elements they did like, I came up with a variation on both an Italian frittata and a Spanish tortilla - a stovetop frittata packed with spinach, potatoes and cheese. While I thought the spinach was a bit of a crapshoot for my traditionally veggie-phobic students - it was so green - I got no complaints either before or after they had their meal. I will admit, though, that the potatoes were the key ingredient - every kid there loves them. Regardless, the plates were cleaned - it's hard to argue with potatoes and cheese on any scale, and the eggs just hold everything together. The one thing I will emphasize is that salt is especially important here - between the potatoes, spinach, tomato and eggs, there isn't enough from the cheese alone. Pepper, however, is to taste. The student I had measuring the pepper added a half tablespoon to the mix in place of the half teaspoon indicated in their copy of the recipe - the results were by no means inedible, but they did require a lot of requests for water!

The few leftovers I had, I brought home to my mom. She's not a huge egg eater either, but like the kids if you add enough yummy things to them it's simply a bland binder. The pepper was a surprise, but again, not overpowering, and when served alongside a slice of that week's Cranberry, Walnut and Wild Rice Loaf  it made for a very satisfying lunch indeed!

Potato Spinach Frittata
2 tbsp olive oil 
6 small red potatoes, roasted and sliced 
2 oz torn fresh spinach 
1 large fresh tomato, diced
2 green onions, sliced 
1 clove garlic , crushed
salt and pepper to taste 
6 eggs 
⅓ cup low-fat milk 
2 oz grated sharp Cheddar cheese 
  1. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat
  2. Add potatoes, spinach, tomato, green onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted.
  4. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk.
  5. Pour into the pan over the vegetables and sprinkle with Cheddar cheese.
  6. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until eggs are firm.
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 283.1
  • Total Fat: 12.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 196.6 mg
  • Sodium: 173.1 mg
  • Total Carbs: 30.2 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 4.7 g
  • Protein: 12.6 g

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