This spring I planted a ton of different chards in the garden. In order to have a more continual supply of the good stuff I planted some seedlings and direct sowed two types of chard (rainbow and golden). Those started inside seedlings are now big and beautiful and ready for eating. Seriously check this out - how gorgeous are those colours?
I think I've mentioned before just how much I like eating breakfast for dinner. Work has been a little crazy lately and when you get home at 7 or 7:30 it's hard to think about making dinner. But in less time than it would take to get a pizza delivered you can get a frittata on the table while your Hubs puts together a green salad. I'd gotten some lovely thin asparagus from the farmer's market that I needed to use up and our dill is out of control. In addition to the dill I planted this spring our dill from last year self seeded and I've got little dill plants popping up everywhere! I make a frittata at least once a week with whatever is in the fridge but this combination of asparagus, chard and dill was especially good and here's how I did it:
Step one: wilt and chop some of your rainbow chard. Steam some asparagus until it's just tender crisp and chop up about a cup of feta (I used a light feta as unlike other "light" cheeses which are vile I can't really tell the difference in the feta).
Step two: beat 6 large eggs with pepper and a big handful of chopped fresh dill. Put veggies in a non-stick pan*, sprinkle with crumbled feta and pour over eggs. Cook over medium heat until eggs start to firm up.
Step three: when eggs are set at the bottom but still wet on top fire under the broiler until eggs are no longer jiggly.
Let stand 5 or 10 mins before diving in, with a green salad and some bread this makes a fine dinner and is much better for my butt and my wallet than ordering another pizza!
What's growing in your garden? Do you have any good flavour combinations for eggs? Share in the comments area below!
*A note about non-stick pans
Over high temperatures (450-500 degrees) Teflon (or PFOA or PTFE) releases toxic fumes. You can purchase eco-friendly nonstick pans made with ceramic or other coatings like Cuisinart's Green Gourmet. This ceramic-based (free of PFOA, PTFE and petroleum), non-stick cookware is even packaged in 100% recycled, and recyclable, cardboard. It's oven and broiler safe too, which is helpful in making a frittata like this. However all this greatness doesn't come cheap, my pan cost $49.99 from a local discount store so I asked for gift cards from the store for Christmas and then bought my pan during the boxing day sales. It's worth saving up for but a well seasoned cast iron pan would be excellent. I'm always on the lookout for rusty cast iron pans at yardsales and Goodwill that I can rehab. Canadian Living has a great tutorial on seasoning cast iron here.
