See my favorite seasonal finds in my Amazon shop!

Garden Veggie Frittata

It was 7pm, my fridge was empty, and I was starving. If this happens to you on the regular like it does to me,  eating fresh and healthy may seem like a losing battle. But don’t run for the takeout menu down just yet – I assure you, it can be done. And the weapon you will use to pull this off is (drumroll, please)…the frittata. Not only is it quick, easy, and doable with almost any ingredients you have, but it’s fun to say. Frit-ta-ta. Go ahead, you know you want to. Now that you got that out of your system, check out my recipe for this high-protein, in-a-pinch dinner idea. Yum!

I remember once hearing that a great chef is not one who has a ton of ingredients and tools at their disposal, but instead, is someone who can take few ingredients and tools whip up a great meal. I am not a great chef. But when you commit to making a frittata, you will feel like a rock star (and a well-nourished one, at that.) The first thing I did was check my kitchen display bowl to see what I had on hand. I had some garlic, a couple of onions, plus a squash, a zucchini, and some peppers from the garden. In my pantry I had olive oil, salt and pepper, and some dried herbs. I was ready to roll. You will of course have different things on hand – maybe some mushrooms, some tomatoes, or some cheese – but you get the idea.  Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium zucchini, cut into chunks
  • 1 medium squash, cut into chunks
  • 2 peppers (I used on hot banana and one sweet banana)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tbsp milk or cream
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • dried or fresh chopped herbs (I used thyme and onion chives)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup of grated cheese (I always keep a container of Pecorino Romano in the fridge)

Directions:

1) Coat a large frying pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, and once heated, saute onions until they are translucent (about 3 minutes.) Next, add the garlic and salt, and saute until lightly browned. Now, add your zucchini, squash and peppers (or whatever veggies you have on hand), until they soften. While that is cooking…

2) Grab a large bowl, and whisk together eggs and cream thoroughly. Now, add in cheese, herbs, and crushed black pepper. Heat up your broiler by using the ‘broiler’ setting on your stove.

3) When your vegetables in the pan have softened, add the veggie mixture to the bowl with your egg mixture, and stir to combine. Now, add another tbsp olive oil to the pan, and add the entire mixture back in, reducing the heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom of the frittata is slightly browned.

4) Put your frittata in the broiler, watching it constantly, for about 3-5 minutes (or until the top begins to brown.)

Now take it out, let it cool, and cut it like a pizza. That’s it! And the best part: you can take your leftovers to work for breakfast. Just wrap it in tinfoil and pop it in the toaster for a few minutes.

.

Alessandra Macaluso is the author of What a Good Eater! , Lucy the Bee and the Healing Honey, and The Real-Deal Bridal Bible. She’s also a Qigong and Tai Chi instructor, and overall wellness advocate. Her work has been featured in several anthologies which can all be found on her Amazon author page, and she has contributed to The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, TODAY Parents, and many other online publications.

Alessandra is a northerner-turned-southerner, enjoying the south with her children, Penelope and Ciro, and her husband, Greg.

0 0 votes
Recipe Rating
19 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Ali, this sounds delish. I think I will make this tonight. My brother delivered a bag of veggies from his garden yesterday. Nice way to use them. What do you think about adding a few cherry tomatoes and some shrimp?

‘@pstrong4 that is a great idea Peggy!! Even better. Let me know how it comes out 🙂

hello

I was wondering what to do with all that squash I have from the garden, I’m going to try this fritata tomorrow for dinner. Maybe they will actually eat veggies and eggs if it actually looks like pizza!

By the way, I have (way) too many cucumbers too, any ideas for those? Or pickling recipes maybe? Thanks!

I was wondering what to do with all that squash I have from the garden, I’m going to try this fritata tomorrow for dinner. Maybe they will actually eat veggies and eggs if it actually looks like pizza!

By the way, I have (way) too many cucumbers too, any ideas for those? Or pickling recipes maybe? Thanks!

I was wondering what to do with all that squash I have from the garden, I’m going to try this fritata tomorrow for dinner. Maybe the kids will actually eat veggies and eggs if it actually looks like pizza!

By the way, I have (way) too many cucumbers too, any ideas for those? Or pickling recipes maybe? Thanks!

I was wondering what to do with all that squash I have from the garden, I’m going to try this fritata tomorrow for dinner. Maybe they will actually eat veggies and eggs if it looks like pizza! 😉

By the way, I have (way) too many cucumbers too, any ideas for those? Or pickling recipes maybe? Thanks!

‘@rshin Too funny! 😉 I actually just picked 7 cucumbers from the garden, they are going crazy! I got 5 plants this year, the leaves seem to keep the rabbits at bay so I wanted them to wrap around the garden beds to protect them. Funny that you ask, I have a few recipes coming that involve cucumbers….and some that are for the skin. Coming soon…

‘@Ali Mac I would absolutely love to use the cukes for a homemade face mask! Looking forward to that recipe!

Next year I’m going to organize my garden very differently based on what I saw this year (my garden is a shambles after the storms and the dogs eating all the green tomatoes, strawberries and even my baby green peppers!).

I also placed the watermelon in a middle row without realizing how long the vines grow and grab onto everything. Next year I’ll have them on the outside as I saw in your garden Ali. I will also try wrapping the cucumbers around the garden (instead of inside) as you suggested.

Also, my tomatoes didn’t do so well (I have Big Boy’s) as the cages have been blown down so many times by the storms…not to mention that I realized a little to late that you have to ‘pinch’ the suckers early on haha

Well, it’s a learning experience 🙂

‘@rshin Amen Rula, it really is! Last year we tried the Better Boy tomatoes…what a nightmare! We didn’t do the cages (mistake #1,) but they looked like they were going to do okay – then, right before they would get to a point where I could pick them, something always got to them. On top of that, one of the other plants had spider mites on the tomatoes that kept coming back no matter what I did. This year, I gave up – instead, we planted the husky red cherry tomatoes and they have been doing great! Also, I didn’t realize until halfway through the season last year that I had to pinch those suckers!! 😉

‘@Ali Mac @rshin

Yes, your cherry tomatoes look beautiful! I will try those next year as well. And yes I have some things eating leaves though I’m not quite sure what they are exactly. I have been neglecting my ‘children’ (they are living things after all) and feel a little bad about it…but the past is dead. I am going to go out there and weed tonight (after making the frittatas – we didn’t even have eggs yesterday haha)! Thanks!

‘@rshin mix a spritzer bottle with dish soap, water, and a few cloves of crushed garlic, and spritz it on the plants. I read this somewhere and tried it – so far, it’s been keeping them off!

Hey @Ali Mac This happens with me all the time! NO food in the fridge! And I always end up cooking a veggie omelet 🙂 This time will try making the fri-ta-ta (its so much fun to say the name). Thanks for sharing the recipe. Loved your blog! Will be hanging out here more often 🙂

Welcome to the Livefyre community! We are pumped to have you here. If you have any questions/feedback, feel free to give us a shout!

‘@Dhara Mistry Thanks so much!! I am so happy to be here too! And so glad you are enjoying the blog 🙂 Welcome!

Yum…love a good frittata!
I need a garden like yours Ali Stewart!!!!

‘@LisaZ Haha! Ali Stewart says “thank you!” 😉

So I made this last night and it was delicious! My husband loved it, although my 2 year old son wouldn’t touch it (he simply looks at a food and “knows” he doesn’t like it haha). My daughter ate half the plate and usually she is the one who exclaims “Carrots? I LOVE carrots!!” as she picks around every single carrot on her plate haha.

I used an onion, a straighteck squash from my veggie garden, one medium tomato, and 2 cloves of garlic. For the cheese I had a tub of freshly grated parmesan. It was really so easy to make, you can’t go wrong. I won’t forget this dish for the future when I need something in a pinch. The whole thing was gone that night.

Thanks Ali 🙂

‘@rshin That is great!!! Too funny about your kids! Oooo, a tomato in there sounds good! Have to try that next time. I’m glad you like it!

[…] I’m going to post a Monday night mash-up every Monday so I can share with you and we can trade ideas. Feel free to post yours in the comments. And remember, if you still aren’t sure of what to make: when in doubt, go for the frittata. […]