Frittata with Broccoli, Potato, Feta, Onion
Ingredient inspiration: Broccoli
Americans love brunch. Specifically, we love to eat dessert in the name of brunch (pancakes with syrup, waffles, french toast). Somehow this dessert-for-brunch never made me salivate, probably because I have a savory tooth over a sweet tooth. I naturally gravitate towards savory brunch dishes - potatoes, eggs benedict, omelettes, huevos rancheros, frittatas, biscuits, etc..
I hate paying for brunch. It is the easiest food to make and yet restaurants ask you to fork over $20-$30 for a plate of simple (delicious) food and a cup of coffee. Ok fine, granted, you don’t have to buy any grocery or do any dishes. To each their own. For me, making brunch food at home is super simple, doesn’t take too much time, is high quality, and enjoyed in my pajamas without standing for hours in a long line.
I probably didn’t know what frittatas (or quiches) were until I was in college. My mom, the main cook in our family, prepared and ate vegetarian Indian food only. When I had my first slice of quiche in the dining commons freshmen year, I found the crust to be blah/boring/tasteless but the eggs were amazing. Then at some point I had my first slice of frittata and I said goodbye to quiche forever (…mostly).
One Saturday morning I was lounging around wondering what to have for breakfast/brunch with no desire to step outside. After a few mins of rummaging around in the pantry and the fridge, a frittata idea revealed itself. I had onions, potatoes, broccoli, eggs, cheese. I also had eggplant and cabbage… but those didn’t quite make sense in this frittata (but never say never for a future one!).
Thus, a broccoli-onion-potato-cheese frittata was born and devoured a few mins later.
Vegetables
I cut up the broccoli, onions, potatoes. I shredded some cheese (I think this was leftover Irish cheddar or gruyere… don’t remember) and cubed up some danish feta. In a cast iron pan (any oven safe pan will work), I melted arbitrary amounts of butter on medium heat, sautéed the onion, added potatoes to cook until softened, added the broccoli to cook until bright green, and then turned the heat to low.
Eggs
I eyeballed how many eggs would be enough to cover the vegetable mix (8 eggs), beat them with a couple splashes of milk, added both the cheeses, and poured into the slightly cooled pan. I tried to be fancy by arranging onion rings in the center (I failed, I know, but I still leave you with a close up of the artwork). I cooked this on low heat for 10 mins on the stove and then transferred to the oven at 400C for another ~10 mins. I kept an eye on the egg, poked it with a toothpick a couple times; it needed another 2 mins in the oven to be completely done (probably depends on oven).
Brunch
The frittata is ready (and looks pretty enough with my art attempt?) and brunch for two (or 4 or 6) was ready to serve in under an hour. I paired this with honey dew melon and hot coffee. This came out delicious, savory, cheesy, and with leftovers for other meals.
In closing, I would like to thank the humble broccoli for inspiring me to make this dish. Perhaps it will inspire you too.
Dish Debrief:
Is this my winner or disaster? Winner
How would I rate this dish out of 10? 10 out of 10
What would I change next time? Absolutely nothing.
Would I make this again? Oh yes!