Meatless Monday

Frittata with Potato and Swiss Chard

This makes for a lovely lunch or nice light supper. Served with a green salad, this easy Frittata has become one of our "Meatless-Monday" favourites, any day of the week. Although we love the slightly bitter taste of swiss chard, spinach would make a great substitution (use whatever veggies you have in your fridge). That's the beauty of the frittata - it's a blank canvas for thousands of delicious combinations.

Hubby loves this with a bit of hot sauce (Sriracha is his favourite), and I love it with ketchup.

1 shallot, finely diced 

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 bunch swiss chard leaves (approx 6), washed and trimmed (optional: stems reserved and diced)

1 medium white or red potato, diced

8 eggs

1/4 milk or cream

1/2 - 1 cup parm reg cheese

S&P to taste

1. Heat some EVOO in a 10" non-stick, oven-proof skillet over medium. Sautée shallot and garlic until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. If using, add trimmed chard stems and sautée 2-3 minutes more. Add potato and cook until fork-tender, 10-12 minutes. Gently stir in chard leaves, and heat until slightly wilted.

2. Preheat oven to 425F. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir into skillet with veggies, ensuring egg mixture covers the entire pan. As it cooks, gently run a spatula around the outside edge of the pan (as pictured below), allowing the raw egg from the centre to cook more evenly.

4. Once edges of frittata have set (4-6 minutes), place skillet in preheated oven. Cook 7-9 minutes, until centre has puffed and set (test with a sharp knife - when the knife comes out clean, the Frittata is done!). For a nice browned top, place frittata under broiler for 2-3 minutes (watch it closely - it can burn easily).

5. Slide frittata onto cutting board. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing like a pie. Makes great leftovers too!

    

Happy Valentine's Day!

M&M Cookies

Just because Hallmark decided to make February 14 the official day of lovey-dovey-mushiness, doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it. M&M's are always available in holiday colours, so this is a great cookie recipe no matter what time of the year it is. You can even go to M&M.com and have custom-coloured candies made, which would be great of wedding or baby showers, or even kids birthday parties.
The original recipe said to bake for 8-10 minutes - I found that this made for very soft and slightly under cooked cookies. My oven is "cool" and never holds the right temperature, so it took up to 14 minutes per batch. I recommend checking around 10 minutes, just to be on the safe-side. You want the cookies to be slightly brown around the edges, and still look soft in the centre.  

3/4 cups unsalted butter - at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup M&M candies (mini-m&ms work well too)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugars in mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter, until dough just forms. Gently stir in chocolate chips and M&Ms. Place dough in fridge while you prep the pans and oven preheats.
3. Preheat oven to 325F. Cover three cookies sheets with parchment paper. Once oven has preheated, remove dough from fridge and drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheets (I use a small ice cream scoop for more uniform cookies). Bake, 10-14 minutes, until edges are slightly brown and centres appear slightly soft and puffy.

Enjoy!
xox