Rainbow Swiss Chard Frittata

 

 

Does a meatless Monday meal count if it has eggs in it?  If so – here’s a perfect meatless Monday dinner, a savory frittata made with Rainbow Swiss Chard.  For some reason we just do not eat that many eggs in our house.  Whenever I make a recipe that calls for an egg I have to buy a half dozen and then they just sit there.  Never again.  Frittatas are SO easy and such a great way to use up veggies and cheeses that are sitting in the fridge.  Plus, we’re going on vacation next week so I’m on a mission to consume what we have in the house without getting new groceries so I just used what was on hand to make this meal.

CSA Produce used:

• Bunch of Rainbow Swiss Chard
• 1 Fresh Onion
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 4 Baby Potatoes

To make the frittata first I prepped all the veggies.  I diced the baby potatoes and boiled them in water until tender, draining and setting aside.  I also boiled the swiss chard for about 10 minutes then ran the greens under cold water and drained.  I squeezed out the excess water and then cut the greens, stems and all, into 1 inch chunks.  I love how the rainbow chard retains its bright red and yellow colored stems even after cooking.

 

As an aside, note the bottoms of all my jars of pickles lining the kitchen in the background of the picture.  We have SO many jars of pickles right now.  Last night we opened a jar of pickled green beans, which were delicious.  We tried one of the pickled cukes though and WHOAH are they vinegary.  I think in the future when pickling cucumbers versus the green beans and scapes I really have to make sure I’m using half water and half vinegar since they really absorb the liquid.  These are border-line inedible unfortunately.  But hey, you learn something even in failed experiments.

Back to the frittata, while the potatoes and chard were boiling I sautéed the fresh onion and the garlic clove in a little bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet.  I kept the heat pretty low because the skillet gets hot really quickly.  After cooking the veggies for a few minutes I added in the chopped chard and diced potatoes, cooking for a few minutes more seasoning with salt and pepper and then removed the skillet from the heat while I whisked the egg mixture.

 

In a small bowl I whisked together 6 eggs and about a half a cup of milk with some salt and pepper.  Then I poured the egg mixture over the cooled veggies and grated about a half a cup of fontina over the top of the egg and vegetable mixture.  I used fontina because it’s what we had on hand but any kind of cheese would be good, a sharp cheddar, gruyere, anything.  Then, I gently mixed everything together and put the skillet in the oven to bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until the frittata was firm.  I let the dish rest for about 5 minutes and served warm.

Verdict: this meal was delicious.  I was afraid it wouldn’t be filling enough but it was perfect.  I think the addition of the potatoes really makes the dish feel more substantial.  I definitely see more frittatas in our future.  I have been admonished to never make this dish in the skillet again because of the difficulty in getting it clean afterwards.  That’s our deal, I cook, husband does the dishes.  That’s fine with me because I do wish my frittata had been taller.  Next time I’ll make it in a smaller, less difficult to clean, dish and hopefully it will be taller.

 

Sunday Night Roast Beef

I love the ritual of Sunday dinners.  My parents would frequently make sit-down Sunday dinners growing up and I’ve always thought they were a nice way to finish off the weekend and for us to all sit down together before mentally getting ready for the week ahead.  We’d usually have a roast meat – beef, chicken, or lamb and veggie sides.  Nowadays, we’re always super busy in the summers and are hardly ever home on weekends.  When we get home on Sundays we’re usually walking in the door between 5 and 6pm, tired, and just wanting a salad and bed.  So, last weekend when we were actually around on a Sunday, I made a Sunday Roast.

CSA Produce used:

• Baby potatoes
• Green beans
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh garlic

I usually use the top round when making roast beef for just the two of us.  It’s a cut that comes from the rump of the cow.  It’s not super expensive and has enough fat to make a nice gravy with, but can get chewy if cooked to medium well as opposed to medium rare which I accidentally did this time.  I think it’s time for a new meat thermometer.  If I’m making a fancier meal for company I use the tenderloin which is more expensive but very tender.  It is less fatty so I often pick up beef suet to melt for a little extra fat.  Beef suet roasted potatoes are HEAVEN – like little beefy french fries.

To make the roast I first made an herb crust by combining chopped thyme, rosemary, and garlic with some salt and pepper in olive oil and rubbing it all over the roast.  I let the roast rest for about 20 minutes at room temperature while the oven pre-heated to 425.  Then, I put the roast in the roasting pan and into the oven for 15 minutes at 425 to sear the roast and then reduced to 350 until the thermometer reads 135-140.  Then I removed the roast from the oven tenting with foil and let rest for another 15 minutes.  The beef will continue to cook while resting, for medium-rare the final temperature should be 145.  While the roast rests I make the gravy – putting the pan on low heat, adding 1 tbsp of flour, scraping up the fat and bits on the bottom of the pan then slowly adding about a cup of water while stirring constantly.  Then, adjust the flour and water amounts until the gravy is ready.

While the roast was cooking I made the potatoes.  I washed them thoroughly, but gently because the skins on the new potatoes are paper-thin.  I put them in a saucepan filled with boiling water and boiled for about 20 minutes until tender.  Then I tossed the potatoes in 1 tbsp of butter and some olive oil and chopped fresh parsley and chives with a little salt and pepper.  This is such an easy way to make potatoes – and with the baby potatoes, simplicity is the way to go!  We got so many in the share last week the rest are waiting in a paper bag for the next recipe.

To make the green beans I first blanched them in boiling water for about two minutes.  In a saute pan I sautéed a chopped shallot and mushrooms in some butter, when dinner was just ready to be plated I added the green beans and sautéed in the shallot and mushroom mixture for 2-3 minutes.

Verdict: Sunday dinner is not actually labor intensive, just takes a block of 2-3 hours cooking time.  Perfect for having something smell delicious in the oven while doing laundry and getting ready for the week.

Baked Striped Bass and Sauteed Squash

My husband went fishing with the boys recently and brought back the biggest filet of Striped Bass I have ever seen.  I’d never cooked Striper before… I’m not sure if I had actually ever tried it before, so up first was researching what the fish is like.  Stripers are found all along the Atlantic coast and are anadromous, meaning that they are salt water fish that migrate to fresh water to spawn.  Like salmon.  It’s a white, flaky fish so I decided to use the recipe I use for cod or haddock, complete with Ritz crackers.  The texture of the fish, while flaky, was more firm than cod and haddock – I don’t know if the difference is from the fact that it was swimming in the ocean about 12 hours before eating, but I really enjoyed the texture.  Swordfish is my favorite fish and it’s pretty meaty, so it makes sense that I would prefer the striped bass to cod or haddock.  To go with the fish I made some rice pilaf and sautéed squash.

CSA produce used:

• Zucchini
• Summer Squash
• Fresh Onion
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Thyme

To make the fish I first crushed up half a sleeve of Ritz crackers, a half a stick of melted butter, and plenty of fresh chopped thyme.  Then, I splashed a bit of white wine in the bottom of a baking pan and placed the fish in the pan.  I sprinkled the fish with salt and pepper and then topped with the cracker mix.  I squeezed half a lemon over the whole thing and it set to bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the fish flaked with the fish spatula.

While the fish was cooking I made the squash saute.  This is one of my favorite ways of serving zucchini and summer squash.  I just sautéed chopped fresh onion and garlic in olive oil until the onions became translucent and then added the sliced squash, sautéing until the squash gets ‘melty’, about 10-15 minutes, and seasoning with plenty of fresh thyme.  Dried oregano or basic Italian seasoning mixes are good additions too if you don’t have fresh herbs on hand.

Verdict: the fish was out of this world, I will choose the striped bass if available over cod or haddock when making baked fish in the future.  This was a really nice, easy meal to end the weekend.