Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Just when I mentioned in my last blog post how much I enjoy Mark Bittman in the online New York Times Dining Guide each Wednesday, he announces that he will no longer be a featured contributor to that section.  He will be missed in the dining section, but will still be at The Times in the opinion section.  That should be interesting.  He will also contribute recipes to The Times Sunday Magazine.   His latest book, The Food Matters Cookbook is being offered as a giveaway by Heather of Girlichef.  All you need do to enter to win is go to her link, post a Mark Bittman recipe and follow her directions to be eligible.

While reading his last article, I was taken with the list of his top 25 videos from the past 13 years with the Times.  That is one of the reasons I have enjoyed the online recipes.  Each one is accompanied by a video.

The one that really caught my eye was the recipe and video for the More Vegetable Than Egg Frittata.  We are trying very hard to eat our vegetables and we are not eating as many eggs as we used to.  Therefore his frittata made perfect sense to me.  There are just enough eggs in it to bind the vegetables together.  It is almost a vegetable pancake.

The version I made included a large sweet onion, a half of a green pepper and a 14 ounce bag of baby spinach that I blanched briefly in a little water, shocked in ice water and drained and squeezed very, very dry.  My herb of choice was fresh basil and parsley from my container garden.  But as he explains in his video, any vegetable or herb will do. The important thing is to have between 3 and 4 cups of vegetables to 3 eggs as opposed to 1 to 2 cups of vegetables to 6 eggs.

This breakfast made me feel good and kept me going all morning.

MORE VEGETABLE THAN EGG FRITTATA ( Mark Bittman )

2 Tablespoons olive oil or butter
1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 to 6 cups of any chopped or slice raw or barely cooked vegetables
1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley leaves, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or mint leaves, or any other herb
3 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put olive oil or butter in a 10 inch skillet ( preferably nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron) and turn heat to medium.  When fat is hot, add onion, if using, and cook, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until it is soft, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add vegetables, raise heat and cook stirring occasionally, until they soften, from a couple of minutes for greens to 15 minutes for sliced potatoes.  Adjust heat so vegetables brown a little without scorching. (With precooked vegetables like asparagus and squeezed dry spinach, just add them to onions and stir before proceeding.)

When vegetables are nearly done, turn heat to low and add herbs.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, beat eggs with some salt and pepper, along with cheese if you are using it.  Pour over vegetables, distributing them evenly.  Cook, undisturbed for a minute or so.  Put into a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until set.  Slide frittata onto a plate and cut into wedges.

But don’t go by just my example.  Here is Mark Bittman’s asparagus frittata video.

Mark Bittman has done much to bring to our attention the fact that food matters.  What we eat and the choices we make about the location and quality of  that food is important to all of us.

To read more about his recipes follow girlichef and Alex of A Moderate Life for their weekly Tackling Bittman series.  

Printable recipe