I can hardly believe it is Easter already. It seems like only a few days ago that we arrived back from the deep frozen UK to the even icier Nova Scotia. And so it is that time of year when we pull out the food colouring and pastel paints and ribbons and go to work decorating Easter eggs.
A couple of years ago, we lived through a week of near hysterics every time we cracked one of the decorated hard boiled eggs to make a sandwich. Poppy, distraught that the pink and blue and green eggs were being ruined, couldn’t quite come to terms with the destruction of our handiwork.
Last year, we remembered the emotional havoc of the year previous and we blew the insides out of the eggs before we decorated them. Poppy was happy that we weren’t going to ruin the Easter eggs afterwards and the week after was peaceful - as peaceful as it can be with an almost three year old anyway. So what if we ate scrambled eggs for three days straight. The kid was happy.
Again this year, I poked holes in the top and bottom of the eggs and blew the insides into a bowl. Poppy was pleased enough with the empty eggs to decorate but wondered, ‘What are we going to do with all the egg guts Mommy?’
‘Supper,’ I replied. She humphed and walked away, happy to dig around in craft drawers for interesting egg decorating paraphernalia.
We had ‘the guts’ of eight eggs to deal with. It was almost 5pm. I thought about quiche but didn’t want to make pastry and I didn’t have the time either. I thought about omelettes but everyone likes their omelette a little bit different at our house and, not feeling up to the challenge, I shied away from it. With sweet potatoes, portabello mushrooms, kale and a red onion left from our Saturday veg box, I decided on frittata.
Sweet Potato, Portabello, Kale and Red Onion Frittata
3 small sweet potatoes
5 medium portabellos
1 small bunch of kale (or spinach)
1 medium red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 eggs beaten (guts only)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350º
Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into bit size pieces. Remove the stems from the portabellos and slice. Remove the stalks from the kale and steam until tender. Pat any extra moisture off the steamed kale and then chop. Peel and slice the red onion.
Heat the olive oil in an oven proof frying pan. Add the sweet potatoes and saute until start to soften. Add the portabello slices and red onion. Saute until the mushrooms are cooked and the onion starts to caramelize. Gently toss in the chopped kale (or spinach).
Melt the butter in the pan with the vegetables and gently stir through.
Add the beaten eggs and gently shake the pan to make sure it gets all through the vegetables.
Pop it in the oven for about ten minutes, or until it is cooked through.
I had forgotten what a quick supper or weekend brunch a frittata makes. It is even better the next day in a sandwich.