This one-pan, protein-packed Caprese Frittata has a handful of ingredients, is simple to prepare, and will have breakfast covered for you all week long.
Ingredients:
12 XL organic eggs, scrambled with salt & pepper
diced onion (1/4 cup-ish)
baby spinach (2-3 cups)
1 large tomato, sliced
1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced
fresh basil leaves
I admire people who get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, scroll through the news as they enjoy a couple of over-easy eggs and crisp bacon atop peppery avocado toast, and then head off to work, belly full, properly caffeinated, and well-groomed.
I am not one of those people.
I am the single mother of two middle-schoolers who hits snooze three times at dawn before the force of my own anxiety propels me from the soft cocoon of my bed into the bathroom where I don't even attempt to style the waist length nest of curls sprouting in all directions from my head, brush my teeth, and then frantically make sure my son eats breakfast, both kids have charged ipads and lunches packed, and race out the door, breakfast in hand, just as my daughter is hitting snooze for the third time up in her little cocoon.
If I don't make breakfast for the week on Sunday, I'm either not eating breakfast, or grabbing a very carby, lower-protein, portable substitute -- maybe a banana, Kodiak cakes or a KIND bar. None of these are awful choices, but they aren't the best choices for me. I know, that in order to be successful for the rest of the day, my first meal needs to be protein, healthy fat and carb-balanced. At my job as a teacher, we don't get breaks to snack (or pee), and we need to be "on stage", alert, and focused from that first bell. As someone who keeps Type 2 Diabetes (gestational diabetes x 2, + hereditary predisposition = the betes) at bay by eating mindfully and exercising consistently, I know that the key to keeping my blood sugar under control, in turn preserving my ability to think clearly and perform optimally, is balancing my macros from my first meal forward.
This simple "recipe" (y'all know I don't measure or follow recipes) was borne of channeling my frugal Portuguese mother when I was unable to cope with the possibility of wasting leftover Caprese salad from a family gathering the night before. So I scrambled up a dozen eggs (with salt & pepper ofc), swirled a little olive oil in a cooking spray- coated pan, sauteed some baby spinach and diced onions, poured in the eggs, and placed fresh basil leaves and slices of mozzarella and tomato on top. Popped that beauty in the convection oven at 350 degrees until cooked through (35-40 minutes should do it) and voila... breakfast for the week wrapped up in less than an hour.
Cut it like a pizza into eight slices and just pop one in the microwave for a couple seconds in the morning; I like to pair mine with a slice of Ezekiel toast for my balance of carbs and an extra protein boost.
This is also a very easy make-ahead brunch recipe or easy dish to make for a friend, who is maybe, say, a single mom with several jobs and tangled hair :)
Estimated Nutrition Breakdown via MyFitnessPal: 8 servings, 188 cals, 14 g protein, 1 g carbs, 11 g fat
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