Try Meatless Monday with Kelsey's Garden Vegetable Frittata

We're celebrating Meatless Monday, a movement designed to eat less meat for health and environmental reasons. This week: Kelsey Nixon's Garden Vegetable Frittata.
By: Michelle Buffardi
garden vegetable frittata

Meatless Monday -- you've probably heard of it by now -- is a global movement to go meatless once each week. It's not a campaign to turn everyone in the world vegetarian or vegan, and those involved do not judge meat-lovers; many involved are meat-lovers. Eating less meat has been proven to reduce the risk of diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, curb obesity and has important environmental impacts, too. (Read more on meatlessmonday.org.) You can eat less meat by filling your plate with vegetables and serving yourself just a little bit of meat, or you can give up meat for just one day per week. The latter is easier than it sounds, and you probably already love meatless dishes that you don't label "vegetarian." (If you eat cheese pizza for dinner, you've just had a meatless meal.)

So check back here every Monday for a different meat-free idea to work into your mealtime rotation. But don't worry, we don't expect anyone to live on rabbit food, so we'll introduce you to satisfying, real food -- main and side dishes that are so amazing, you won't miss the meat.

Frittatas can sometimes be made with pasta, sometimes potatoes, but if you don't have either, that's okay, too. Kelsey Nixon's Garden Vegetable Frittata is made with potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, basil and Asiago cheese. It's fresh and light and makes use of the vegetables in-season right now, but you can easily substitute the ingredients based on what you have. So if you don't have spinach, try arugula. If you're out of Asiago, try provolone. If your herb garden is overflowing with parsley, throw that in too.

Garden Vegetable Frittata
Recipe courtesy Kelsey Nixon

Prep Time: 20 min
Serves: 6

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5 small red potatoes, thinly sliced
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1 cup baby spinach, torn
1 clove garlic, crushed
8 eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
1 to 2 cups shredded Asiago cheese, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced potatoes to the skillet, saute for about 6 to 8 minutes, until tender but firm. Remove the potatoes from the skillet. Add another tablespoon olive oil, and add the green onions, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic. Saute for an additional 1 to 2 minutes or just until the spinach is wilted. Season the vegetables with salt, and pepper.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, basil, cheese, salt, and pepper. Pour into the skillet over the vegetables. Reduce heat to medium-low and scramble the eggs for 1 minute. Return the potatoes to the skillet. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or just until the eggs start to set around the edges. Drizzle olive oil around the edge of the pan to ensure easy removal.

Finish cooking in the oven for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the eggs have completely set in the center. Serve straight out of the skillet, or flip onto a serving plate. Garnish with shredded Asiago cheese and fresh basil.

Try it out and tell us what you think with a recipe rating and review.

For more Meatless Monday inspiration, check out 18 Amazing Vegetarian Dishes.

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