Easter Eats

So, Easter brunch went very well. The frittata came out very… vegetable-y. It was good, but there’s another recipe I use where the proportion of milk and cheese to egg is different, and it comes out lighter, which I prefer… I may try sticking closer to that in future. That recipe calls for five eggs to one cup each of cheese and milk, while this one calls for three eggs and a half cup each. But, the five-egg frittata needs to be made in a large casserole, rather than a pie plate – it’s too big for a pie plate.

The home fries came out great – just a pound and a half of fingerling potatoes, one large shallot, and the white parts of several scallions (scallions added toward the end to avoid burning, because they’re so small and tender) fried in olive oil for twenty minutes to a half an hour. Salt, pepper, that sort of thing.

The apple salad is a sort of invention of my own. Trying to develop a taste for walnuts – they’re good for your heart, you know – I used to pair them with slices of Golden Delicious apple. It was very good, so I started pairing them together in a salad that I could serve to guests. Usually you’d mix the apples with a little lemon juice to keep them from browning, but I don’t like the flavor. I’ve found that you can use basically any juice that has lots of vitamin C and they won’t brown; yesterday I used a splash of white grape juice. Here’s how I put it together yesterday:


Anti-Waldorf Salad

2 large Golden Delicious apples
¼ cup chopped walnuts
Cinnamon to taste
Splash of juice

Dice the apples; toss with walnuts. Sprinkle over with cinnamon and juice, and stir until all the apples have been coated with juice. Serve.


Simple and very tasty. I call it Anti-Waldorf since it uses apples and walnuts like that salad, but leaves out that vile mayonnaise base. I’d prefer a nicer name that doesn’t remind me of a food that I hate, but it’ll do for now.

Now for the frittata. As I said, in the future I’m going to experiment with a different ratio of ingredients, but this was still very good. The only other change I would make is either reduce or remove the pepper; it was definitely too peppery for my taste.


Fresh Spinach Frittata

1 large carrot
Olive oil
2 scallions, sliced, white and green separated
4 cups of torn fresh spinach, packed (used an entire 1/3-pound package from the market)
½ cup of milk
½ cup of cheddar cheese (I ran out of mozzarella – the cheddar was good though)
2 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Shred the carrot in the food processor; sauté in a good drizzle of olive oil until darker and somewhat tender, about four minutes. Add the white parts of the scallion and sauté another minute or two; toss the spinach on top and let it heat till it just wilts. (Be sure to use a large skillet so there’s room!)

Put the chopping blade in the food processor and dump it all in. Pour the milk over the top and give it a pulse or two to cool it down; you don’t want to risk the eggs cooking on contact. Add in all the remaining ingredients except the green part of the scallion. Pulse till blended and pour into a grease pie plate. Sprinkle the green scallions on top.

Bake at about 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until firm.