Spring Vegetable Breakfast Frittata
I love the springtime for many reasons – more sun, warmer days, fresher air, birds singing, lambs jumping and all the other usual cliches. But, as a passionate foodie, the season of spring always brings something far far more exciting for me: spring vegetables.
Broad beans (fava beans), peas, asparagus, spring onions (scallions), purple sprouting broccoli… there is so much to get excited about. No? Just me?
If you and your family are not big vegetable eaters and know you need to eat more, I think of spring as the perfect time to start. Fresh spring veggies are a thing of beauty – crisp, sweet, full of flavour. Or perhaps you eat a fair few veggies as a family, but would like to know how you could eat some at breakfast without it feeling just plain weird.
Enter the spring veg frittata. Eggs never feel out of place at a breakfast table, and were one of the best ways I introduced the idea of vegetables at breakfast time to our family, as it didn’t feel so completely wrong and bizarre to eat essentially a firm omelette at the start of the day. If it’s still too strange, try it for brunch and if it goes down well, try serving it a little earlier next time! 😉
Other suggestions for getting the kids on board would be to cut the veg very small, add more cheese and herbs to make the spring veg flavours more subtle and less noticeable, or get them making it. The joy of a frittata is that it is incredibly simple to make, so even little ones can get stuck in to breaking the woody ends off asparagus, podding fresh broad (fava) beans or measuring out frozen ones, pulling the leaves off the mint stalks, or beating the eggs. It keeps them busy first thing in the morning (which can be a challenge, I know!), and gets them to be a part of making something healthy, meaning they are more likely to eat it.
An easy springtime breakfast packed with vegetables, fresh sweet flavours and plenty of protein. A fantastic way to start a spring day!
- 8 medium eggs
- large handful of fresh mint
- large handful of grated hard cheese, optional
- 2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
- 1 bunch asparagus, woody stems broken off and discarded, edible stalks finely chopped
- 4 stalks purple sprouting broccoli, finely chopped
- 75g (1/2 cup) frozen defrosted broad (fava) beans (or about 250g pods to give roughly the same amount of fresh podded broad beans) - or use the same amount of frozen or fresh peas
- 3 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced (optional - leave the seeds if you like spicy things)
- handful of rocket or mixed salad leaves, to serve (optional)
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Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl with some salt and pepper and the cheese, if using. Roughly chop the mint leaves (save and finely chop the stalks) and add the chopped leaves to the eggs. Set aside.
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Preheat the grill (broiler) to High. Heat the oil in a medium-large frying pan over medium heat, and fry the chopped asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli pieces for 3-5 mins until slightly softened. Throw in the chopped mint stalks, broad beans, spring onions and about 2/3 of the chilli and fry for a further 2 mins. Pour in the egg mixture, spreading with a wooden spoon if necessary to cover all the veg, and fry for about 1-2 mins until the bottom of the egg mix is cooked. Pop the pan under the grill for 3-5 mins, until the frittata is golden and cooked through. Serve warm or cold topped with salad leaves and/or chilli, or you can serve as is. Other fun toppings include: crumbled feta, sliced avocado, extra chopped mint leaves, tinned cooked crab meat, or crispy cooked bacon or pancetta.
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